Ah, where to start?

Since last I was walking the halls of the blogging building a great many things have happened. Some of those have been good, and some not so much, but I suppose things are all working out the way they are supposed to regardless of what I'd like to happen. I guess when I become king I can orchestrate things according to my will, but until then I have to walk the path laid out before me. Quite honestly that flies in the face of my drill sergeant nature, but that's probably the point and I'd do well to listen and learn. According to my supreme commander, a.k.a. my wife, I have made great strides in the direction of "flowing freely" and she is quite pleased. Hey, happy wife, happy life, right?

A couple years ago we sold our house in California, after surviving the renters from hell chapter of our lives, and bought a place in north eastern South Dakota. For two summers we have split our time between there and Ennis, Montana. Last winter/spring we were at my mom's place in Oregon. I am very thankful we were able to be at her place last year. You see she passed away in February and never again will I have the opportunity to sit with her.  In general, but specifically attitude wise many things changed at that point. I am now much more aware of the importance of family and the reality of how quickly things can change. To say that entire situation was an eye opener would be an understatement. 

I mentioned before that we've spent a good deal of time the last two summers in Ennis, Montana. Last year we bought 5 1/2 acres of land just outside of town. It's a nice level piece of ground with a place to put a home that will give us a million dollar view of the Madison mountain range. We are hoping to start building on it this summer. Is that where we end up long term? I don't know, maybe, but at this point we have given up making long term plans due to the rapidity of life changing events. Right now we are back in Northern California while I work in the dispatch center filling in for a guy who retired. Every dime of that money goes in the bank with the idea of using it for building in Montana purposes. We'll see how that pans out. The trout fishing in that area is outstanding as is the deer and elk hunting, and we fit in well in general. The picture at the top of this entry is one I took last year after netting a nice trout on an early August morning.

For now we'll just continue to roll along and see where this new adventure takes us and try not to worry too much about the future. I'm reasonably certain our path has already been set in front of us, now it's up to us to recognize and  accept whatever that might be. Hopefully that curtain is drawn sooner than later...I still hate traveling blind. 😉