Interrupted

My Life Thus Far
2017-02-10 23:01:04 (UTC)

There Is No Rest

I couldn't write last night, and honestly I don't feel much like writing tonight, but I'm pushing through because I know I should. I need the stability and ritual writing every night provides me. I couldn't write last night because when I got home (from a day that didn't go anything like I'd planned) we didn't have any power, and it didn't come back on until 2am. Up until that point I'd been rolling with the punches pretty well. I have such a low tolerance for power outages. It always seems like it happens at the most inopportune time. Like when I need to prepare for work the next morning. Like when I've been hiking all day, driving all night (I'll explain in a bit), and just want to take a hot bath, but we have no water when the power goes out. And then I sleep like crap because I'm scared my phone's battery won't make it through the night to wake me up in the morning, so I sleep with one eye open to keep tabs on the time. It was challenging. Especially when it feels like one day bleeds into the next and there is no rest.


I hadn't even planned on going to Port Townsend. Originally my plan was to stick close to home. Make copies of the rumination exercise, work on chapter 4 (avoidance), and walk Clear Creek trails. I'd checked the weather and there was supposed to be a 3 hour break in the rain. It was going to work out perfectly. Except come morning the 3 hour block of dry/sunny weather had been revoked and instead thunderstorms and wind were replacing the patch of fair weather. Except in Port Townsend. Thanks to the Olympic Mountains, PT is in a rain shadow and often misses out on Mother Nature's shenanigans. So, Snookums encouraged me to head north. Find a nice hike and then go to my favorite coffeehouse to work on chapter 4.

It was all well and good. I chose to revisit Gibbs Lake. A hike Snookums and I did late last spring (May of last year). I recall it being hot, very muggy, and absolutely crawling with mosquitoes. Not the most fun I've had on a hike, but it was beautiful. I figured I'd give it a shot when the threat of mosquito attack was negligible. And it proved to be a good choice. Thanks to the recent rains and a 54 degree day, the fungal population was explosive! I love taking pictures of mushrooms. I think they're so unique and intriguing. Kind of like people who don't follow societal norms. I even came across a rare blue-green elf cup fungus. I didn't believe it was real until I googled it and found that indeed, fungus can be all shades of blue.

A hike that proved to be uncomfortable and highly challenging 9 months ago was physically a breeze. Another indication that I'm in much better shape than before. Progress is being made even though I'm deliberately gentle with my body. I'm a little sore from lifting weights a couple days ago, but it's good soreness. The kind that tells me I'll recover a little stronger than I was before. Not the kind that makes me wish I could lay in bed and not move a muscle. I'm done punishing my body like that.

After my hike I headed into town to have some lunch and to settle down for an hour or so at Better Living Through Coffee. I love that place. But I've shared that before. The only vegan meal option they have is the lentil soup, but they'd sold out a few minutes before I got there. Super disappointing, but I figured I'd survive an hour of studying and then I'd find something somewhere else. Or just head home, since it's only a 35 minute drive. Well, that didn't go as planned. I was texting with Snookums (complaining about them running out of lentil soup) when he brought up that Hood Canal Bridge had been closed due to high winds. Closed until further notice, and by this point it had been closed from about 1:40pm (less than 30 minutes after I crossed over into Jefferson County) until after 4pm (at that point). It was starting to look like it was going to be closed all night. Not something I was prepared for. I opened today. I couldn't be stranded in Port Townsend!

Even with this disaster looming before me, I didn't freak out and I didn't resort to a "whoa is me" mentality. I started researching my options. I needed to get home. Kiki and Keenan were home alone (Snookums, dad, and Annie were all at work). My options included taking 3 ferries (Port Townsend to Coupeville, Clinton to Mukilteo, Edmonds to Kingston) or driving 101 around Hood Canal ( Port Townsend to Quilcene, then follow highway 101 through Shelton and back up through Bremerton). The drive was the faster more economical option, but it was still a 3 hour drive. Even at this point I was still coping okay.

I didn't want to go to a restaurant in the interest of saving time and money, but I needed food (I had only consumed coffee and water all day). So I stopped at Safeway to get some jojo's (potato wedges). Why at 6pm were they out? Most of the deli offerings were out. Yet another disappointment, because all I longed for was something warm and filling to eat. Instead I got chocolate soy milk, peanut butter Oreos, and Ritz crackers. Snack foods I could eat while driving. I ate enough to prevent a low blood sugar headache, but it wasn't what I really wanted.

The drive ended up being a blessing in disguise. Even though it was dark, I could tell by moonlight that the area is absolutely gorgeous, and every little town has a state park! Dosewallips, Hamma Hamma, Lilliwaup, Potlatch, Hoodsport, etc. Quaint little towns settled in the 1880's with little histories to tell. I'd been through the area as a teenager (we camped at Dosewallips when Annie was a baby), but I haven't been back since. I intend to change that. I've got a few more hikes to add to my list!

I had expected to have to drive all the way to Shelton, but about 20 or so miles from Shelton I saw a sign for Twanoh State Park. The kids and I hiked there last summer and I got excited. I knew where I was. So from Hoodsport I cut through Union, then into Belfair. Belfair I consider local since it's only about 30 minutes from home. Even after all I'd been through. 3.5 hours of driving the very long way home, I was still feeling happy and upbeat... until I got home and the power was still out. Kiki had told me it was out 2pm that afternoon, but it was 9:30pm when I got home and it was still out. For no obvious reason, because it wasn't windy or raining. That's when all of my positivity feel apart. So, I just sent myself to bed.

Today was average as fuck. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either. Just another day. I'm looking forward to getting some good sleep tonight, and maybe attempting to get back on a more positive train of thought tomorrow when I'm less tired!




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