I survived the first full week of work. It wasn't terrible and things were in a good enough place. I'm currently bossless and with the retirement of my shortest-term boss ever. Technically I report to their boss now, but that gives me a direct reporting relationship to someone over 4300 miles away.
I've also had several subtle reminders of mortality (see - unsettled). I've been on the edge of a migraine for several days; I'm worried the stress, even if it is "good" stress, of the trip will trigger it.
I kept myself busy on Saturday by packing up for the trip south. My freezer doesn't have much room, but any change to that is theoretical at this point. Winter would not be winter without a week spent in South Carolina.
Sunday came and I hit the road early after feeding the dogs and a quick shower.
The weather was cold and windy with some snow squalls, so I was hoping that any slow downs would be on empty roads. As it was, the few snowy areas had no effect on the roads.
I did not get any kind of glorious sunrise on this trip.
I listened to the book Paper Girl by Beth Macy for almost the entire trip. I'm not sure this was the best choice given how unsettled I felt, but it was a very engaging read. It was part politics (at times a bit too much), part memoir, part history, part ... story of Urbana, Ohio and the surrounding area.
I found myself criticizing the author a few times for being so closed-minded and criticizing others for the same behaviors she demonstrated, but it was her story to tell and I thought it was done with honesty, integrity the way a personal memoir should be. In the end, I think there are two lessons. One - don't take politics so seriously! There is NO reason to let it kill friendships or personal relationships. It just is not that important. And two - there are no easy answers. None. So see lesson one. Hearing all the family strife, poor life decisions and upheavals in personal relationships sure made me appreciate S/O as well as my siblings.
I ended the drive listening to a recast of This American Life which was similarly unsettling. This brings me to a third lesson, which is that I'm in South Carolina to hunt wild hogs and I need to get into that mode.
The drive was easy enough. Traffic remained light through most of the day. Once south of the snow I definitely wasn't in a hurry which makes the drive even that much easier.
As I got out of the mountains, the snow and cold gave way to sun and quite warm temperatures, but it was still quite windy.
Once at the lodge, I had the place to myself. I generally farted around a bit before Rick came over. We went to see Denis and Claude at Denis' house for a short visit before calling it a day with a plan to feed up stands in the morning.
