The Apples in My Orchard

This afternoon, I can hear the air conditioner running, the shower sprinkling water, and the washer spinning as it finishes cleaning a load of clothes.

Today, my husband and I are getting a taste of the “empty nest.” Actually, it won’t start fully until tomorrow and will be short-lived, but still, there is a different feel to being home today.

This morning, our oldest son returned to his campus in another state about 4 hours away. He’s been with us for most of the summer, which was very pleasant for us, albeit unusual for him.

Last week, on Thursday, our youngest son flew out to California to work on a collaborative art project. It’s odd not having him here and he is the reason that our empty nest will not be permanent for he is expected home sometime next weekend.

Our middle son has flown the nest, moving to a small city in July an hour and a half north of our residence. He is working and will attend the branch of our state university system that is there. We’ve been to see him a couple of times.

His old bedroom in our home hosted the boys’ Aunt for the last few weeks.  It is void of his possessions, so it was the logical place to have her stay. Plus, there’s a bathroom that she can call her own adjacent to the bedroom.  She left yesterday to travel back to New York where she lives. She retired last October, and this was to be a year of travel, but that has not come to pass for obvious reasons.

She did make the trip out to visit with us, celebrate our youngest son’s graduation from high school, and have a prolonged stay at our cabin – which she did with our oldest. We haven’t done much socializing due to the pandemic. And, we elected not to have a graduation party for our son. So, it was good to have a visitor.

But, everyone is gone today. It’s just me and my husband. It’s fine but quiet. Typically, we don’t have a loud house anyway. Rarely is there music playing (with the exception of the piano). We never have the T.V. on during the day – and usually, it’s eight o’clock or later when we hit the button on the remote.

My husband and I are also busy types. He has his hobbies as I do mine and that keeps us both happy.  Rarely are we just “sitting around” unless we happen to be writing (as I am now) or reading (as he is now).

I don’t expect much difficulty with adjusting to new patterns and a more quiet house, but it is different with everyone gone. The dog, our yellow labrador retriever will have more trouble adjusting than us. But, adjust, she will.  It leaves me with anticipation of when we can all gather together again and the house will be a little busier than it is right now.

With schools starting, despite the pandemic, do you have family members coming and going?  How are you handling it? Life transitions can be stressful, can’t they?

Today is Slice of Life Tuesday. Thanks to TwoWritingTeachers.org for hosting this supportive forum where we can share our writing.