Bridging something…

The city decided to take advantage of my being distracted by chucking boxes filled with my belongings to deal with the old deck boards on my footbridge.

This particular footbridge was one of the landmarks of my walk into work.  Not only did it mark the border between the city leg and the park leg of my journey, it’s where I stopped, offered my affections to my favorite little strip of water, and chirped a happy ‘Good Morning’ to all things Natural.

It’s also been a regular stand in for a LOT of my camera work.

 

 

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A month ago, in the weeks leading up to the closing of the house, I had the opportunity to walk in to work, and came across the sign above.  Now, my walking route was already in the process of being reconfigured (a different end point will do that 😀 ) so I took the bridge closure in stride…but I just HAD to see what they were doing on the old girl.

They got to work on her right away, I’ll give them that.  They said they’d start on the 9th, and they did.  The put up this rather dull-gray frock to catch any stray bits.

And when I got my nose right up to the chain-link fence they installed to really let the pedestrians know that she’s closed…

They removed all the decking as soon as they could.  Although I loved the old footboards (that lovely shade that only comes from weather-worn wood makes a great backdrop), I do remember feeling a bit of shake whenever I walked across the bridge.  The old girl was due a facelift.

 

 

 

Fast forward to today……………….

This is the 2nd walk I’ve taken to/from work since the move happened.  We’ve had a lot of rain the last week, and I could see the shiny glimmer of standing water across the footpath in Bethesda park.  Yea, this park regularly gets really wet, because it’s sooooo close to the river.

The flooding didn’t stop me, though.  It offered me an opportunity to address the inner child.  I stripped off socks and shoes, rolled up the pant legs, and splashed my way through the extra water.

My feet don’t see much sunshine…

Do you have any idea how POTENT it is to ground in flooded Earth?  Especially when that patch of earth has been covered by water you have a special relationship with?

I hope all the witchy types reading my blog are nodding sagely at the moment…

I’m SUPERCHARGED.

The bridge is open for foot traffic again.  She looks so shiny and new.  Perfect to once again stand on her boards and offer my gratitude for the life that flows through my town.

 

 

 

 

 

Moving Mayhem – Fuzzy edition

OK, the image has NOTHING to do with the post, but it was one of those things that I just HADDA share.

Needless to say, the move was not without its bumps and snarls, and I still haven’t unearthed some of my stuff.  The big stuff came over a week ago Tuesday, so for a little better than a week now, I’ve been sleeping, showering, etc. at the new house.

Huzzah!  for owning (well, with the help of the bank!) the roof you sleep under!

First – the cats.  Mariko took the move OK.  She waltzed into her carry case like the royal queen she is, settled, and waited.  Spook, on the other hand, fought me tooth & nail.

The scars are healing nicely, BTW…

The car ride, brief as it was (it helps to be only moving a couple blocks down the way), was very vocal.  Neither cat enjoyed feeling the movement, and let me know in no uncertain terms EXACTLY how they felt about this atrocious treatment of their furhoods.

I walked both cat carriers down to the basement.  This is where we’re keeping that all-important litter box, and was a space in the house I could let the cats start to explore while all the moving was going on over their heads.  We decided to put nothing in the basement at this point, because we want to take out the old paneling and carpeting, and Chainmaille Central needs a VERY thorough cleaning.

So thorough, I’ve set up a shelf in the bedroom next to my desk and computer to maille in the meantime.   

Mariko gingerly walked out of her carrier, sniffing like a mad thing and talking up a storm.

Spook bolted out of his, then froze, every hair on end.

Mariko explored the basement, not able to keep still.

Spook dove behind the dryer and made himself as small as a 20 pound cat can make himself.

I stayed with both until the movers arrived, then left them locked in the basement.

Thumps, bangs, footsteps, weird noises – yea, I’m certain the cats were happy for the relative boringness of the basement at this point with all the racket going on upstairs.

Once the movers left, I opened the door to the basement.

Mariko was out and exploring this new level within minutes, pretty much mirroring her behavior in the basement – all over the place, very vocal, very excited.

Spook had yet to leave his ‘safe space’ behind the dryer.

In the late afternoon, I ended up pulling the counter away from the dryer so I could squeeze myself back there and dig him out.  I very carefully introduced him to the rest of the house, then let him decide for himself if he’d go back to his safe space.

He found another – under the couch in the living room, and was content to observe the goings-on from this secluded space.  He finally came out for lap time once we stuck a DVD in the player and were still for the evening.

It took both of them a good day+ to fully accept they had a new space to explore and live in.

Kitties aren’t built for moving around this Human world.

 

 

OMG – I have Debt!

I did it.  I survived the closing.  I now have debt over 6 figures.

For those of you bad at math – that’s a 1 (or a higher number, but for me, I’m happy with just the 1) followed by two zeros (or other numbers, again…), a comma (yea, one of these (,) things) and then three more zeros (yadda, yadda on the other numbers thing…) before hitting that decimal point which signifies fractions of a cent.

Aaand…for the more ‘visual’ learners out there…

Just the THOUGHT of this much debt makes me break out in a cold sweat…

But, in return for this new mountain of debt, I also have my own little piece of the Earth.  Lucky for me, there’s a building on it.

Well, OK, with me and my connections to the Natural, I’ve been more or less responsible for manipulating energies throughout the Waukesha area – but now I have my own tiny sliver of land within the area that I can steep in as much esoterica as I feel comfortable placing.

The money is just the Human way of recognizing things 😀

The fun part is just beginning, though.  I’ve got a mountain of boxes in the living room in the apartment that all have to be relocated.  I’ve got furniture, kitchenware, clothing, artworks, supplies, electronics.  All have to be shifted.

The two cats who are coming with me (both the black ones) are in for a rough couple of weeks…they dislike moving as much as I do.

And then, all the wards and energies have to be carefully sucked out of the apartment and reinstalled.

But, I’ve started.  This thing was the first thing in the house, and the first thing I attached to the wall.  I still have to put the dowel tabs on it, so it hangs straight – but that can come AFTER all the heavy lifting is done.

I’m on my way – I own a home again 😀