Flashback Friday
Interview season is upon us where I work. Two days a week from pretty much now until January, my little team is going to have a period of about 4 hours where we have to go through our interview routine with applicants. It was a busy day. But it was a good one. Every day at that job is a good one. Even when my supervisor thinks it’s not.
So, in the spirit of it being Friday, I have flashed back today to around this time in 2020. Josh and I had just moved into our second apartment. Technically, my 3rd, but the second one that he and I lived in together. It was in the same apartment complex as our tiny “cottage” unit as the management office called it. We upgraded to one of their 3 bedroom units.
This apartment existed in our lives before so many things changed. We didn’t renew our lease a third time because my mother-in-law died and we moved into her house.
But we did enjoy ourselves in this space. One of the things that gave us entertainment was the retention pond outside our back door.
It was mostly filled by runoff from the parking lot, and of course rainwater. There were water birds that enjoyed it being there. I have many pictures of a heron standing on the grass. There were always ducks swimming around.
Apparently this little pond was picturesque enough for someone to get married back there. One Friday, I came home from school and found a bunch of people gathered back there. Backed all the way up to our patio almost. They were dressed nicely and one of them was walking around with a clipboard. Then came a legit bride and groom to have an honest-to-goodness wedding back there. Right in our backyard.
Behind the pond was nothing but trees and an open field. Somewhere on the other side of that field was a shooting range because on the weekends, Sunday mornings in particular, we could hear repetitive gunshots.
Because it was all natural back there, we also heard a cacophony of tree frogs. Especially after a good rain. Lots and lots of very loud tree frogs that sounded like they were right under our windows. It drove our cats crazy! Back then we only had Faye and Nugget. Dogs wouldn’t come into our life until after his mom passed and we took custody of her dog and then eventually got Rocky.
Living in this apartment was only 6 years ago, and yet, it feels so, so long ago. A whole lifetime. Certainly all the things we have endured since living there makes it feel longer than it has. In fact, it was all just starting towards the end of our time there. I remember attending a virtual information session for the graduate program I eventually enrolled in. If I remember correctly, I think I also had my virtual interview in there too. I can’t remember. I know I completed the written part of the interview after moving into our house.
Except for the family who lived above us who had kids that sounded like they were slamming each other to the ground on a daily basis, and also liked to vaccum the bedrooms long after midnight, and except for the people to the side of us who accidentally took control of the sound bar on our t.v. through bluetooth, we enjoyed living there. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a dishwasher was nice. Our house now though is where it’s at. Our life is here and this is where we are happy. That apartment was just a stop along the way.
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