Pickup machismo:
Driving home after buying the pick up I was getting used to the notion of driving something this big and uncouncioulsy feeling macho.  This became concious when a bigger pickup passed me and I sat up straighter to be taller and had a moment of pickup envy.  It must be in the male dna.

Other pickup stories:  Mundane but it took a 5 hour adventure to get a temp guage installed for the transmission.  An insurance of sorts to keep from burning out the trans.  But in the process found a generator on sale at Harbor freight which we will be suing this summer.  As of Dec. 22 it looks like we will be camping at Natural Bridge camp ground on the upper Rogue River.  It is about 30 miles from Crater lake.  They have no running water or electricity.  At first we were disappointed which only demonstrates how having the option of running water and electricity can make you feel deprived when you don't have it.  But the more we think and start to plan the more perfect it sounds.

I hope to see the camp spot in a few days when I visit my brother in Central Point.  It is about 45 miles from his house in Central Point. We are excited and now are planning more as the possibility becomes more real.  What do we take, how to we pack it?  5 months and we we be on our way.

Meanwhile we have been keeping heat on in the trailer with the freezing weather. 

Merry Christmas to you!!

Rich

In Norway they are watching slow movies and enjoying slowing the pace of life. Ours seems to have picked up speed in order to slow down. As I sit in my admittedly self created chaos of my room I contemplate the changing as we down size to a 18ft. Trailer. Both exciting and motivating to pare down the valuable fatra (garbage in Kreyol) of my life. Like tossing papers from my 1969 graduate course.. So so important. Letting go is the theme and met both with nostagia, excitement and loss. The hope being that simplifying will suit us much better on our new adventure. The jury is out check out the deliberations over the next couple years.

Letting go: Identity as I wind down my work as a teacher and LMT, Letting go of living in the same house for 35 years. Letting go of the security of home ownership and the responsibilities. Letting go of cold wet winters.

Wondering what it will really be like, wondering what is around the bend both figuratively and actually as we travel. Wondering what I need to do with the house. Wondering about connection to family as we just celebrated Thanksgiving. Wondering the best way to cyber connect or whether we can in remote spots. Wondering how long my health will hold and celebrating that two years ago I would not have been able to contemplate such action. Wondering about how to keep health care providers and proper insurance...Wondering how long we can do this.

Challenges of learning a new life style, learning life in trailer, relationship in a small space.

And Excitement about connecting to nature, finding a satisfying experience for the last quarter of my life. I have been struck often the past year with the reality of againg. A theoretical idea now in real time. Facing physical limits and vulnerability and moving away from the familiar to break the trance we currently occupy. A comfortable trance, nothing wrong. I like my work and life style and hopefully this new step will enliven my next years.

The Adventure Begins

 It began with an idea. The idea stemmed from a life long dream to live outside for a year. Rich picked up speed on the idea and  the process began rolling in June. Long story short, by September we had purchased  a travel trailer. Specifically a Surveyor 189, year 2010, and a 2006 F150 truck to haul the rig.

Now neither of knows much of anything, actually nothing, about the workings of a travel trailer. There is a lot to remember so you don't blow yourself and the rig up. At the end of September we went our maiden voyage and have lived to tell the tale. Mimi, our cat, survived, too.

This a photo of Mimi in the rig on her special blanket, a wool meditation shawl. To her left is her safe place to run whenever there is a sudden loud noise. Rich makes a lot of sudden loud noises.

These are my beginning musings to get the blog rollin'. Cheryl