Peeking in...

[Toad37]

Seems every place has it's downsides...I sometimes miss the So. Calif. desert, dry heat & all, but no rain with wildfires & earthquakes. I wanted a change so I traded
all that for plenty of precipitation, stifling humidity, ice storms & tornadoes... (oops!)

Sounds to me like you moved to the Midwest!

[Bogertophis]

Ok, I still want to move, though. I wish I could live in the mountains of Albuquerque. I even look at realtor.com and dream which house I would pick. Its beautiful there. I have always had a thing for WIDE OPEN spaces, endless blue skies, and the arid but gorgeous desert mountains. The sky must be gorgeous at night, can you imagine all those stars. Can you imaging driving down endless roads , looking over this gorgeous landscape.

I have never been a fan of wood areas, or wood covered mountains. To dark, to enclosed, to stifling. Like a horror movie. I love wide open, I love dry, I love dry heat. It doesn't have to be extremely hot, but I also def. don't want to go where it gets ice cold and snowing half the year.

So yeah, New Mexico sounds good to me.

These summers here in the south east are just miserable. Esp. for a person that loves to be outdoors. Between this hot heat and bugs, ugh. You can just stand around after doing a bit of work outside and you are absolutely drenched. Sweat just literally rolling down the body while resting in the shade. Its just terrible.

I lived in El Paso , TX for over a year. While the city itself is pretty terrible, I will never forget waking up and looking outside the window at those gorgeous mountains and endless, absolutely endless blue sky. It was like waking up in a beautiful dream. I think I belong in a landscape such as that..

I do miss the wide open spaces of the desert...I could see for miles & miles from my former house in So Cal...the view (also night sky) was awesome. I miss being able to sit out at night in my hammock as the day cools off. Here in the mid-South, even IF it cools off enough the mosquitoes will eat you alive sitting out. Funny you mention New Mexico...I almost moved there instead of here, & sorta wish I had. Still might... I love the rain here & the green but everything grows so darn much, the yard work is endless & it's not how I want to spend my time. I even miss the coyotes howling in the desert nearby.

[Bogertophis]

Sounds to me like you moved to the Midwest!

Nope, but you're close...Mid South.

[zina10]

I do miss the wide open spaces of the desert...I could see for miles & miles from my former house in So Cal...the view (also night sky) was awesome. I miss being able to sit out at night in my hammock as the day cools off. Here in the mid-South, even IF it cools off enough the mosquitoes will eat you alive sitting out. Funny you mention New Mexico...I almost moved there instead of here, & sorta wish I had. Still might... I love the rain here & the green but everything grows so darn much, the yard work is endless & it's not how I want to spend my time. I even miss the coyotes howling in the desert nearby.

Well, maybe we will both end up there !!! Would be nice to have a friend with common interests and a love for that area. I loved nothing more then to hike for hours through that landscape. Something so wild and beautiful about it. And the openness !!! It makes me feel like I can breathe!!

[Ax01]

yay! welcome back Zina! now u can be Mod!

#ZinaForMod #SuperMod #ZuperModZina

[CALM Pythons]

How is everyone ? I've had some crazy busy times, as usual in summer. Only, this year it started early!

However, it seems that things have already calmed down somewhat, so I may drop in more often

Have you all forgotten me already ? LOL

Same here.. I’ve stopped by here and there but no time for Phones after work, Kids, Dogs, Snakes... ohh and Wife .
Hope everything is going well with the Family. See you soon I’m sure. Enjoy the rest of summer even though you get like 6 MORE MONTHS of sunshine than me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bogertophis]

... Enjoy the rest of summer even though you get like 6 MORE MONTHS of sunshine than me...

Sounds like you must be in Minnesota? (my bro & sil lived there for many years)

[CALM Pythons]

Sounds like you must be in Minnesota? (my bro & sil lived there for many years)

Nope, Unfortunately NY, Mass, NH, CT have all been having short summer seasons over the years. It didn’t even get warm or stop raining until the 3rd week of JUNE!!! 2 months of Rain and 50-68 degrees right through May into June.
It always cools down mid Aug, by September its 60’s and 72 is a special occasion


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zina10]

Well, it looks like I'll be even more absent then usually.

My mom had a stroke. I can only now talk about this, even though it happened 3 weeks ago. The only reason I even talk about it is that she is doing exceptionally well.

My mother lives overseas in Germany, where I am from. And she was just visiting here (like she does every year) with my brother, only a few months ago. When I got that phone call, I can't even describe. I felt 10 years old again and absolutely unable to go on without my mother. I lost my father in my early twenties. It doesn't matter how old you get, loosing a parent, or both, still makes you feel like a boat afloat on the ocean.

It doesn't help that I'm far away from home, no way to get there fast.

My brother and sister kept me up to date the whole time, I even got to talk to my mom that very day, and they sent videos. She is doing well, she was even then. Speaks normally and only a slight stiffness in left arm/hand and left leg. She can move them, but lost some of the fine motor skills. Doctors said she should recover completely. They (and her) told me NOT to come since visitors were only allowed once the day and only 15 minutes. Only one person. I would have hardly got to see her. She was moved into rehab and did great. Walks without a walker now (carefully) and is even back to knitting. Today she is going home, to stay with my sister for a few weeks before going back to her condo.

I was promised I would get a call immediately if things get worse, but to wait until I can spend a lot of time with my mom, when she is back home.

I kept getting updates, and during those I felt great, but as soon as I hung up the phone my brain would go into overdrive. Imagining things, worrying about every little thing, if she sounded tired, "different" and so on and so forth. So for now its planned that I go in October, since my sister has a vacation planned and it would give me time alone with mom and able to help out when needed. Of course if anything is amiss , I will go immediately.

When I'm stressed I shut down. I don't want to talk to anyone, or even be around anyone. I withdraw. So that's what I did. I am slowly feeling better about everything and less on edge, I stopped waiting for "the other shoe to drop" at any second and I'm back to sleeping better.

Ax01, thank you for your support and your crazy idea of turning me into a mod, but I don't feel I'm here consistently enough to really help out the mods and admin. They need people that can commit more time. But I do appreciate it

So, I'll be back popping in here and there, but probably not as much as I'd like to. I often leave the computer on and myself logged in when I leave the house, so I can remember to check in when I get back.

Thank you to all that remember me , "I'll be back" !!!!! (in my best German accent voice...)

[Bogertophis]

Thanks so much for keeping us in the loop & I wish nothing but the best for your mom's full recovery. I know what you mean, it's so hard when you're so far away,
and we only get one "mom", so they're truly precious & irreplaceable. We'll forgive you in advance for your likely absences, but do pop in when you get the chance.