Walking Around

So now, as I'm rounding out the third week of my new apartment life in South Natomas, I've had some time to really walk around a bit and explore the area. Jefferson Park, not three-quarters of a mile from my place, borders this nice little bike trail which meanders through old growth oak trees as it cuts a path through cute little neighborhoods of 1980s era homes. Or, more likely, the houses encroached upon the wooded area, whittling it down and leaving just a strip of woods which pass through like a winding little river. But it's a nice trail, with several little spurs providing access to different neighborhoods. 

The main path passes by what I can only assume must be the original farmhouse of the area, complete with a fully functional windmill at its side. The windmill looks as if someone once tried to convert it to a garage, but never quite finished. The old wood exterior is surrounded in thin wood scaffolding, apparently some homemade fixture by someone who once fancied that they would restore the windmill to its formal glory, but never got around to it. The whole place seems stuck in time, and stuck in the middle of the path and surrounding subdivisions.

Zillow says the house has 5 bedrooms and 2 baths, and just shy of 3000 square feet, and was built in 1920. It's 100 years old this year. Imagine that! Imagine what it would have looked like, the home and the surrounding area, 100 years ago. The Roaring 20's, as it came to be know. A far cry from today's time.

But aside from this trail, I've explored the other park and the Sonora Springs subdivision and the FoodMaxx shopping center. I actually went to the little generic dollar store this evening. Bought an RC cola. Not a typo. RC. Blast from the past! I also, on Sunday, walked all the way to the El Camino shopping center with the Bel Air and stopped at the Taco Bell for lunch. Which I subsequently ate while sitting on a curb next to a bank. Because, no indoor dining. Sigh.

But the area around here is somewhat pleasant, after all, helped to a great extent by all of the large old trees surrounding the area. And the apartments, albeit old, have been renovated and kept up somewhat well, and I am fortunately bordered by neighbors who are not particularly loud. I actually haven't even seen a lot of them, much less met them. I see their garbage strewn out all around the dumpster, so I know they exist. And as if to solidify that point, the building tends to shake whenever anyone anywhere closes a door or walks across a room, and the pipes are incredibly loud whenever someone turns on their bath or shower. So I know the neighbors exist, at least. But hey, it's an old building. Older than me, I think. 

I'll probably only be here till March however, as plans are in the works for something new. Really new. Like, currently just a plot of dirt new. More on that later...

For now, I'll just bide my time by walking around and enjoying the lovely trees and, at least for now, the  fresh air - since the smoke from recent fires has cleared. It's a transition, as I believe I said before, and transitions mean changes must be in the future. And they are.

Day 4

So, it's Wednesday, and the 4th day in my new apartment. The cats have finally settled in; at least they're not hiding in the closet anymore, so that's a bonus. It's been something of an adventure in downsizing, after being used to a large house for so many years. I...got rid of lots of stuff. And I still have...lots of stuff. Most of which is in a 10x10 storage unit at a secret undisclosed location. Actually it's at Public Storage, 

The move was, as moves tend to be, an exhausting and unpleasant experience. It was compounded by the fact that the weather decided to throw temperatures at us approaching 110 degrees. Just for the two days I was moving. Someone up there doesn't like me, or at least has a poor sense of humor at my expense. Fortunately my brother and his wife and middle child helped with the moving experience, which was invaluable in making it just a little more bearable. Thank goodness for family! I might have died otherwise. In any case, we were able to do small stuff on the first day and large stuff on the second, both days finishing before noon. So the move has been about as smooth as can be expected, I suppose.

So today I'm working from home, as we're still limited to 20 hours per week onsite at Sac State. I also managed to sneak in a haircut today. You sure take little things like haircuts for granted when they're forcibly closed due to a raging pandemic. But, thank goodness, the hair salons reopened last week. And just like it was the last time they reopened after being forcibly closed, the wait time wasn't too bad. If you got there right when they opened. On a weekday. Wait till the afternoon and you'd likely see 2-3 hour waits, if they were even still taking names. It's almost noon now, and they're showing an 85-minute wait online.

So I'm at home, as I mentioned, currently having my brain rattled around by the obnoxiously loud leaf blower outside. Churning up all the pine needles, garbage, and ash that litter the parking lot. Yes, California is still on fire. We can't catch a break! So there's ash, ash, ash everywhere. Hopefully it's not all blowing on my car. One of the biggest things I already miss from my house is having a garage.

This new area is not so bad, actually. It's a ten-minute walk to two different (and nice) parks, one of which boarders the bike trail that runs from San Juan to Garden Highway, and Discovery Park. At least I think it goes that far. Guess I'll have to take my bike and go find out. If it hasn't been stolen from my balcony. It will be nice to explore a new area though. An adventure. I keep telling myself that, to look for a positive in this whole downsizing situation. In a few months, perhaps, I'll start looking to see what I might be able to afford in terms of a home purchase. This place is just a transition, after all. Or that's the idea, the grand plan, anyway, 

So, Day 4. Yeah. And life goes on.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

No. No we are not.

I could have ended this post right there. I'm pretty sure everyone would get it. And they'd agree. But for posterity's sake, or to remind me decades from now when I'm partially senile and reliving my "youth" through this blog, I'll elaborate. 

This year has been. Just awful. People were looking forward to this year for quite some time. The return of the 20's! A century ago it was synonymous with good times, economic prosperity, and cultural growth and enlightenment. And now? Covid-19, race riots, and fires. Oh my. At least, today, the smoke has cleared from the air here in the valley, and we can breathe again.

Also, I'm moving this weekend. And it 's supposed to be over 105 degrees. Sigh. Can't catch a break.

Meanwhile, public school has just about finished its third week and Sac State has just about finished its first. All online. Or mostly online, in the case of Sac State. But these poor kids in grade school! Online schooling is simply not an effective way to teach. I mean, I have to applaud the teachers who are clearly working very hard to make the best of a miserable situation. But teaching 20 or more kids online...it just doesn't work. The pacing is taken way down due to the myriad of problems with the technology, the students are incredibly distracted by whatever environment they happen to be in, and they don't get the instant feedback that they would in an actual classroom; nor can the teacher really see how they are doing on their assignments. At least, not in real time anyway. But taking a picture of your daily work and submitting it online after the fact just isn't the same. 

But the teachers are trying The kids are trying. The parents are trying. And everyone, I think, is exhausted. I know I am. I'm ready for this year to be over. At least it's already September. Life has been shut down since March,. Nearly half a year, gone. Maybe we can get a do-over, Wouldn't that be nice?

Meanwhile, at Sac State, the staff is limited to 20 hours in house per week. To be honest it's been somewhat helpful in having to work around Connor's school schedule.  And it's...dead there. Usually the first week is bustling with activity. This week I think I've seen maybe 8 students. All week. It will probably pick up a little, and of course it will be busy when we start doing "concerts". With no audiences. But this is not the experience anyone signed up - and paid - for.

Can we get back to normal soon? That's what we're all wishing, I suspect. I can't keep writing anymore about this now; it's late, I'm tired, and my laundry has just finished running. Fun. 

Good Lord It's Hot

Today is one of those days that reinforces the notion within me that I must someday end up somewhere where the weather is more temperate. It's hot. Like, really hot. The kind of hot where you don't want to stand too long in one spot outside, for fear that the soles of your shoes will melt right there on the spot. 

Okay, maybe I exaggerate. Slightly. But we are in a heat wave mode this week, with temperatures all week slated to be well into the triple-digits. It's so hot that even the pan handlers over by Taco Bell took the day off and stayed home. Not that I went to Taco Bell this evening...I went to In and Out.

But after 8pm, when the temperature had cooled down to just 102 degrees, I went for my evening walk. It never feels quite as hot once the sun has fallen below the horizon, when it no longer beats at your brow. So it was not so bad at that hour. The sky in its infinite wisdom took no notice of the temperature; the sunset was as marvelous as ever, with a canvas ranging from pale orange to dark orange, from pale blue to midnight blue, all blurred together in gradients of color. The clouds, what clouds there were, were but little blotches of shadow and lavender. It was nice. Pretty.

I'd still rather be somewhere cooler.

Meanwhile, "school" starts on Monday for Connor. It's not much like school, as he'll be at home, likely on the couch, staring at his school-issued iPad. It wasn't long ago that experts warned of too much screen time being harmful to our youth. And now screen time is mandated. Honestly I'm not sure how it's going to work, especially when I actually return to the office for work. He's going to have to learn real quick to work independently and stay focused. So much for being a kid. 

And in other news, my house has sold, or at least an offer has been accepted. The search for somewhere new to live continues, as there's just not much out there that fits my meter needs and is in a price range I qualify for on a single parent household income. Wherever I need up, it will definitely be no where as nice as where I've been for the past 7 years. Really, it won't be anywhere as nice as anywhere I've lived for the past 13 years. But I will persevere, and life will go on, and someday I'm sure I'll be back on top again.

Hopefully somewhere where it's cooler than here.

Today

Today I'm out sitting along the shore in Benicia, just watching and listening to the waves lap at the shoreline filled with tiny little pebbles of varying colors. I didn't know when I got up this morning where I'd end up. I knew I wanted to get out of town a little bit, preferably somewhere cooler than Sacramento has been. Usually my go-to place is San Francisco of course, and I almost did that again. But along the way I got sidetracked to the Benecia State Recreation Area.

Well, It means about an hour less of driving than if I had gone all the way to San Francisco. So, there's that little bonus.

I had actually been here a couple times before, albeit briefly. It was a chance find when I was playing a musical at a nearby high school. I came early for my show just so I could look around a little. But I didn't have enough time to have a real chance to explore it. Today I corrected that oversight. And now after walking about 7 miles and having a picnic lunch, I'm just sitting and enjoying the sounds of the waves and the nice refreshing breeze. Just a little bit of paradise.

It's the last day of July. Tomorrow, August is here. Connor will start 1st grade in August, although with distance learning. Somehow. I will undoubtedly return to work at some point, after a long hiatus. I'll likely have Connor with me, since he can't very well stay home. I'll probably end up moving from my house, assuming the house sells. Not sure to where. The realtor thinks there will be lots of interest and that it will sell quickly. Lots of change on the horizon. Change change change.

I never cared much for change. But it's an inevitability of life, I suppose.

But today is just...today. Simple. Peaceful. Relaxing. Ordinary. Tomorrow will be a new day.

Time Capsule

So today I went back in to work for a bit. Like, actually on campus. Being back after all this time was a little surreal. But it looked just like we left it, way back at the end of March. Stuck in time, advertising upcoming concerts and with ads on the board still posted, just as they were. It's like the whole campus was stuck in a time capsule, just waiting to be reopened and rediscovered. I wasn't there too long. Just taking care of some business which required live signatures and a live presence to push some buttons on the lighting controls. It seems they needed to be rebooted after all this time, sitting dormant. 

This is the longest break from I've had since...well since forever I suppose. I mean I've worked from home a little bit, logging an hour or two here or there. But for the most part, I haven't really worked for three and a half months. That's one long vacation. Even in high school with breaks for summer, it was never this long.

Boy, it's going to be difficult to go back to work and get into the routine again. Well, maybe not. I've always been good at routines.

Sunday I took a walk after Connor left me for a week, and I eventually ended up at Jamba Juice. As this picture will attest to. It's nice to get both exercise and your daily serving of fruit, all in one trip.  I've made a habit of walking to and fro, whenever I can. I mean, it's not really new or unusual, as I've been averaging 5-6  miles of walling per day for some time. But I keep expanding my route, to keep it fresh I suppose. But also, I think, to enjoy it while I can. The realtor came by with a photographer yesterday to take photos of the house, so it will be on the market soon, and this chapter of my life will finally draw to a close. And then I'll move to an entirely new neighborhood, likely, so I won't be walking these now familiar paths much longer.

There really are nice trails and paths around here.

But anyways, as July draws to a close around us, and this ridiculous virus is still dictating our lives, it just becomes all the more obvious that I have little idea what August will hold. I guess I'm stuck in a time capsule too, just waiting for the world to open up and let me out again.