As a counselor, I am always helping others work through change. As an author, I strive to make my characters change and have it be authentic. For me, one would think that change would be easy.
The reality is some days it is, some days not so much. Moving from a green, temperate rain forest at sea level to the cold desert at 4600 feet, leaving work/community, and friends that feel like home to no work/school/children/teachers and being on unemployment, a completely new community and one local friend is like putting yourself and life into a blender and hitting frappe. The word pulverized comes to mind. Everything about my life has been remade into something that does not quite look or feel the same, with the exception of my incredible husband and dogs.
The positive side of this temporary situation is that everything feels new and alive. For example, I volunteered to be the first of my critique group to put out a new manuscript for our group for fall. I wrote crickets' desert lullaby. I am getting to know crickets and be lulled to sleep by them. Today, we went to the Grand Mesa, a flat top mountain with 300 lakes. We saw green trees and lakes that were not artificially created through irrigation. When we stood on the top, instead of missing the green of Oregon, I could see different landscapes in every direction just begging to be explored. This is truly a gift for an author/illustrator/photographer.
