Dia de Los Muertos mosaic art by an old pal from the Tahoe Days, who is, these days, a longtime resident of Santa Cruz. This card arrived in the p.o. box yesterday. I still delight in receiving snail mail, aging curmudgeon that I am. It was sent by another friend in Santa Cruz. Where my babies were born, and much, much more.
It's been almost a year since I've seen two of my three kids. More than five months since older daughter visited us. That's nearly an eternity in mama time. Hoping to pull off a trip to Northern California at the end of this year to see my children and loved ones. Because the only tough part about this amazing existence in paradise is missing people that I love. Which is something I fully expected, so not a surprise. As long as I can get to the mainland once a year, l'm good. And then, someday...
So, am looking into possibilities. Knowing that each time I return to the mainland, and my former haunts, I am reminded of what's changed. And what remains.
6 comments:
beautiful artwork! Who is the artist? I'm going to SC at the end of this week to see my daughter, et al. Yes, plenty of ghosts there. Glad not to be there anymore. Time to move on. If only I could convince my daughter and son-in-law to leave and move near me. Alas, that won't happen!
Hope you get to make your winter sojourn here. And lucky you, you get to return to paradise.
The artist is Beth Purcell, who is also a friend of Robin & Roger. Gotta say, I will always have a soft spot for Santa Cruz. Much more so than for Campbell, Sonora, or Mendocino. I did not want to leave La Selva Beach in 1993, but caved (Refer to my last post) according to the needs of my then-spouse and we moved our little family to Campbell. One of those fatal mistakes, as it turns out! Shoulda woulda coulda.
Are you considering moving back? I felt isolated up in the PNW which wasn't so bad at first. The scenery is amazing but because of Facebook, I realized how much I missed having friends around me. The older I got, the more I craved that connection to my past.
No f#*@ing way!! "Maybe someday" means maybe someday, my kids will move on over. I truly do not miss California, only some of it's inhabitants. Being alone/isolated was one of our goals.
Santa Cruz is the only place I've returned to three times to live. I have a soft spot for that coast and those rolling hills. We tried to return in 2008-9, but we couldn't make it work there. It's gotten very crowded, and the lack of sufficient water for a burgeoning population is only going to get worse. It breaks my heart.
It is really so cool to see Beth's mosaics here on your blog.
The separation part gets worse when grandkids come along. But we simply could not bear to live on the Mainland any more.
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