Don't Want to Go Home....

This, our last day in Kauai is bittersweet; lovely to have another day of vacation but difficult to anticipate the goodbye and harder yet, the arrival back into all those "Seattle issues". Years ago, myy mother-in-law advised wisely that we let all those "things" back home slip away when on vacation. "They'll be right there when you get back", she'd say....and, so true indeed.

I wish I felt more rested from the standpoint of getting back into the work routine. I don't. Another week in the tropics and maybe..... Sigh.

I felt the same last year about leaving Kauai. I cried on the way to the airport and will probably do so again.

This gorgeous place allows my mind to put the crap on hold; if just for a little while.

Tonight D went out to Da Crack and brought food back. We ate on the lanai, the soft breezes pulling in ends of daylight. Night comes. And then, morning will come.

I don't want to go home.

Lanai View

early evening

Whether dusk, dawn, midday or sometime in between, the view from our deck (or as the locals say, "the lanai") at condo #136 is a slice of heaven for me. We've enjoyed this ocean vista for the last six days and have one more full day to languish in this sweet paradise.

The colors mesmerize me; the powder blue sky against the oceanic cerulean contrasted with the long expanse of green lawn. Oh my. Heaven.

mid day

Second Monday in June

I'm feeling strange with an abrupt shift of gears today. Coming off of a 7 day on-call mindset, totally consumed by things medical, I'm back to work at the Arapahoe house. MM and I are at it again; one step at a time, towards the goal of getting the house on the market.

This is a sad time but I try not to dwell on the meaning of breaking up a home, dispersing every item therein and closing the door for the last time. The finality troubles me.

This week we're witnessing the fruits of our labors in April where all items of value were photographed and cataloged into a document for all seven grandchildren of Dean and Doris to peruse and select items they might like to have. Furniture, rugs, wall hangings, dishes, crystal, silverware. Everything.

What I thought would be simple, wasn't. Creating the inventory was an enormous task. We had hundreds of photographs of items divided into categories. MM did the bulk of the work on the master document and the task of encouraging the family to participate in the process in the midst of their busy lives. That was harder than I had anticipated.

A friend of mine went through this process with her parent's home awhile back. Using a similar list, she was amazed how dispersal seemed to magically "sort itself out". I hope that's the case for us. To some degree we're noticing this with our master list. It's fascinating to learn what's important to the third generation of our family.  Everyone is unique. Some have selected many items. Others 2 or 3 at most. Interesting.

When all is said and done, the "left overs" will either go to thrift shops, consignment, or....get packed up and stored in my home. There are so many things that I can't part with just yet, can't let go into the big world.

This is hard.