Isolation is a terrible thing, fortunately I live within walking distance of a couple of stores and even a little casual small talk is helpful. Good luck to you and congratulations on selling the house

lots of people around, anyway. but shit that went down in the plague caused a lot of trouble w my old friends on the block. sorta the cherry on the cake is that i just made all my neighbor’s houses worth more. that rift has been hard. was healing. but this will help.

and the best thing about the puppy is that she is quite the convo starter. she’s amazing.

I always have had kitties because I live in an apartment, the dogs, and all pets can be great friends

i’m a small landlord, and i think ppl who dont allow pets r monsters.

That’s one thing I really like about my apartment complex, they allow pets, carefully screened, I love to talk to people walking their dogs

Gllad things are looking up.

Glad things are looking up.

the park every day and meet really interesting people and make new friends. With the worst of the financial struggle behind you things can only get better. There is nothing worse than being weighed down by worry about how you gonna pay the bills so hooray for you. I hope you have a wonderful spring and a glorious summer and meet loads of interesting people and that anxiety just fades away. Been there and I don't wish it on anyone!!

where u arent supposed to take a dog, but we do. esp early in the morning.
beaches arent open yet, so any nice day there’s dog ppl there. we all get along.
less than a mile from my house, w lots of parking.

i also shed my chickens. now i have a blank canvas of a back yard to plant. miss them too, but dont miss the 50 lb feed bags.

doesnt fix everything, but yeah. never had the kind of anxiety i have had since the plague.

nuts. I've dealt with anxiety for much of my life and it definitely made things so much worse. But, things are getting better. I have some little dogs and I'm taking them to the river for walks and my god does that help. And yes, for you, taking that pup to the beach is the very best thing in the entire world that you can do for yourself. I believe the beach/ocean is the greatest life renewing force on the planet and the doggies just can't get enough of it.

So I wish you tons of luck and a great spring and you need to come here and let people know how spring pans out for you and how the pup grows and what new adventures and people you encounter. That's the thing about DU. Nice to have a safe space to let off steam.

every convo i have, the other person says- yeah, i’ve been in pretty bad shape myself.

2020 was absolutely the most terrifying year of my life. not just fear of getting sick, but my neighbors went nuts on lockdown. that’s what started it. all of june 20, ppl were blowing fireworks and m100s. drove the whole block nuts. and no one would do anything. so i ended up fighting w folks who had been friends for years.
having gone through a lot of crap starting my urban farm, having it flair back up when i thought that was over was just the worst. not sure i’ll get the mojo for the project back.

Maybe you got a whole new project in you. The drought is mostly over in California and hopefully the worst of the plague has passed there too. Lately I feel like Ms.Scarlett at the end of the movie "but tomorrow is another day." It's been a rought 3 years but things are looking up again.

( I guess I was assuming you are in San Francisco but further reading looks like you are in Chicago. Either way, they are both really great cities which I love).

so that’s a project. some delayed maintenance, and a couple projects.
i had to clean out the garage, where i had all the tools and stuff from the job. had a hard time deciding if i was ready to let them go. didnt.
i’m 68, btw. feel 98 atm, tho

that even those of us who struggle sometimes succeed.

when i 1st moved to chicago, 1980, i landed in a hood that had been flipped by white flight. a bunch of bitter dead enders. we purposely picked this hood knowing that it couldnt happen here.

known as the people’s republic of rogers park. lol. sister city to obama’s home of the people’s republic of hyde park. even tho it’s a big city, it rly is just a collection of small towns. started that way, is that way still. both are college towns. but a bit grittier.
30% of the ppl in this hood make their living in some kind of creative endeavor. and most of us love it intensely.

again. This is what we get when we are most human. We are most caring and hurting. And really none of us are immune to those feelings, they just come upon you. You with your loving puppy!

My hubby and I are old. It's only a matter of time when we'll have to move into assisted living, if we should live that long (we are in our early 80s). I often read Wallace Stevens poem "How to Live. What to do." It gives me perspective.

Art is my thing. It never ceases to surprise me. I've just produced my 2nd book and I'm working on a third. Reading art history gives me perspective and gives me hope.

Thank you.

So sorry to read of your various travails over the last years, but happy to read of the recent better and good stuff. It is quite a journey we are all on in various places, in various ways, in various circumstances.

Mostly, I am always so happy to read a "real, people"y post about life. We do politics to death here at DU, but that is only part of life. Yes, politics impacts all of our lives, but sometimes, it needs to be put away into a box and door slammed - just for awhile.

I think the last time we met was in Chicago for my Botanic Garden event - for not nearly long enough. One of the only good things COVID did for me was to take me "off the road" and keep me home to do my garden stuff via Zoom and Instagram. Gardening has kept me sane for so many years (arguable as that statement is!). Sue says hi! We picked the right time to move west to the NC mountains - just before COVID hit. Going through that ordeal here was much more doable, we think.

Be well, stay safe, keep doing good stuff

I’m so happy for you. Breathe in and enjoy! Maybe you can get in on some outdoor yoga this spring and meet some new peeps. I find outdoor activities are doable. Keep in mind the wind direction and stay upwind of others! My best to you. Keep on keepin on!😁💗💗🙏

and I can tell you that there are far worse things than being alone. He's still as clueless as he was when he was drinking. Alone is OK, really. I can cope with that.

Besides, you're not alone. You've got DU and you've got that wonderful puppy.

I'm glad your luck has turned. And pupsters just make everything better!

happy that things are coming together for you.