3 years, 4 months, 22 days

I won’t start with an apology… I doubt I’ve been missed on here… not by you at least.

But a conversation this week left me missing me.

Missing the me that used to write.  The one that would open a door to her brain letting thoughts flow through her fingers and into the words that built Idyllhands.wordpress… and ehwin.wordpress before that and the 2 blogs that made up ehwin.com even further back.

So how does one pick back up on something that she’s ignored for over 3 years?  Best friends have fallen apart in less time.  What do I write about first?  So much has happened since I last signed off.  Let’s be honest, so much has happened in the last 7 days, multiply that by 170 or so and well, that’s quite a lot to catch up on.  So how about a high level recap?

I ran a 10K.

I started training up to a half marathon.

I went to the redwoods in California and broke my ankle.

I never trained up to that half marathon.

I spent Labor Day weekend at The Gorge with thousands of my new best friends.

I bought a new car.

I camped.

I went to Arkansas for Christmas.

I bought a house.

I hiked.

I hosted family and friends from all over.

I spent another Labor Day weekend at The Gorge with thousands of my new best friends… and this trip transformed me in ways I could only explain in person.

A friend moved to Portland and into my spare bedroom.

I learned to play the ukulele.

I avoided a huge snowstorm at home while sipping margaritas in the Texas Hill Country.

I traveled for work… a lot.

I re-hiked the trail that broke my ankle 2 years prior.

I saw Tom Petty in concert just a couple of months before it was too late.

I drove my sister to the tiniest ER in a coastal town in the middle of the night.

I worried harder than I’ve worried since my mom passed.

I joyfully drove my sister back to the hotel after her stay in the ER and silently thanked anything that would listen.

I interviewed for what I thought was my dream job… and thankfully didn’t get it.

I was sicker than I’ve ever been and missed a much anticipated wedding.

I had my tonsils removed.

I became an Instagram narcissist.

I lost much of my sense of taste.

I logged in to wordpress.

That brings us here.  Still nothing to really say but this is a start.  This blog serves as a creative outlet that I now know I so desperately need.  I don’t make jewelry like I used to.  I haven’t spun yarn since 2014.  It was long ago that I sold all of my wool dye and carding equipment.  The piano still gets played, the bassoon is tickled and my ukes are strummed on occasion, but writing brings me a different kind of peace.  One that’s been missing.

Missing for 3 years, 4 months and 22 days.