My husband is overseas.

I am up at our ranch with the horse and donkey (both get the title of “horses”).

I used to be afraid to stay here by myself but I’m not anymore.

Just like on a vacation, it took about 3 days for me to stop figiting and doing instead of “being”.

Even in retirement, I have felt so busy and that most days I don’t have “off” keeping up with groceries, errands, cooking and melding of 2 households.

I’m not really napping now, but listening to Zen music and writing.

I came up to be sure the horse, Sageyboo, gets sweet grain 2x a day. Her teeth were reshaped by the vet a few weeks ago so that she can eat better, but grass is limited and I want her to put on about 200 lbs before she goes to the new herd.

The first couple of days, I just lived in my Lucy outdoor pants and old sweater. I hadn’t been able to wear makeup in a while because my skin is so dry and R eye was drippy. I added a cowboy’s beenie hat to that look yesterday at College Station (about the size of Boise). The lady at Michaels must have thought I was homeless and gave me tons of coupons. (Mostly the people of CS are the nicest on the planet).

We had so many old papers that I scanned and sorted at the condo and it took hours for them to burn in the chimenera.

The wind gusts were unpredictable and my description was “firenado”. My husband was a little alarmed. Lol

The days go slowly up here and it’s indulgent to lie around and look out the windows at the blue lake, trees budding for Spring, and sunshine that has eluded Houston.

We have so many happy memories here:

*Our first days together when we were struggling financially and had a wine “staycation up the West Coast” on the patio

*Watching satellites at night

*Me getting to know the horses and falling in love with them nearly as fast as I had with their dad

*Our wedding day: getting ready here and having the tiniest of receptions

*Talking about building a retirement home here and looking at plans

*Feeding the cattle by hand, getting all slobbery

*Sitting in our 2 leather chairs near the fire and talking about life

And the next chapter

For now, first things first.

Get Sage healthy through February and March.

Close on the ranch and see what happens next…