Empty Cereal Box

Views From Inside an Adoptee

July 17, 2006

Oregon or Bust

Photo of some sunflowers I planted in our front yard. They make me happy.

Our house is finally in escrow. If everything goes through, and I think it might, we have to be out by the end of August, and we'll be headed for Oregon. Right now the repairs, painting, and getting rid of everything is taking up every waking minute of consciousness (I plan on posting about this in more detail tomorrow).

Everything and everyone I know is in flux. It's as if there's this humongous darkness that looms around us, closing in. There's a sense of urgency in the air. I don't know how else to explain it. Take the permanant background anxiety I know better than my own name (based on an utter lack of personal grounding) and the greater global situation combined with The Impending Move and what you get is galaxy-sized anxiety on steroids. I'm probably certifiable and should check myself in right now instead of typing on my keyboard. My mantra these days is "Change is good, change is good, change is good."

Even so, I'm going to miss so many things here. I need to type them out, not so much for the reader but for me, to appreciate what I'm leaving behind for the unknown.
  • Our bungalow
  • The garden with its veggies, fruits, herbs, trees, and shrubs
  • The 96-cent, 97-cent, and 99-cent stores in our community
  • The wonderful Mexican, Central American, and South American folks who populate our neighborhood.
  • The video store where we rented about a billion films and became friends with everyone there
  • The locally owned stores in our neighborhood
  • The cool sea breezes that keep our town cool while most of the rest of the country bakes in the summer
  • Avocados
  • Oranges and other Mediterranean fresh produce



Tom Buddah (my secret name for him), the guy who helped us to fix the sidewalk in front of our house when we hooked up to the sewer, is doing the house repairs for escrow. He lives in a tiny trailer behind a house with his dog Brodie. Here he is at our kitchen table trying to eat a turkey sandwich, which is a huge and tiring chore for him, since he doesn't have a tooth in his head. He can't hold much food down anyway (he's been known to lose it in our backyard). Anyone you know probably eats more in a day than Tom eats all week. Mostly he'd rather be drinking a can of Milwaukee's Best.

Tom rolls his own cigarettes with Bugler tobacco.

Tom's voice is deep and twangy and resonates throughout the house in a comforting way.

Tom makes that loud pirate aaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! sound all the time and sighs deeply because his back hurts constantly, and his legs were also broken in three places in an accident.

Tom is stick-thin with such long arms that his hands nearly brush his knees when he walks. He can stand on the floor in the bathroom and nearly touch the ceiling, even though he's only about 5'8".

Tom always aims to please.

Tom has a huge heart. He respects nature and animals and plants and is very humble.If there is a heaven, he's headed there for sure.

3 Comments:

Blogger Mia said...

Change IS good but I would miss those things too.

I think Tom sounds amazing.

I wish you all the best on your move!!!!

17.7.06  
Blogger Rhonda said...

Moving is so difficult, even when you are following your dreams.

18.7.06  
Blogger Laurie (formerly known as Momseekingpeace) said...

Ok so do you know the area in Oregon you are moving? I got some idea on neighborhoods for you.
MSP

26.7.06  

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