Life right now feels like that old song from Fiddler on the Roof – “Sunrise, Sunset…” only I’m mostly missing them with my head down in a laptop, madly writing or solving some Rural Nevada problem.
Most mornings, the pink glow of the sunrise will catch me out of the corner of my left eye, and I’ll think, “You better stop for a minute and walk out there while it’s quiet and peaceful.” And then the entire sky is on fire and there’s one more sentence, and just one more… and then the phone is ringing, and the emails are clinking in and the sky is blue, and I’ve missed it.
Last night, as I finished up one job and settled in to write and design ads and answer newspaper emails, I just couldn’t stand it and went for a little drive to settle my soul and properly switch gears. A quick stop at Leanna’s and I stole her away for a pass through town. On our way back to settle into paper production, we were treated to one of Fallon’s Famous Sunsets.
The entire sky was ablaze with twelve different shades. Shade isn’t exactly right; shade implies softness, and this was intense, a glowing orange of, let’s go with gold. Deep, radiant gold and orange Bob Rossing into shades of pink and purple. The whole sky folded its arms around us with a bold reminder that there are other things in the world besides documenting the community as it properly readjusted our perspective.
“One season following another…” Yesterday, it was January, and suddenly, it is September. In nine months, my life in no way resembles what it was back then. And it has gone through several iterations in that short span to get here. How does that even happen?
Sloanie asked me yesterday, “Why is it when I see kids I used to babysit all grown up does it feel like time just goes so fast.” We talked about how once kids are involved, life really becomes a blur. Or newspapers. From one week to the next, living Friday to Friday.
True confessions – my first semester of college. UNR. Manzanita Hall, five classes. Economics 101 at 8 a.m. on M-W-F. Who in THE hell thought that was a good idea???? I remember thinking, “There is NO way on earth I can do this for the next four years. It seemed like an eternity, and there was so much of life to be lived outside of that strange, disconnected microcosm.
So, I left college after that first semester and went on an emotional walkabout. I became a bail bondsman, the youngest in the state. Then a typist in a steno pool at Equifax. A hostess in a high-end dinner house. And then a polo groom for Bill Devane. I had the best time ever, and then I came back to Fallon and went back to college at WNCC.
And spent the next 12 years trying to finish my degree around all the living that happens once we get married and have kids. The irony is not lost.
The sky is beginning to glow just now, so I’m going to wrap this up and sneak out there. And while I stand in the peace, inhaling sagebrush and dew, we’ll be right here…
…Keeping you Posted.
Rach
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