you latin scholars will know what that says
for those who cant read latin
it says
and two years
thats how long we have lived in santa barbara
two years ago today we loaded up our two cars with what belongings we had left
the rest was sold or donated
off to santa barbara we went
taking two days to make the drive
no sight seeing was allowed
the thing i remember the most as we drove off
well
it was our dog
marley
he seemed so sad
he was a loving happy dog
i called him the dog that could lick you to death
he found a good home with a good friend
he is happy with a buddy to play with and plenty of room to run and play
we get to see him each time we return to the austin area
he still seems to remember us
we took over a year and half or more to make our decision to move
as we visited relatives here we would look around
could we live here
where would we live
could especially me find places to garden and volunteer
once while visiting i took a fold out map
looked for pharmacies medical offices restaurants grocery stores relatives
i found an area that seemed to meet all those needs
all within walking distance
i made a circle on the map
i told my wife she thats where we want to live
we decided that we wanted to not accumulate stuff again
we wanted to be minimalist like
in fact to fight my wifes urge to accumulate
i whisper to her sometimes
minimalism
yes
she still buys stuff from goodwill then later donates it to the thrift store
it makes her happy i guess
we did manage to furnish our condo a 1 bedroom condo with things that are functional
most are used things
knowing we dont want to do that unloading thing again
our two sons owe us a lot by not having to deal with all that stuff that some kids have to do when their parents leave this earth
youre welcome
we both miss the country n and its quietness and peacefulness
but
we have found solace here also
i dont think we have regretted moving here over the last two years
we have seen ms b grow up over the last two years to be a cute smart active 4 years old
we have seen mr h be born and go through a lot this last 9 months
we are so glad we were and are around to be involved in his care
it does help to have a family doctor interpreter as a granddaddy
we will never regret making this move for this reason
for those who are wondering how mr h is doing
he will probably go on dialysis in the spring
then
get a kidney transplant when he reaches the growth paramenters to fit an adult kidney in a toddlers body
both ms b and mr h love to go to the garden
a goal of developing a love for gardening has begun in both of them
my wife she has got to be around her mother for the first time really since we have been married
they do like thrift shopping together and walking together
why just last night she cooked fried green tomatoes from my garden
just that was enough reason to have moved here
her siblings also live close by
both our sons live here now with their families so we get to see them more than once or twice a year
i love to garden
its in my dna
i get to do it almost every day growing a lot of the veggies we eat each day
i also get to do all the volunteering i want to do
i have turned down a lot of volunteer opportunities
i volunteer at our community garden each week helping plant and harvest veggies for donations to food kitchens
i also volunteer with youth groups that come to the garden
i also volunteer at a local elementary school helping them to grow veggies
i volunteer with the alzheimers association here in santa barbara helping with the local walk in the fall
i usually talk for a few minutes at the opening ceremonies
i also do other events during the year like the senior expo etc maintaining a table for folks to come by and ask questions
i have been on alzheimers panels several times for the alzheimers greater la answering questions from the audience and from a moderator
i have also done my my story talk several times in the santa barbara area
originally i had planned to do volunteer work with habitat for humanity but our lives got too busy to do more volunteering
i continued the alzheimers studies at ucla which end next month but hope to find a new study this fall
so
do we have regrets
no way
would we do it again
yes we would
the organicgreen doctor
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