Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Geriatric Gypsies in 2015

NEWS FROM CITY LIFE

2014 has come to a close. And now Rich and I are eagerly a new camp hosting adventure in May - hopefully at Natural Bridge Campground, but where is still up in the air.

Neskowin River

In order to refresh our brain cells in using the trailer, Rich and I took a short trip to an RV park at Neskowin. It may sounds silly, but there is a lot to remember. (Mostly for Rich to remember.) 

One of our tasks on this trip was to figure out how to light the gas oven. We may have used it back in March, during our first experiments with the trailer. But then again, we may never have used the oven. We don't remember. Geriatric gypsies, after all.

Anyway, after many attempts, we achieve success in getting the oven lit. Whew! What an ordeal. You see, in order to get it lit, you have to reach under a 2 ½ inch space - not an easy thing if you don't have dainty hands - and the pilot light is located toward the very back of the oven. It took us both and a flashlight to light it. One of us holds the lighter and the other manipulates the knob. I had a vision of both our heads of hair igniting. 

There was no igniting hair. Instead, we had a great fish dinner.

Rich and sunset at Welcoma Beach
Left in the trailer after the summer's adventure was a beautiful great horned owl feather, which triggered memories of our four months at Natural Bridge. My spirit, my energy, my thoughts are beginning to drift and linger toward camp hosting at Natural Bridge. Already, I can sense that it is going to be a challenge for me to stay present in Portland and focused on work during the months ahead until we leave to camp host again in May.

Cheryl and Neskowin River
What may help me stay present is the fact the Rich is going to sell his home - the home he has lived in for over half his life. 

What that means for me is - I lose a lot of storage space! Which means that there is a lot of stuff I need to sort through and decide whether to recycle, pass on, sell or put in storage. ...What do you do with family stuff, furniture passed down from the grandparents, a coffee table my maternal grandfather made from trees in his backyard? Keep, pass on or sell? Some decisions are clear, others not so. I figure that 80% of my stuff will need to be recycled, passed on or sold. 

80%.

It is a bit daunting. But as the Haitian proverb goes (or at least how Rich remembers it): bit by bit the little bird builds its nest, bit by bit I am building my new nest.

Bit by bit, I will figure out what to do with 80% of my stuff.

Cheryl