Live and Learn on the Ranch
Posted 03-08-2017 at 01:30 AM by TamaraSavannah
A thing or two or three.
I am finding I am a lot more cleaner when it comes to the dishes on the ranch. I am not letting dishes stack up but rather hand washing the few rather quickly. I am rather puzzled but happy to this change in me.
Is it because my sink window looks out on a beautiful view instead of the side of the next house or even worse, a blank wall in a no outlet corridor (the galley kitchen of the apartments)? Or because I am living a kind of fantasy out in the country, in the kind of kitchen, with glass doors, I've seen in movies and TV (Kiss the Girls, Charmed, Witches of Eastwick)? That I am further removed from TV? Perhaps it is just the new bamboo dish rack with its same sidekick flatware caddy over the wide/narrow twin sink. That the great room design makes it easier to get the dishes back "from the table" to the sink? That so much of my kitchen probably remains to be unpacked? That the new operation tempo has reduced my wine drinking to below a bare minimum? That because I am now on the ranch, in MY HOUSE, in silence, my background stress has reduced even more?
It may be one of those, maybe many of those, maybe all of those.....or even none of those, but in any case, it is a good thing.
One note about stress is watching how one sleeps. When I didn't have a bed, it was either on the floor or later on, on the sofa. Well, the floor gave me back aches. On the sofa put my legs in traction since I had to fling them over one end and I had shin splints for weeks. Tonight, I slept with my left leg bent triangle like so the cat with me had a warm place against that thigh.....and now I have spasms of pain off my right temple (only started after tonight's sleep like that).
It is a learning experience and part of that is something of being true to one's self. A plight of being a night worker is that so often, one does not have a daily schedule at all, one catches especially sleep as they can get it.
This is the kind of life that I have lived year after year but now that I am in my house, I think that I am learning to change that. Even though the move is now done, for the past 2 or 3 weeks, I've cut back on other activities beside work except for those that are absolutely necessary. Sometimes, there is another reason such as resting up for the next day for absolute things but to me, the trick is the ability to say "not tonight" for other things as I try to fit into my house.
I have lived my life for so long where other people have told me "you can always do that later" that now I am telling myself that and I am learning to stop that approach. And so said, I now put it aside, to not think about the plight of being a night worker.
Had to put the trash can out to the road for pickup quite recently. My driveway is LONG and bumpy, rather uphill from the house, and pushing the can up it does not thrill me. The first time was when they had delivered the can so it was still out on the road and I just dropped bags in as I exited. The second week, I put the can in the back of the pickup and drove it out, unloading as I left. It was the day after when I picked it up off the road by stuffing it in the back of the Forester and driving it "home" with the rear hatch open.
So on this pass, I really didn't want to drive the truck into town. To do so would mean switching out cab loads between vehicles and driving the one that is less efficient in fuel and harder to park at work. I was going to hold the lid closed with bungee cords but found a roll of duct tape first and used that. Stuffed it in the back of the Forester, held in place with the bike rack, and was ready to travel thinking of how smart and resourceful I was!
The best laid plans of mice and men...... Backing off the concrete conclusion of my driveway, my interior lights were still on due to the hatch being open. The way things currently are when it comes to car parking at home, both car and truck have to be outside since the garage is full of boxes. There is enough room to park both on the footprint but the approach to the footprint is rather like a river delta; back straight off the footprint on the far side, where the Forester sits due to length differences in the garage, and I end up going into a steep bank to the driver's side.
To avoid that, I either back out with a wild loop around the pickup or back the Forester in with a similar maneuver during the daylight. Well this time, with the interior lights blinding me, it was not so easy to back out. Not only did I throw the car into that very uncomfortable steep bank, but I also came far, far closer to hitting my power pole than I would like!
So the next time.......back the Forester in during the day so when I leave, I can see what I am doing. And the time after that? Well, spring break is coming up, so maybe I'll get the garage unpacked during that time so both vehicles will have a home and I don't have to pull such flying circus antics off the driveway foot print anymore.
Living the life......and loving it!
I am finding I am a lot more cleaner when it comes to the dishes on the ranch. I am not letting dishes stack up but rather hand washing the few rather quickly. I am rather puzzled but happy to this change in me.
Is it because my sink window looks out on a beautiful view instead of the side of the next house or even worse, a blank wall in a no outlet corridor (the galley kitchen of the apartments)? Or because I am living a kind of fantasy out in the country, in the kind of kitchen, with glass doors, I've seen in movies and TV (Kiss the Girls, Charmed, Witches of Eastwick)? That I am further removed from TV? Perhaps it is just the new bamboo dish rack with its same sidekick flatware caddy over the wide/narrow twin sink. That the great room design makes it easier to get the dishes back "from the table" to the sink? That so much of my kitchen probably remains to be unpacked? That the new operation tempo has reduced my wine drinking to below a bare minimum? That because I am now on the ranch, in MY HOUSE, in silence, my background stress has reduced even more?
It may be one of those, maybe many of those, maybe all of those.....or even none of those, but in any case, it is a good thing.
One note about stress is watching how one sleeps. When I didn't have a bed, it was either on the floor or later on, on the sofa. Well, the floor gave me back aches. On the sofa put my legs in traction since I had to fling them over one end and I had shin splints for weeks. Tonight, I slept with my left leg bent triangle like so the cat with me had a warm place against that thigh.....and now I have spasms of pain off my right temple (only started after tonight's sleep like that).
It is a learning experience and part of that is something of being true to one's self. A plight of being a night worker is that so often, one does not have a daily schedule at all, one catches especially sleep as they can get it.
This is the kind of life that I have lived year after year but now that I am in my house, I think that I am learning to change that. Even though the move is now done, for the past 2 or 3 weeks, I've cut back on other activities beside work except for those that are absolutely necessary. Sometimes, there is another reason such as resting up for the next day for absolute things but to me, the trick is the ability to say "not tonight" for other things as I try to fit into my house.
I have lived my life for so long where other people have told me "you can always do that later" that now I am telling myself that and I am learning to stop that approach. And so said, I now put it aside, to not think about the plight of being a night worker.
Had to put the trash can out to the road for pickup quite recently. My driveway is LONG and bumpy, rather uphill from the house, and pushing the can up it does not thrill me. The first time was when they had delivered the can so it was still out on the road and I just dropped bags in as I exited. The second week, I put the can in the back of the pickup and drove it out, unloading as I left. It was the day after when I picked it up off the road by stuffing it in the back of the Forester and driving it "home" with the rear hatch open.
So on this pass, I really didn't want to drive the truck into town. To do so would mean switching out cab loads between vehicles and driving the one that is less efficient in fuel and harder to park at work. I was going to hold the lid closed with bungee cords but found a roll of duct tape first and used that. Stuffed it in the back of the Forester, held in place with the bike rack, and was ready to travel thinking of how smart and resourceful I was!
The best laid plans of mice and men...... Backing off the concrete conclusion of my driveway, my interior lights were still on due to the hatch being open. The way things currently are when it comes to car parking at home, both car and truck have to be outside since the garage is full of boxes. There is enough room to park both on the footprint but the approach to the footprint is rather like a river delta; back straight off the footprint on the far side, where the Forester sits due to length differences in the garage, and I end up going into a steep bank to the driver's side.
To avoid that, I either back out with a wild loop around the pickup or back the Forester in with a similar maneuver during the daylight. Well this time, with the interior lights blinding me, it was not so easy to back out. Not only did I throw the car into that very uncomfortable steep bank, but I also came far, far closer to hitting my power pole than I would like!
So the next time.......back the Forester in during the day so when I leave, I can see what I am doing. And the time after that? Well, spring break is coming up, so maybe I'll get the garage unpacked during that time so both vehicles will have a home and I don't have to pull such flying circus antics off the driveway foot print anymore.
Living the life......and loving it!
Total Comments 0
