Fréjus, France

Fréjus, France
Aqueduc Romain

Monday, July 20, 2009

Settling in...

We seem to be settling back in to our Stateside routines. Lisa finished her first week of work, and while feeling a bit fatigued at the end of the week she was also psyched to put her experiences and development of the past year into practice in her work and noted that it felt good to be earning money again. I amazingly already scored a painting job that will put me to work for the next 2 weeks and give an added boost to the finances. Meanwhile, Irie is happily exploring her old toys, books, and most importantly...friends. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but the reality is that her behavior is vastly improved since we returned home. However, she also now speaks longingly of France and her French friends and indicates she realizes what an experience it was for her. Better late than never!

Friday morning we again headed up to the cabin with a full Prius, but no Maggie, who is due to arrive with my parents tomorrow. The weather has really heated up, evidenced by the helicopters filling their buckets to fight a nearby forest fire (between us and Crater Lake), and by all of us swimming multiple times each day. Irie and I got a closeup flyover of a bald eagle, but I didn't have the camera on hand, and the same was true of a scarlet tanager that landed 10 feet away. Our friend and jack-of-all-trades, Gary, joined us up at Bon Pin for some serious work. He and I completely dismantled the huge fireplace in a 7-hour battle against ants, bats, concrete, volcanic rock, and dust. Amazing but I don't think two men could have been more whipped! Here's a before and after: The cabin feels so open now, and we are excited about the changes that will include a stabilized foundation, new wood stove, new countertop space, a washing machine, new linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom, and a much more open floor plan. Then we'll move outside and see if we can use some of that fireplace rock for a big permanent grill. If only we could eliminate the mosquitos.

For the moment it's back to the real world...both of us working (I know, it's about time :)) The house has started to feel like our home again, though we have not resolved the issues of damages and missing items yet.

Houseguests, the return of our beloved Maggie, a Hapa concert on Tues., hula on Weds., and no cabin this weekend. Lisa wants me to add that hula on Weds. includes me. I too am putting into practice some of the aspects of my personal evolution learned spending a year in France, and that includes joining the kane (men's) hula group. I'm not sure how well I can dance, but I'm willing to find out. We are noticing that while we are surrounded by the old and familiar, we are seeing it with fresh eyes.

3 comments:

Brenda said...

I'm really glad the story (blog) continues. We get to be with you in your hectic life but give you space and time. Just wish I could keep all these different time zones straight! All your old friends are lucky to have you back and your new ones are waiting your return. Hopefully they can/will make the trek across the big pond!
Love you all, Mom

Rick said...

Hi Bren. Thanks for the nice comment! Maggie, et al, is here...yeah! She seems relaxed and tired from her cross-country travel. Nice to see our Moroccan rugs again. 100 degrees here everyday lately and I'm outside painting. Always happens that way.

Ken said...

Interesting what you bring back with you. We had steak tonight and the girls and I were dipping it in dijon mustard. While grilling I picked leaves from my oregano plant and cooked it on the meat.

Its the little things that bring back fond memories.