Incommunicado...

Wow - three days without the internet due to cables being downed by ice and snow, and the world is still here and it appears I haven't missed much!

Really weird watching post office and UPS workers valiantly braving the ice and snow, risking life and limb to keep the mail and parcels delivered - crazy... as though it matters that a letter or parcel is delayed for a couple of days...

Played UNO with the boy and housemates - fun...

More conversation happening...

Some twiddling of thumbs and consideration given to catching up on paperwork, and getting the knitting out of the back of my van... didn't happen!

Realising how much of my communication is with people I have never met!

Boy said he was sorry that the TV/Netflix was down, but not that the internet was because I spent much more time with him.... hmmmmm... have been thinking about the issue of balance and being present to and for him lately... a bit of a shock to have the truth that he is feeling neglected come out of his mouth... 

AND he also is having a hard time with being an only child - me being with him 100% of the time is not possible nor necessarily desirable/healthy and no amount of playdates with other children ever satisfy him...

Realising how much slower and sane the world was before computers and the internet...

Getting back to listening to the radio, and enjoying it very much - though HATE, HATE, HATE that I have to listen to evil GATES FOUNDATION advertisements on National Public Radio...

Back on line now, and no more excuses not to move certain parts of my life forward and to take care of outstanding business!!!

Watch out world!

 

Seasonal Sense & Sensibility...

We've been having a snow "event" in Seattle over the past couple of days, and it will continue for one or two more...

This city is more used to rain - lots of it, falling relatively gently over an extended period of time ...

So when snow falls - around six inches worth over 24 hours - it's something of an "event"...

And watching the goings-on has left me with the question:

What is wrong with the American people?

They appear to think the sky will fall and earth will stop spinning on its axis if they stay home from work in a snow storm...

What programming propels people to take sleeping bags to the office, so they won't miss the next day's work if the snow storm arrives over night, as one female manager here in Seattle told a reporter she would be doing...

What huge reward or threat persuades wage slaves to leave their families to cope alone in the storm, while they don snow gear and trot, slide, crawl, off to the office to save the bottom line...

Isn't it time we got back in sync with the rhythms of the seasons?

Snow - quiet, isolating, dangerous... time to stay inside, to protect and nurture the self, to be with the people we love...

It's what our ancestors did...

Isn't it bad enough that homeless people have to survive out in the snow, without choosing to ignore the gifts and comfort given to us, and to endanger ourselves unnecessarily?

 

I guess the oligarchs really have got it all sewn up, really do rule when we turn our backs so thoroughly on nature and good sense...

Holding Pattern...

Well - snow this morning when we woke up, so we had a quiet day at home, with the fire going to add to the sense of being snug and calm...

and at the same time, there's lots going on in the big wide world to blog about...

And lots going on in my own little universe also... 

Insights coming fast and furious about what was really going on in that row my housemates and I had a couple of weeks ago (more on that another day)...

Insights about balance in my own life and in the world at large (more on that too, another day)...

And lots of time spent on making a list of what has to be done to make leaving the US and going back to Australia real...

Have started on some of the paperwork - have completed the Notice of Intention to Relocate which I have to file with the court, an amended Parenting Plan and the paperwork required to get my legal separation converted to a divorce... Still have to find out how much that costs to file (and then come up with the moolah!)...

Still working on an amendment to the Child Support Order...

Really need a lawyer to look over all this before I submit it - will see if I can get that done tomorrow...

And then have to hang fire on practical matters a bit until I know if we can actually leave this country...

Which makes me feel a bit like I'm stuck in a holding pattern, flapping my wings like crazy and using lots of energy, but still hovering in one spot...

But really, there's lots to do in the meantime...

Talk to the Australian authorities re residency and the Protection Order...

Do the paperwork to get our passports renewed (and find the greenbacks for that!)...

Start to pack - we have to move out of here anyway, so might as well begin on the artwork, books, knick-knacks, etc...

I do now have another option to add to Plan B... if we can't go, and we don't get transitional housing, a friend has said we can "house-sit" her father's house until June - so that's a relief... 

Just not sure whether to move out now or wait until I find out what we're doing - staying here or going back to Australia... 

Would be a bummer to have to move twice, but the tension in this house is really palpable, and it would be nice to escape from that...

Thinking, thinking, thinking...

More Favourite Things...

This time, the weather... the landscape... and where I would prefer to live...

I'm picky I guess...

Love the snow - the cold and the quality of the light...

Love the sunshine - the warmth and the quality of the light...

Love storms - the power let loose by nature and the quality of the light...

Anything in between, you can keep!

Love the ocean...

Love the mountains and forest...

 Love the desert...

Anything in between, you can keep!

 

Love living at the back of beyond with only the stars for company at night...

 Love living in the very middle of the city, with humanity buzzing and bustling all around...

Anything in between, you can keep!