May 30, 2018

A day of unexpected endings; My departure isn’t for a couple of more weeks yet today Universe began giving me my marching orders. The tree I always parked under while speaking with my husband before going in to work had been imprisoned. After parking elsewhere, I saw the Wise One was being assaulted with chainsaws…all to make room for a roundabout at the nearby elementary school. “Progress.”

The damper in the day being set, I decided it was a good day to get most of my work belongings out of the office and bring them home. All of my training has been in this building; I’ve never practiced anywhere else. I’m grateful to have worked with young children, elementary-aged, and adolescents. Also a few parents, which is, in my opinion, where the answer usually lies. I had not expected to feel such a well of emotion to appear as I pulled up to the front where Ben stood, holding boxes filled with my books and binders. For so long I have teased him about my messy yet joyful desk, displaying pictures of my kids when they were toddlers and my husband with Maggie. Now, it looks bare and forlorn.

After an appointment, I headed to the post-office for Part Two: sending off my LPCC hours to be accepted. Marriage & Family Therapists (MFTs) are primarily a California career, it seems. In the rest of the country, LPCCs (Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors) are the what’s-what. All those years ago, when learning about the possibility of furthering my degree, I knew I wasn’t supposed to stay in California, so I got the dual Master’s degree. See, Derek? Trust your intuition.

It wasn’t long til I had to pick up my son from his friend’s house. Driving my badass little Mazda, we soon ended up “taking the scenic route” (temporary lost) on a steep, broken dirt road in the hills. Two quail ran frantically across the road, as if 1 pace behind the steeplechase leader. Fifty feet further, two hares sat on the side of the road, not giving a damn that I was passing them or not. Both ends of the spectrum living in harmony. It’s a shame humans choose not to learn more from Nature.

With perfect timing, my back pain has returned. What started out a couple of months ago as occasional annoyances is back to the ice-packs and useless-but-maybe-this-time-it’ll-be-different Ibuprofen/Naproxen consumption. 17 days til I head to Texas and not a damn thing is packed (except for the 19 packed, then unpacked, the re-packed, now somewhat packed boxes of books). Did I mention I’m trying to become a minimalist?