I have moved out, moving on. Away from the drama of the circus of rack & ruin next door. Had to leave so much that was precious to me behind. The ache will fade. In time even grass becomes cream.
Many people turn to other substances to use as a balm to soothe the stress, the pain, the injustice. To cope with a disturbing living situation.
Alcohol is the most common though it creates more problems than it solves. Raising the intake of nicotine such as dip or cigarettes. Getting chip faced on daily mint chocolate chip ice cream. Excess pizza consumption. All of these will create more stress, more problems than they solve.
The substance I turn to is needlework.
Colored fibers that are soothing, pleasing to the eyes as well as the sense of touch. Green has always been my favorite color. Nearly all shades of green.
Baby Spring Green
Bright Showy Green
Soft Sage Green
Deep Forest Green
Turning to a beautiful, soft, soothing sage green is giving the peace, the comfort, the beauty I can create with my hands. In DMC colors it would be Art 117 # 502.
Hardanger Embroidery does require skill, knowledge, precision, perfection. It has to be perfect, or it will be so blaring obvious, the piece will be ruined, time wasted on a thing that could have been pure beauty from the hands of a skilled needle worker.
In learning of this beautiful art form, tackling a major pitfall is something I handled early on.
In my first hardanger project, eons ago. I cut the wrong thread, on purpose, which could have ruined the entire balance. The purpose was to know how to repair/restore in a future event that I cut a wrong thread by mistake.
I wouldn't despair or panic over a potential catastrophic mistake.
The sort that happens in hardanger embroidery.
Simply, taking 5 minutes to repair with only sureness of technique.
**** Three Week Time Lapse****
So............finally, I'm settling into a new home. It's nicer, newer, low drama or no drama. No land lady trying to squeeze money out of me.
A pleasant surprise is that the cost of living is lower, here, than it was where I was living. There's less noise, no teenagers with a sense of entitlement.
Just peace & quiet. Because I'm close to Shepard AFB, hearing the jets overhead is a welcome sound. Jet noise is the sound of freedom.
Also, I find that I can think more clearly, stitch with more accuracy,
knowing that I'm safe.
Really, it felt unsafe where I was, before.
Feeling safe is so underrated.
Now, the final settling in begins. The forgetting of precious things I had to leave behind. The rediscovery of precious things I hadn't seen in a few years, as if they are all so new to me all over again.
Living in a more cosmopolitan area, so much more is available to me. Multiple theaters. A choice of cuisines. Appointments on the AFB will take 15 minutes instead of the 3 hours it used to take.
Instead of just one poorly maintained dog park, there are 4 nicely maintained ones. In Graham, the people using the one dog park, mostly didn't care. There were shards of glass, food wrappers, candy papers. Although there were pet waste bags & receptacles, many people didn't pick up after their pets. Gates were left opened.
The pet owners just didn't care, though a few did.
Now, I walk with PJ, around the neighborhood. He seems to enjoy the many different scents around him. People admire him, telling me how handsome he is, they notice his excellent manners. What they don't see is the hundreds of hours, spent teaching & training him.
New place to live, new places to explore.
Away from the chaos of the circus & clowns next door.
We're home.
