2017 Monday -- Arriving at Hank's House

We usually arrive at our beach house from the other direction, but today we stopped at the library in our little coastal town of Cayucos to get a book I had on reserve before coming to the house. So this view looking down our little street is not the usual view I capture and I like this angle a lot.

We drove away from our huge house in Corona at about 9:15 this morning. The "warm" weather was rapidly transforming to HOT. The photography team hired by our realtor was due to arrive at 10:00 and our daughter would greet them. AND we were anxiously on our way to re-start our summer at the coast.

Our route to California's Central Coast takes us through Los Angeles, specifically Pasadena on the 210 Freeway. Traffic always is congested there and we look at our phone map to decide whether to drive the 134 freeway toward Glendale/Burbank or to follow the 210 Freeway north where there are more options, like following the 118 Freeway to the 23 Freeway which ends at the 101 Freeway in the community of Agora or we can continue north and the 210 Freeway ends as it merges into the Interstate 5 Freeway; then in the city of Valencia, Highway 126 West leads us to Ventura and the 101 Freeway on the coast. And that is what we did today. The temperature in Valencia on the 5 Freeway was 103 degrees; when we arrived in Ventura, the temperature was 73 degrees, and such a relief.

A week ago today we drove away from this place to head back to Corona. We drove into horrible heat and more work than I care to describe. We've experienced the emotional stress of getting ready to meet with a realtor and the physical work of preparing the house to look like a place that's never been lived in (I'm only sort of joking).

Last Thursday at 1:00 a real estate team of three professionals entered our home to take a good look and then to discuss the details. I was so tired from all the cleaning and the clearing of clutter that every muscle in my body hurt. It would be interesting to know how many times I have either walked up or down the stairs from our library/office room and master bedroom to the main floor living room, kitchen, family room and out the door to our two TuffSheds and beyond to the trash cans. Six big boxes of books and two big boxes of coffee mugs were taken to the thrift store. Just the giving away of stuff is stressful (that's my stuff). My books become like friends . . . I remember where I bought them; I remember where I read them, and in some of them a finely crafted sentence or paragraph has been a favorite. That's emotionally draining; carrying them downstairs was physically straining. We've also experienced the emotion and attitude of our adult daughter, who has lived with us for the past 24 months. Her emotions are jangled and her attitude swings like a pendulum. If our house sells, she'll have to find a place to live and that's not exactly fun. As I looked into the faces of the three realty people, I was glad they did not know all that was going through my mind.

But right at this moment all that frustration, tension, stress, and tiredness lightened immensely. I know it's not visible in my photo, but the view across the Estero Bay is crystal clear. What a treat!

Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol