I apologize for the lack of personalized posts recently - as well as the fact that I'm going to run out of chapters before I can make more available to read very quickly here... (Though I'm trying to wrap up something I have written previously.)
The past two months have been focused on making lemonade from life's lemons...
About seven weeks ago, I became aware of the fact that my marriage was toxic and probably unsalvageable. The details will remain private, but I will share more about toxic relationships in the future as I have now had more than my fair share of these.
In the three weeks that followed, I worked hard, sorting through everything - donating huge amounts of stuff to charity and prepping other things to travel.
Then, one month ago, I hired a 16-foot-truck with a trailer for my car... and packed it up with all of the possessions I could reasonably carry. Everything packed, I drove the truck 1500 miles across the middle part of the United States... going from Wyoming all the way to Michigan, then back into Wisconsin (where we rented a storage unit) before I returned the truck to Duluth, Minnesota.
After this, we camped for nearly three weeks in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest before finding someone who could help us with a "leg-up" to obtain housing for the winter - long enough for me to find work and save up money for our own apartment.
We have ended up in the small town of Medford, Wisconsin, a town that I had focused on years ago, when going through my first divorce. It's still a good place. Maybe we'll stay here, maybe we won't... but for now, it's a good glass of lemonade - for this batch of life's lemons - as I seem to be great at collecting lemons!
I have three pictures to share today...
The first one is near Cornucopia, Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Superior. You can just see the hills of Minnesota on the other side of this end of the lake.
When we went to Duluth to return the truck, I noticed the hulk of this ship in the distance and hurried to find a place to park and get over to the bridge before it arrived. We just arrived to watch the bridge - but didn't have time to get to the canal itself.
We watched as "footer" Edgar B Speer came in through the bridge with a magnificent salute. Later, as we settled into a motel for the night, we heard the bridge salute James R Barker as she departed Duluth. (I felt bad that we weren't there to watch her as she's my favorite ship, but I also felt a sense of destiny as I'd already said that if she was in Duluth when we got there, I'd see it as a good omen.)
The final picture here was taken at the campground near Mondeaux Dam near Medford, Wisconsin, where I managed to find temporary housing assistance. I loved the morning fog lifting off the lake, the early autumnal colors and the reflections off the water.
Keep me/us in your thoughts/prayers as the girls begin school, I negotiate and end a relationship, and hunt for work.
Photos taken in September 2021 with my Samsung NX11 and Nikon D7200.
2021
Happy 2021 to Everyone! (New Year's Day)
June 6, 2021 - Fish, Farming and the Future - including feature photo of Paul R Tregurtha
July 25, 2021 - Heartache, Health and Healing
Aug 1, 2021 - Thunder, Traits and Travel
Aug 8, 2021 - Following Freedom and the Flexibility to Change
Aug 15, 2021 - Timing is Key
2020
Feb 2, 2020 - Flu Sucks!
Feb 9, 2020 - Planning 2020
Feb 16, 2020 - Skating and Eating and Writing, Oh My!
Feb 23, 2020 - Chicken Scratchings and Graphics
Mar 1, 2020 - Inspections R Us
Mar 8, 2020 - New Chicks
Mar 15, 2020 - Pandemic Hits Writing
Apr 5, 2020 - Fools in April?
Jun 14, 2020 - Of Gardens and Vibes
Oct 6, 2020 - Drawing the Line - When it is time to quit (Not Sunday)
Dec 15, 2020 - Winter, Writing and Winging It (Not Sunday)
Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
(Buy my work at RedBubble, TeePublic, PicFair and DeviantArt.)
verified author on Goodreads
(Buy my books at Books2Read and at LBRY)
find me on Twitter
