Snow on the ground did not deter trick-or-treating here in Maine, though we did not get hit by the degree of snowfall seen by much of the northeast. Still, it was cold out this morning, and I decided to cheat and take my sunrise photos from indoors.
An interesting phenomenon is evolving in our household, dwindled down from 6 residents to 2 (plus three dogs). The experience of the empty nest has proven to be a longer term process than we supposed. Things happen in your life sometimes, and you don't really realize they are happening until you look back at them.
In our first year as empty-nesters, J and I were "in transition." J expressed it succinctly today when we were catching up with some local teachers who came trick-or-treating with their baby. They asked about us, about how the kids are doing etc. Over the last year, I said, we were figuring out what to do in this new home dynamic - which is so lacking now in dynamism.
"We just sat around for a year," said my husband.
Over the last few weeks, we have been slowly emerging from our cocoon. Time to rearrange the furniture! We have cleared boxes and piles and clutter from several rooms. It now covers every horizontal surface in the downstairs. We've been brainstorming visions of what our house's new purpose will be over the next few years or more, and we have launched the metamorphosis.
Things being what they are, my suspicion is that we'll be walking around piles of debris for a few months, but at least we've moved from sitting around to messing around. I think that's progress.
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