I'm Off To See The Wiza...Well, I'm Off, Anyway!

And in all actuality, not even going that far.

I suppose I could say metaphorically that I'm going to see the wizard, the "real" person behind the curtain of the huge ego. I'm not going on vacation in a true sense, I'm going on a retreat, and I will essentially be incommunicado.

A working retreat if it is one at all. You see, it's a Buddhist retreat, which fits me because I am one. It's an 8 day event, which features 9.5 hours of practice/teaching a day. Part of the list of things to bring is a tent. So I surmised from this, since it isn't sleep over retreat, that I'll be getting some instructions on a practice, then sent off to practice it. Dare I say this will be enjoyable? I'll leave more info at Jangchub's Journal.

Miles has moved out! He and a room mate scored a nice place, not far from home, and I haven't seen him once. Not surprising. I had the usual twinge that I experience when he leaves. I get that paradoxical feeling of "yea! less of this and more of that," and the fear and anxiety of whether or not he'll be able to stand on his own two feet, and never seeing him an...wait a minute. Didn't I, yes...yes I did. He lives a quarter mile away and I haven't seen him once. However, and this is big, I can always drop in where he works, or lives, and he'll likely be there. So different from when he was living in Seattle. The empty nest thing is a weird experience. Miles is still working, now as the sous chef, the sous chef, at Prima, right here in Langley. He just returned from a trip to London to visit a high school friend, and moved up at work and out into his own place. It's a little disconnecting to hear about things Miles is doing, like a work retreat in the Cascade foothills, from his brother, who happens to also work at the Prima. Having to be working that many hours AND settle in will mean that the settling in part will take longer. Add to that his yoga class and girl friend, and us parents come farther down the priority ladder. I guess that's the way it's supposed to be. Think I'll go boo hoo in my oatmeal.

Taylor and I worked together the other day on one of his projects. It was raining all day, which wasn't the issue. Except for the fact Taylor doesn't own rain gear. But we got a lot done and made it look better in the 3.5 hours we were there. I trimmed a hedge, and cleaned debris, took down a straggler cedar, and pulled up a lot of berry vines of different species. Had to finally put on gloves that had full fingers. By the time the client came home, it looked so good that she came out of the car with an, "Oh my!" We also discovered the shape of the walk path, which was hidden and overgrown to a large degree. Taylor did the pruning. It was a good time even though I crawled under rhodies most of the time, and it rained on us, and I discovered that it's demanding work, yet rather enjoyable. Now a weeder with a long handle will be in order to snag the weeds that will return.

Being unemployed as I am, it occurred to me that maybe Taylor and I should join forces. He can help if I score some side jobs, and I can help him with his gardening. It'll keep us both working, and making better money than unemployment can offer. Hmm.

Jody is off house sitting, actually, dog sitting. Pet sitting. Four cats and two dogs. One big powerful dog. With a helicopter tail. They got a wonderful sitter, that's for sure. Jody tends to love almost every being that crosses her path. It was her late sisters birthday just the other day, so she's in a funk. But as time moves on, I can see her shifting. The other night we went to Barb Nichols CD release event, and an old friend of the family was there, and it has been the plan to go scatter some of her sister's ashes at the location where Northern Exposure was filmed, as it was her sister's favorite show. They talked about it, and I could feel the emotional energy change, as it has been too raw a pain yet, but it seems like perhaps this spring that time will come.