Although there is not much new to report, I didn’t want the month to go by without posting something, especially since ostensibly one of the reasons I decided to start this blog is to practice writing regularly.

It’s been hard, though, not even so much because there is not always a whole lot of news, but mostly because I’m still trying to find my voice with this blog. I’m still not quite sure who I am writing for. Probably not for myself, at least not for myself as a reader. I find reading my own writing boring at best, embarrassing at worst. Maybe years or decades down the road I will actually derive some pleasure out of re-reading these posts, but definitely not in the near future. Am I writing for others? Again, probably not right now or in the immediate future. I’m still blogging anonymously and haven’t told anyone I know about this blog yet, although I might tell a friend or two in the coming months. And, based on the lack of comments and real (as in not spammy or weird) followers, it doesn’t seem like the “online community,” whatever that is supposed to mean, has discovered my blog.

So, I suppose for now it comes down to blogging for myself, in the moment. Writing for the sake of the process of writing, putting my thoughts into words, getting my brain (somewhat) organized. For the enjoyment this process brings, despite the aforementioned struggle with finding my voice, style, and audience. I’m attending a writing workshop later this week, actually, which, while geared more towards reporting, may also help with some of the issues I just mentioned.

Getting back to recent developments in our life… I did go visit my parents earlier this month as planned, and that went really well. OK, admittedly, those visits are never “picture-perfect.” For example, my attempt to bring up our possible move caused my parents to become extremely upset; in fact, an hour later, after losing a round of Rummikub (a rare occurrence), my dad blamed his defeat on our “difficult” conversation. Otherwise, however, it really was a very good visit. I slept a lot, ate a lot of delicious food prepared by my mom or the two of us together, celebrated Passover with my parents and their friends, watched a couple of movies with my parents, skyped with some family and family friends in Israel whom I haven’t seen or talked to in ages, basked in the perfectly-warm-just-a-few-degrees-away-from-too-hot sun, and otherwise relaxed and lounged around. And, I got to see my mom improve her mobility a little bit every day! She had to use a walker while I was there, but her stamina and confidence had increased pretty noticeably by the end of my week-long visit, and she has since progressed to using a cane and even taking a few steps at a time without any kind of support.

I also did a bit of work while staying with my parents. This was actually good for a number of reasons. One, I managed to stay somewhat on top of the jumble of competing priorities that is my work life right now. Two, I didn’t have to use any vacation time; with the 20 or so hours of comp time that had accumulated over the course of the previous month and my light work schedule during this trip, my hours more or less balanced out. And, three, both my employer and I got a taste of what it’s like to have me working remotely and part-time. While I haven’t decided yet, this may be something that I suggest to my employer if/when we finally move. In any case, even if this arrangement doesn’t work out with my current job, I’m likely to work remotely and part-time for someone while living in the Methow. It’s something I imagine I would want to do; plus, it seems pretty much unavoidable, as the chances of finding a full-time, locally-based job in the valley that would fit my skills and interests are pretty low.

Meanwhile, North Cascades Highway has been open for some weeks now – an early opening after a winter that brought little snow – and we’d better start planning our next trip to our favorite valley… We’re going to try to recruit some friends to go with us this time, as well as hopefully look at a few properties and maybe even meet with someone I’d been emailing with who moved to the Methow from Seattle with her family a few years ago.