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 ;-)

LIFE'S FLOW~Shavua Tov; Woodland-WA

Today was a tranquil, laid-back day; I didn't sleep much throughout the previous night (sticky humid, and hard to breathe night), so I snoozed off and on throughout this day.

Holland sat beside me, surfing the internet in blessed quietness - he was enjoying the quiet lulls; hahaha ;-)

When I woke around 4:30 PM, he said, "How about some ice cream, and a short drive?" I agreed, while freeing the Sandman slowly.

We drove 5 minutes up the road where Holland ordered my new favorite ice cream treat - the Turtle Pecan Cluster BLIZZARD: so yummy!

Holland got a peanut butter flavored concoction for himself; then we sat in the shadowing shade of a large tree to finish them off.

Then, we enjoyed a lazy drive past the Tulip Farm, and along the dike road … we saw a cow nuzzling her newborn calf, whose fur was spiked with wet cow licks … and carefully passed over the rutted and crater-pocked dirt road under the Ghost Bridge; ending at our favorite river watching spot, where we both peeked towards the osprey nest platform to see if the youngsters have fledged yet: they haven't.

Newborn calf along the 'Ghost Bridge' Dike Road; Woodland-WA

Mama Osprey is still ferrying food to her youngsters …

As the sun began to lower in the evening sky, we parked on the beach and listened to the gentle lapping of the Columbia River as it's low curving waves softly kissed the sand.

Loggins & Messina - 'Watching the River Run song' 1973: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZfIE9mbZdY)

There was a little nip in the breeze due to the low hanging clouds … but the chilly, wind whipped waters did not seem to faze the jet-skier's - the river was teaming with human porpoises, a few popping wheelies & doing twisting tricks that eventually found them bobbing in the waves alongside their upended power toys ;-)

The river was very busy tonight - parking space was limited & firepits scented the breeze; Austin Point~Woodland-WA.

Tonight was a good close of this week's Sabbath ebbing … and the new week hovers, waiting to be embraced :-)

Shavua tov is a Hebrew term used as the Sabbath ends, to wish someone a good coming week.

BEAUTIFUL DAY

July 14th: Today was a beautiful day; literally and figuratively.

We had plans to do laundry before driving to Kelso to meet up with Tim, and Jake, there.

We loaded the laundry into Betsy and drove to the local laundromat … and seeing how busy it was, we meandered down to the river to sit a while hoping we'd be able to secure a parking spot as well as a few washers and dryers in an hour or two.

While waiting and watching river activities, we enjoyed the warmth of the river breeze; and discussed some more the plans we will be embarking upon sometime in the the near future as soon as the repair business concerning Independence is square away.

The day was unfolding like a beautiful day :-)

AM River visit; kayaker's … and a sailboat coming around the bend upriver, around Kalama; Austin Point~Woodland-WA

Backtracking through Main Street, we saw that the laundromat parking lot was still packed … so we decided to do laundry in the evening after returning from Kelso.

On our way to Kelso, Holland nipped into U-Neek RV's to grab an amp we'll need for the generator: our baby generator is housed in Tim's garage at the moment, and we need to pick it up so we would have it when we hit the road again sometime this month. We already have a pigtail too, but it's somewhere buried under the tipsy pyramid of boxes Holland heaved into a local storage unit.

Before we left Kalama, we stopped at the little burger bar there, to chow down on lunch burgers before continuing on to Kelso.

Both of us have eaten here over the years … but this is the first time for us here, together ;-)

Burgers in Kalama on our way to Kelso.

A beautiful day was unfolding.

Tim's place in on the way to Holland's brother & SIL's house - I read some pages of my latest read while Holland and Tim spent some time catching up on each other's lives since they last visited.

I read a bit while Holland & Tim schmoozed …

At Scott and Lana's - while waiting for Jake to pop in, Holland pointed out Mark's signature work on one of the house's ceilings (Holland talks about it, and I've been curious): I liked it, so I took a picture of it. I also like the livingroom ceiling design that Holland & Scott did in this house. I particularly like the sunburst :-)

Mark's Fan Work; his personal signature.

Scott & Holland did this Sunburst design - their personal signature work; I love the way it radiates outward from the center.

The visit with Jake, when he arrived, was fun. He asked me how I was feeling, said he'd been worried when Holland told him I'd been in ER a few days ago: I told him the ER episode was very frustrating because no one was focusing on why I had gone there … they were more concerned about making sure my social security account was charged for geriatric tests I've been avoiding, so I just unplugged and walked out.

What frustrates me more is that all the medical minions popping in and out of my ER cell KNEW I was using an emergency inhaler (I told them - and showed it to them) and not a one of them connected the dots: the breathlessness, racing heart, red rash and swollen ankle was an allergic reaction to my emergency inhaler! I could die without the inhaler … and apparently I can also die from using the inhaler (I've been commenting for months that I'm just as breathless using the inhaler, as not using it: I never considered I'd be allergic to my life-saving device); so, I've opted to halt using the inhaler.

Prayer Warriors have been contacted and will pray continually about this new development.

My life is in Elohim's hands - and I'm okay with that.

I'm expecting many beautiful days to be birthed as I move forward in my evolving life ;-)

Sulfa Allergies: https://www.webmd.com/allergies/sulfa-allergies

We visited in Kelso (with Jake, Scott, Lana, & Bleu) for about 4 hours before returning to Woodland.

The laundromat was still very busy; so we drove back down to the river where the evening breezes were balmy, the gentle lapping waves were soothing, and the beach activities were pleasant.

Back to the river for a bit while waiting for an opening at the laundromat.

Daredevils braving the ify wet sand …

Mama Osprey feeding her 2 youngsters.

As the sun was sliding down behind the hilly skyline of the evening sky, we drove back to town and were grateful to find a parking spot as well as the needed washers and dryers.

The laundromat started filling up again. Very quickly.

We waited in Betsy's cool cab during the 2-1/2 hour wash, dry, & fold laundry cycle …

Our last laundry load had been dried, folded, and packed for transport back to the motel room 5 minutes before the doors closed for the night.

Today was a truly beautiful day.

Tomorrow we go to RV PRO to take care of business, there. Hopefully, it will go well.