Darswords

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: starts with “hum.” Find a word that starts with “hum” or use the word “hum” itself. Send your bonus points to Dan at https://nofacilities.com/ if you use both. Enjoy!

Humble. That’s how I feel. And Wow!

When I had to leave Reno to pursue a less expensive place to live, I had to leave my adult children. Not that we got to see each other often. We didn’t see each other frequently, with all of them working and pursuing their own lives. But at least we knew we could get together for a quick cup of coffee or tea if needed. We did get to spend the holidays together and birthdays. Now six hours away and with weather issues, we find Zoom and instant Messaging but mostly phone our way to keep in touch. I miss them. One son had to come to live with us, making it a little easier.

Then, my daughter moved to Wisconsin. Yikes! That is a long way from the Oregon Outback. And with a truck that works for the short drives, Wisconsin is too long to drive without fear of breaking down. We manage food, mortgage, and small bills on our social security. But anything else is above our abilities. I’d love to be able to get a small job, but my health can’t do that right now, and neither can my husband’s. And as my brother and son have found, there are no jobs in this desert. So we do the best we can with what we have.

Then I learned that my daughter and her husband are getting married. I longed to be able to be there. Especially when she said they were doing a costume wedding in Halloween fashion. It seems like it would be so fun! I picture something like this:

One son is pulling out the stops to fund my live-in son and me to fly to and from the visit and wedding. As I mentioned, flight son is six hours away. There is no airport near here. The nearest is two and a half hours away. That would have made an eight-and-a-half-hour drive for him. I nearly gave up. It seemed impossible.

That’s when my friend volunteered. She wanted to visit again before the snow and freezes start in earnest as Fall rolls in. She is coming up as of tomorrow. We will visit, and then she will drive my son and me back to her place in Reno. We will spend a day or so there.

The flight is at 6 AM, and we must be at the airport at 3. That means a night of no sleep. You know I can’t fall asleep before 3ish. So that won’t be the problem. Flight son will pick us up at my friend’s, and the next adventure begins.

Now, more of the humble pie, as if I didn’t feel so grateful for the flights and drives received. The only thing I could figure out would be to stay with my daughter and her new husband once I was there. That’s not so great. The honeymooners would probably not want to have Mom and brother underfoot, ya know? They’re only human! But I certainly didn’t want to put the financial burden on the son footing the flights and drive home.

That’s when the groom’s mother jumped in and became another hero in this story. Not only is she covering catering and heating (the wedding and party will be outdoors to keep it anti-covidy. The groom has health issues that would make it deadly for him. Anyway, she found and is funding a couple bed and breakfast homes for a couple of us in this wedding party. Both are near the lake. I cried when I heard that. She said she knew how much it would mean to my daughter and me for us to be there. I can’t wait to give her a massive hug of thanks if allowed.

Back to the end of the wedding week in Wisconsin, the flight son has the return flight set up. Unfortunately, they could only get a flight to Portland. That’s five hours north of us. That means the flight son will have to rent another car to drive us home. Then, another six hours back to Reno.

Maybe for some of you, this isn’t much. Doing all the finances would be, well, doable. Perhaps leaving your husband and brother behind would be easy, or you would be able to bring them with you. My husband can’t fly. It would have had to be a car or train for him. My brother, again, with no income, can’t afford to go, and we are already taxing our family and friends’ finances. They are not rich by a long shot. Besides, who would stay and take care of the chickens and cats? So that’s where I feel more humbleness. They are both being so kind and selfless in making sure I don’t feel the guilt of leaving them behind. I know I will miss them. We’ll probably spend hours on the Zooms or Instant Messaging. I’ll try to take a lot of pictures.

Now for the exciting, fun things. I’ve made the witch’s hat (pics here and here). I bought a cheap wig that I’m still working on to make it more me.

I’ve given her bangs and will rat her up for the witch costume, then brush her out and use her as needed. I plan to trim my own hair and purple up before I leave.

I have some black broom skirts to wear, one as a skirt and the other I will slice up and make into a cape. I’ll take pics when there. Even I don’t know how it will all look. I’ll take as many pics of the area and the fun as possible. I don’t want to involve names or faces that don’t want to be on the internets.

Speaking of pics. The afghan is nearly finished. I need to make a trim around the edges to prevent curling. I’ll try to post that later in the week.

And that reminds me. It will be a busy couple of weeks. I will try to post as much as I can. But I may still miss a few days. That disappoints me, I’m sure, more than it disappoints you. I do my Duolingo and blogging every day. Whereas I have 1,520 days on Duo, I am only on day 118 on the blog. That is because I post after the languages. Often, I don’t get to the publish part until after midnight. 😒 I know I should do a bunch of blogs ahead, but I find I can’t. I feel like it is like a journal for me, so I like to hit it daily, and when I’m done, I’m done. I do have a couple ‘freezes’ set up on the Duo.

So there you have it. Let’s all hum the wedding march in minor key. But enjoy this, too.