Highlights: I'm sitting in the living room of a home on Scenic Drive, Carmel, literally at the water's edge, across the street from crashing surf 30ft away, and crashing waves against the rocks at Point Lobos on the opposite side of Carmel bay. Our friends from Minnesota have rented this house and invited us to visit and stay for a few days. In order to manage Lucky, Jen stayed with them last night while I returned home in the evening. The traffic coming down and returning yesterday was quite a challenge due to the Pebble Beach Pro AM golf tournament happening in parallel. We could see the tents from the end of the street and the house from some of the aerial shots of the golf course. We had a great meal and time together before I left. I returned early this morning after being home with the dog overnight and taking him for a walk this morning. The weather has been windy, and rain arrived this evening. We're both staying tonight because Tommy offered to watch the dog. If we have to drive in rain and wind, I would prefer we do so in the daylight. I am so grateful to be here. It's such a gift to have an opportunity to spend time connecting with friends. Jen and I finished Steve's 2nd book on the way down Saturday, within minutes of arriving. I still had tears in my eyes, and we had all sorts of questions and praise to share. The weather kept me from going to Point Lobos, one of my favorite places down here, but the pause and stall in constant movement is enjoyable, as was watching the tournament and a few of the Olympic games. Who knew curling could be so exciting?! Oh, right, Karen. It's been a great couple of days, and we'll return tomorrow.
Insights: I was thinking a lot last night about what Diana said regarding owning a house and how, eventually, it's just a house. It's just stuff, and the aspects of what we experience in our lives are equally transitory, and relinquishing a hold on a possession can afford you the opportunity to experience more, see more, do more, and contribute more to the life you're living. I really appreciated that and echoes a lot of what I know and believe and yet at the same time there's a part of me that's just so attached to the house in panorama yet there's also been times where I've been more than ready to let it go and this was a good reminder that it may well be on the near term horizon to release my hold on that. And as I've written before, to close the cover on that volume of the chronicles of the life I'm living and that my kids are living, maybe renting it is also an option. I think the passive income would be really worthwhile, but for the time being, we'll stay. I'll take care of my mom, our financial planning and strategies, and do what we need to make sure everything is accounted for to the best of our limited foresight.