the welcome signs of spring...

the rumors had been circling. a neighbor down the block first told me last weekend. and then k - of all people - told me yesterday that the neighbor across the courtyard had told her. and last night, in the twilight of a beautiful colorado spring evening, the rumors became real...

the neighbors are selling their house. that is - the neighbors are selling their house...

the neighbors are the family of four whose front door sits not more than 50 feet from mine. nice woman, a couple cute kids - including a little girl i figured would end up being ian's girlfriend one day. what i didn't figure was that her dad would be my wife's "boyfriend" for some time...

from the day i found out about the affair, the neighbor has been there like an ogre lurking in the shadows (actually, i think i've described him before as the elephant in the corner). during the colder winter months, it's pretty bearable - since folks in the neighborhood are rarely outside. but during the warm months and long days, the reminder of a life i once lived and lost spends a lot of time outside in what is effectively my front yard. and while i'm past the bulk of the pain associated with all that went down, the discomfort of having the proverbial thorn in my paw always within whispering distance has been unpleasant to say the least...

and then, yesterday, the sign went up. and in that instant the spring sun felt warmer, the colorado sky blu-er, the budding trees budding-ier...
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of course, the good news simply serves to offset the other news i got last week. because while one goes away another comes back...

k is moving back to the neighborhood. and that - combined with her parents also moving in - is likely fodder for many a post here. but none of that happens until summer. so for now, i'm going to enjoy the spring...