LOVE HEALS; Woodland-WA

We're finally on the same page, 9 out of 10 :-)

There was quite a bit we both (a divorced widower & a happily married widow) had to work through this past year in terms of relationship expectations & assumptions - lots of Past leftovers that had to be laid to rest on both sides of the marriage coin: but we both believe we've come out of the tunnel to confidently walk into the sunshine of our Life.

Bob Segar - 'Shame On The Moon' song w/Lyrics: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-rP49SZ1Oo)

We understand each other better now, and we can laugh off the dark side of the moon that has shadowed us the past 12 months.

Thank the Lord.

Holland has been tracking down, and getting things in place for job's that will dovetail with our road gypsy life … specifically jobs that we can do together. Some people think we spend too much time together already … and some people think we are too co-dependent on each other: we are doing what is right for us. The problem has never been the 24/7/365 togetherness - the problems have always been our different approaches to understanding each other's view of marriage; in that regard we are total opposites. But we are working our way towards centrality now, with humor instead of friction.

I have a Graysriver friend who told me during a hard time, "Val, the first year is always the hardest."

Being married for 44 years before becoming a widow, and eventually a new Bride again, I had forgotten how hard the first few years of marriage could be. And Holland had been a bachelor since around 1981 - he had a turbulent childhood due to his parents' troubled marriage, a very brief first marriage, and sparse dating periods until we became a thing; his knowledge of a long-term relationship was pretty sketchy.

Assumptions and expectations on both sides, were not lining up with reality.

The first year of newly married life was extremely hard. For both of us.

We were both trying too hard to make sure the other was happy; the results were unhappiness for both of us, that ultimately resulted in verbal fireworks when the pressured stresses ran too high. Things got pretty bad around June this year; we weren't being friendly towards each other at all, when Independence was put in shop to be repaired.

Friends on both sides entered the fray - sometimes we listened, sometimes we didn't. But we always thanked them for their love and concern. I am glad that we have mutual friends who pulled for US instead of at us, separately, for selfish reasons. Cal, though, is still a very serious problem; but that issue will eventually be taken care of, too.

All of July we concentrated on what we wanted, and where we wanted our Life to go. There is a lot going on in our lives that neither of us are willing to share with the public - what we shared with each other, is confidential; and what little we do share confuses those who do not know the entire story of US.

It's complicated.

But, we understand each other better now. We really are each other's best friend even though we each have trust issues. And we really do enjoy each other's company - even when occasionally at odds with each other.

And we're excited about what the coming months will hold for us when we hit the road again ;-)

We're looking forward to working jobs together, and we're happy with the way things are coming together to make that possible (Holland has been able to purchase most of the needed things, locally); we want to have as much as possible in place before we leave WA State.

The prospective jobs will be good for both of us - and I am glad Holland is agreeing to use my strengths now; I'm not used to being a useless woman: I need to be working, too, if he want's my fuse defused.

A packages arrived this morning: I love these cookies, and Holland makes sure I have a steady supply at hand ;-)

Car Cam & a new, reliable, GPS

The type of tool box needed; the rack will have to go (we'll both miss this rack), as the company will not allow it, & the tool box will be lowered and bolted to the bed, before Holland's tools are placed inside it.

Trying out the new tracking devices, we went for a drive, and as usual found time to spend at the river :-)

Our eyes just naturally go to the osprey nest on it's Park pole (Holland has become as interested as me to see their progress; LOL). This afternoon when we drove to the river, we saw the young ospreys flying around the nest (!), as we drove to our viewing spot on the beach, below the nest; they have been testing their wing feathers since Sunday afternoon.

They soared, and voiced their adventuring, as we watched them. I would have snapped a pic, but I was too busy watching and cheering them on.

A very hot day (97-degrees), and a very busy salmon fishing day; Woodland-WA

Just a lazy day on the river …

A ship bearing sown on the fishing boat conglomeration.

Fishermen can fish both sides of the shipping channel - but they have to vacate the shipping channel.

The vessel BEL AIR, is a Bulk Carrier built in 2006; and currently sailing under the flag of Liberia. The ship right now is very light of weight - the waves will be small.

The {Freighter Wash} today wasn't a dramatic as the other day's; but it was still interesting to watch.

Fishermen want to fish the high tide; this is a low tide, and the fishermen are leaving …

A Bar Pilot Boat - I've never seen one before, but I've heard of them since being married to Holland ;-)

Columbia River Bar Pilots:  (https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/columbia_river_bar_pilots/ & https://colrip.com/about/)

Today, the Columbia River Bar Pilots consist of 19 men and one woman, all of whom have sailed as Master prior to becoming pilots, the highest sailing standard in the United States.

I didn't know the Bar Pilot actually took over the Captain's Role while navigating through the shipping channel.

Ship Captains only have control of their ships in the Pacific Ocean waters - Columbia River traffic is handled by Bar Pilots.

The Fledglings have fled … we will miss watching them :-(

Eventually, we headed back to town where we bought an air fryer and some groceries before filling Betsy's tank for our drive to Vancouver, tomorrow morning. We will be checking on some more things that need to be tended to.

On our way back to the motel room we could see that traffic was backed up both ways - we hope it flows smoother tomorrow ;-)

A face in the clouds …

A 1932 Ford Roadster, alongside us at the Pump Station; Woodland-WA

1932 Ford Roadster: 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_Ford)

Freeway traffic at a standstill both ways; Woodland-WA

We bought an Air Fryer, which will also come in handy when we get Independence back ;-)