We moved from our home of 27 years to a retirement community. It feels like we live at a time share with elderly people of all generations. We are the age of many residents' children. Living here is a gift.
For scale
part of 70 lbs. in 2016
But, we miss our dwarf orange tree, our 40+ year old tree which produced copious amounts of precious orange globes. It was fabulous. There were so many that the idea of doing anything with them in the kitchen was overwhelming. Juicing them was daunting and lost its novelty darn quick. Instead, I walked around the neighborhood several times and gave them away. Given that, I insisted we plant a blood orange tree in our new community, knowing it would take At least two years to produce. Huzzah! it did. Twelve oranges, precious gems all of them.
for scale
Yup.
It was exciting. I bought jam-making supplies to supplement my 12 blood oranges and make blood orange and berry jam: 1/2 pint jam jars and rings w/lids, extra 5 lb. sugar, 3 lbs. of frozen mixed berries, extra navel oranges, Sure Jell pectin...to the tune of $30+.
The rest of the dishes are in the dishwasher.
Followed the directions and it took three hours from start-to-finish, and also cleaning up dishes and kitchen. These are the results:
One of the saddest things to see is an “OUT of BUSINESS” sign on the window of a store I have shopped in many times. It used to be something normal, such as the owners moving out of state, or the owner wants to retire. Now, the sign is about some action anonymously hidden.
Even worse are the “Clearance! All Must Go!”, along with “Store Closing! Everything 20% off.!” Then the percentage number slowly slides higher…30%...50%...70%. The signs are on the windows for such a long time, that I become immune to their invitation. Then, suddenly, the store is closed, and paper covers the insides of the once gleaming glass walls.
Courtesy of Bing.com free photos
I suppose that puts me in the highly-sensitive category (HSP), where I empathize with the hopes and plans of the owners when they first started the business. When sales were high, the owners and the employees must have joked with each other between customers, had donuts in the staff lounge, and good coffee. As the percentage signs went up, the air must have darkened inside, broken only by the buzzing fluorescent bulbs high over the sales floor. There probably was no laughter, no conviviality. The employees must have glared at each other, wondering who will be next to go. No donuts, no coffee, and they must have raced each other to the door to get home, to look for another job.
This was someone's home.
Everyone has to go through a closure of some sort in their lives. It is important to remember the following:
Closure of any kind is a cruel animal, which can prey on anyone. Just don’t let that animal eat away at you, and make you forget how wonderful you are, how marvelously loved you are, and how tomorrow will provide something for you. Closure of a love, of a life, of an opportunity, of…any kind can take away something, but you can gain more by letting that closure silently retreat behind you.
Hope springs eternal!
Some day soon, the paper will be peeled off the windows, and new lights will turn on inside those stores. Someone with a dream and a hope will jump in with both feet to create a place that customers will want to visit, and find many things to buy. That is when the sign on the door will read OPEN and Come on in!.
