Happy birthday to Tai

 

Tai just drove a truck, which contained everything I owned, 1800 miles to help carry it all into my new Durango apartment a month ago.

It was more than the time spent in that liminal space...it was extraordinary.

He turns 47 today.

I'm so very proud of him. Not just appreciative. Not just a mother's love.

Tai is a man who makes decisions based on thoughtful consideration, most of the time. Yes he has emotions, and that's the way he lost our credit card at a gas station somewhere in Oklahoma...or was it Texas? Someone cut in front of him as he was pulling into the pump with the truck and the car towed behind. It frustrated him. He proceeded to still get the step stool out of the car and help me get down from the truck so I could go inside to use the rest room. He pumped the gas still. But he was upset and forgot to pull the card out of the reader.  Of course he noticed it two hours later when we again stopped for gas. No charges were ever made, and the card was frozen by the bank easily. I transferred the funds from that account to another one, and we kept on our way.

I mention this only because there is a sensitive side to my son which his family and friends all probably know.

He teaches high school art. He's learning a lot about the way schools teach anything these days. It's a challenge to marry testability to creativity. He has taught art at the college level, with different materials like clay, wood and metal.

Tai shows patience, love, humor, determination, caring and creativity...in his relationships with his wife, his brothers, myself, his dog and his cat....his house, garden, cooking, yard, car, workshop (this is amazing!!) and tools. Did I mention that he listens to people...really listens?

Then there is his love of the game of soccer. He has been known to go to sports bars to watch the British teams play on Sundays. He recently signed up to YouTube TV in order to watch more games at home.

I'm celebrating that this wonderful soul has shared his life with me for all these years. May there be many more happy ones in his future!

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Repost from August 21, 2026

 

With my being Ms Rogers, I am claiming the area I live in as my neighborhood.

Potted flowers at the entrance to the apartment building.

I sat outside with neighbors talking before the noon sun hit the west side of the building the other day. Then everyone scoots indoors.

Sitting here by the entrance. 

I was issued a key fob to let me through the locked door, and during the day, the landlady can let in deliveries in who buzz her office. I also got a key fob for my son and his wife to use, otherwise I'd have to go down to the lobby to let them in.

And looking the other way I see the studio apartment building across the parking lot. The cute little covered sitting area at the end of the cars is the smoking area. I asked a neighbor if they are allowed to smoke pot, but she thought not. I've not lived in a state where it's legal before, so don't know the rules.

And Wednesday I found out my next-door neighbor's apartment is being emptied out by the management...she must have died fairly recently because my son said someone was knocking loudly on her door when we were moving all my stuff in just 3 weeks ago last Monday, (July 27th). (Come to think of it, it could have been Meals on Wheels, because they often will require a response.)

I would imagine if she had had any relatives they would have been clearing out the apartment. But the manager and maintenance man were carting boxes and lots of grocery carts full of her stuff downstairs, putting a lot of things like shoes, audio tapes, kitchen wares on the "free table" in the lobby. The residents were like vultures actually...very friendly but a bit unpleasant to be around.

So I soon won't be the newest tenant. 

Of course I am sorry I never got to meet my former next-door-neighbor. It is sad to think how many people in senior living places like this might die. (How did I get into this apartment anyway?) It brings home to me the situation of a blogger who I didn't even know, who is suddenly in Hospice care...and so many bloggers are writing comments to Joanne and her daughter. I am touched by all the outpouring of care from many of the bloggers I know.

Which reminds me that one of the neighbors mentioned that Monday someone's things were all put out by the curb as they had been evicted. Glad I missed that episode of "grab what you want."

Recycling belongings makes sense though.

 I'll pass. I thought of asking the manager if there was a dresser that might be purchased, but decided I'd go through thrift stores to obtain one, and actually am leaning toward getting something new. I'm delighting in not having too much that is left from the "people before me." The apartment itself has a sense that someone cared for some areas more than others. I could show you the awful corroded kitchen sink, where someone used some powerful acid that left the stainless steel completely stained.

The maintenance man said he'd tried everything to scrub it clean. I just purchased a dish pan...not going to put my dishes on that surface! Of course I've tried everything I have except steel wool by now.

There are scrubby bushes by the parking lot, and a few trees around as well. Hogback Ridge and Heron's Peak are huge grey hunks of rock to look at. I imagine they'll be dramatic in snow.

Can I add that meaningful connections seem to happen here on blogs. Thanks folks!

Sharing with Floral Friday Fotos and Skywatch Friday