THE PLAN
I'm going to start with the important stuff. The library closet is DONE, man! It took almost all day Sunday, and it's still not totally finished, but that cavernous, useless space is almost empty. I threw away hundreds of gift bags, birthday cards, sewing supplies, and so much junk. I bagged up three huge bags of things to sell or donate: old purses, toys, picture frames, craft stuff. So much stuff, you guys. I found enough reusable grocery bags to support several families and their monthly shopping. I emptied at least six full-sized moving boxes.
BANGS AND ALL THEY IMPLY
I read somewhere that often pregnant women will drastically change their hair style at some point during their pregnancy because they feel that they are not in control of their body and cutting their hair makes them feel in control of something about their appearance. I've also read that women will make big hair changes after a breakup, or to get out of a rut in their life. I'm in none of those situations, but made the spontaneous decision to cut bangs onto myself this weekend. BOOM:
I'm going to say it's because the weather is a little cooler and therefore it's easier to actually fix my hair without becoming a puddle of sweat and frizz. Also, I love change. I've been letting my hair grow for over a year, and haven't colored it in longer than that, so I just had to do SOMETHING. I'm sure I'll regret it soon.
SOURCES OF JOY
I've been searching out a lot of Maine-related things on social media and the internet in general. More than before. I know, hard to believe. I've found many amazing things. The Maine Show Podcast, Bill Green's Maine, Brett Willis on the Maine Today website, with his articles about how to survive Maine winters. I'm legitimately scared of our first winter there. Here in Texas, winter is just the few weeks in January and February that it doesn't get up to 80°. In Maine, you can die from winter. Just like in Texas you can die from summer. There will be much research of surviving winters in Maine.
The one thing I keep coming across, to my delight, is this theme of people moving away from Maine and coming back when they realize how amazing it is. Or people from away moving to Maine and loving it. I find these stories over and over again, I hear or read about the slower pace, the focus on conservation, and how the appreciation for the beauty never gets old. I actually worried about that. The first time I saw Camden Harbor in October of 2006, I got tears in my eyes, I was so moved by it. I asked a waitress at Cappy's Chowder House, "Does it ever get old? Every time you walk out of your door to go to work, do you see those mountains and this harbor and still love it? How do you get anything done?" She answered that she was born and raised in Maine, and every single day she loves it. She mentioned "mud season" which is what they call spring, when all the snow melts and it seems like the mud will never go away, and that the tourists can get abrasive sometimes, with their traffic and rowdiness, but I could tell she was talking about it in the way I talk about my kids when they misbehave. She loves Maine, every day, despite the mud and the tourists and the black flies,
AUTUMN IN TEXAS
We don't really have a true autumn here. Right now people are just excited because the temperature is staying below 90° for the most part and the humidity is under 70%. It feels positively brisk at moments. This past weekend it got down into the 60's (Whaaaaaaaat? I know!) in the early morning and we embraced it all the way. We sat outside and had coffee, the boys busted out their jackets, and we talked of how this would be a summer day in Maine. We reminisced about wearing jackets in June on our last trip there this past summer, and how we would spend a fortune on a true winter wardrobe when we moved. We talked about these things the way expectant parents talk of how things will be when their first baby arrives. Much like that, I'm sure there's no amount of preparation that will truly make us ready for this, and I'm also sure that it will be nothing like I imagine. It will be far more difficult and better than I can know right now.
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