disappointment

Just reading the word evokes a taste of bitter sadness on one’s tongue.

 

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this one should represent a thousand ways to say disappointment.

After debating most of this year whether we could go, after more than a week of planning, shopping, packing, & watching the weather, after feeling so guilty for getting from the vet & giving Roger anti-anxiety meds so he wouldn’t go ballistic during the trip there & back, after scheduling & paying for house sitters to come, after getting up at the crack of dawn & driving 7 hours, we arrived at our property only to find we weren’t going to arrive after all. 

Perhaps it may have been easier to understand & abide if this had occurred as an act of nature, although in the 5 years we’ve owned our property nature has never prevented us from getting there. The worst thing that ever happened was on the first trip when our dog Bear died right after we arrived, but that was still an act of nature. This is what the road looked like just last year…

Unfortunately, this mess was totally caused by the inconsiderate acts of a person. The road we drive on to get to our property is also the road three other property owners must use for access. This particular person is trying to sell his & took it upon himself to “fix” the road so his property would appear more accessible. His property is located where the road first begins… against the advice of locals who have lived there for generations (he lives down in the desert) he used a Bobcat to dig up the bedrock from this 50 year old logging road, piled the rocks neatly along the sides, & finished by pushing nice soft black dirt in over the top. Add 3 weeks of steady monsoon rains &, voila! A nice, thick, black, slicker than owl s**t mess that even defeated the efforts of my Land Rover to pull the camper through. We spun, slid, jackknifed, bogged down, & rutted out, first trying to get through it & then just trying to get out of it for over an hour. It isn’t easy or fun trying to back a camper down a 25 degree slope that has suddenly become as as slick as a Slip-n-Slide.

Our kind & generous neighbors who live there full time insisted we camp in their cow pasture & offered it to us for the whole week… but after one night we felt the need to return home to sort ourselves out. And to figure out what to do about the whole situation. We drove the 7 hours home the next morning, enduring the irritated stares & whines of Roger & Mo who have justly decided that our idea of vacation really stinks!

We did contact that landowner & were met with a bit of an indifferent attitude. His only focus is to sell his land & he felt that he didn’t need to inform any of the other landowners who depend on that road since he used “his own money & time” to work on it. His point of view was that we tried to use the road before he was “finished” working on it. Sorry.

So, this week has been spent “vacationing” at home, unpacking everything we had so carefully packed but didn’t get to use, & researching what our rights & options are with numerous phone calls to county authorities. Seems there isn’t much we can do unless we want to get involved in an expensive legal argument, but the county attorney did have useful information for us as to how to proceed in order to resolve the issue in a civil manner, yet protect what rights we do have. In the end, we’ve decided we would rather use the money to have the road fixed properly if that is what ends up needing to be done. We are hoping for the best outcome, which would be that this fellow fixes the road properly, & time will tell if this is to be so.

It has taken me most of this week to get over my disappointed anger in order to write this without sounding hysterical. I am trying to shift my focus to thoughts of my new loom which will be arriving soon, & the happy knowledge that I have already sold my Tissart to a local beginning weaver who is ready to spread her weaving wings. As Dennis said when we were reflecting back on these events-- no one was injured, nothing was broken, & we all returned home together --a good way to try to put aside the mud in our eyes.

Comments

[lyn]

Thank you, thank you, everyone!!!! Your kind thoughts & words have been like a soothing balm. I am feeling much better about all of this since a little time has passed & now that Dennis & I have a plan of action to hopefully get this resolved peacefully!

[Sue Schwarz]

ugh, so sorry about the problems with your access to that lovely property of yours. How disappointing and inconsiderate of your 'neighbor'. Hang in there and enjoy your new loom and your new adventure next year.

Sue Schwarz

[tommye scanlin]

Lyn,
So sorry to hear the aborted vacation tale. What an inconsiderate jerk!
Keep happy thoughts of the new loom in mind.

[Rebecca Mezoff]

Big bummer... And the leaves are starting to change up in the NM high country too. What struck me about your post after I got over the indignity of someone messing up the access to your property and the disappointment of a vacation ruined was that you already sold your loom to make room for a bigger one. Can you teach me something about how to do this mysterious thing? I got two large looms from my grandfather earlier this year and there are 4 others in my storage room--a big LeClerc that was my grandmothers that I want to try, my Rio Grande which somehow I think I will use again but never will, and a couple smaller workshop looms. I think I have a loom problem. So congratulations at your ability to move on--with fixing your road so you can get to your land without doing something to your neighbor that might be considered a felony in certain circles, and with selling an old loom to make room for a new one.

[Jennifer]

Oh, Lyn. I am so sorry you went through this and really don't have it resolved yet. Another nice thing to add is that you don't love there all the time and have to deal with the neighbor's mess every day. I'll be interested in hearing how this turns out. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy's indifference is more in regards to embarassment at being wrong. Persevere girl!!!