Yesterday was the end of a (residential) era. While I no longer live in Seattle, I’m still at least adjacent to it. I can’t decide whether or not I’m upset. A good friend of mind pointed out to me the other day that I’ve gotten everything I said I wanted but just not in the order I’d like to have seen it all happen – and she’s right. I live in a small town, living (and life) is much, much simpler, and I’m embarking on my van life adventure. I have made an amazing amount of amazing new friends in this town, too. And this town affords me the ability to indulge in all of my hobbies: reading in my camping hammock by the river, biking, snowboarding, paddle boarding. I can do so much of what makes me happy.
Yesterday a friend gave me two absolutely gigantic zucchinis and tonight I’ll find a way to use at least some of it in a recipe I’ll be cooking on my camp stove. And oh my god, there is nothing better than cooking on a camp stove unless it’s cooking directly over a fire. My refrigerator will get here soon and it’ll afford me so many more food storage options as well. I already have so many of the pieces I need to make this lifestyle work but I have three critical items I still need to get in order to make this fully comfortable. It’s already cozy in its own little way but I’d still like it to be a little more self-sustaining. Today I’m taking the camper over to a friend’s house to seal the roof so it’ll have time during the next few dry days to cure. After that I’ll be putting flooring down since the subfloor is in good condition. And then after that I’ll be tearing down the current loft structure and putting in the bed platform. And after that will be replacing the loft’s curtains. And then after that and then after that and then after that and so on until it’s either a tiny home or I die. Who knows what will happen with winter coming – oof.
The only thing that I don’t like is not having a workspace setup in the RV yet. Right now I have to go to the local tavern every day promptly at 11 so that I have space to apply to jobs ad do generally anything which requires the laptop. If I were in any other town showing up to a tavern every day I’m sure I’d be seen as a raging alcoholic. At least here no one would care even if I were but I very much don’t like the potential impression it could set by me being here all the time. Although, if I’m honest, the time here also gets me a little bit of a break from the dogs and I really enjoy that. I love my pups but they drive me up the wall sometimes and getting to just take a brief break from them lets me breathe a little easier. Also, I just saw the below quote on the little chalkboard right outside the bathrooms of the tavern:
“Keep your face always towards the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you” – Walt Whitman
This morning I had the most beautiful drive from where I’m parked into town and I reflected on what this adventure has cost me and what it will also afford me. I’m doing my best to be mindful of the moment and not marinate on the past or worry about the future because I know life is going to happen as it’s going to happen. I met someone last night and he asked me what my hobbies were and I had to think hard about the answer. What are my hobbies right now, in this moment? The only hobby I can have right now is to learn everything I can about working on cars and RVs as well as learning how to plumb and wire and architect a tiny home. Once this is tidy and ready for winter I’m sure my hobbies will evolve. Another new friend of mine who is also living the van life is rolling into town today and I’ll get to spend some time with him within the next few days and see what his build looks like. This coming weekend I’ll be spending time with another new friend I made at a campground over Labor Day weekend. When I think about the memories I’ve made and am making I remember life is far more rich for me than I am poor and that really helps shapen up my perspective, mood and overall sense of happiness.
Tomorrow I have a moon potluck to go to (a solstice celebration) somewhere in the mountains and I am terribly excited for it because I have no idea what it is or what it’ll be like and I can’t wait to see what kind of an adventure it will be.
Alas, writing in this means time taken away from doing my build so it’s time to wrap this entry up. Either way, writing is incredibly cathartic to me so in addition to posting frequent entries on the nonsense that happens here I will likely soon start posting responses to writing prompts to which I’ve been subscribed since covid days. A high school friend of mine, whom I adore, and I used to reply to each day’s writing prompt and post it into a shared google drive folder. When I find the time I may go through some of mine, post on them on here and start responding to recent ones. I also owe my poetry 9000 friends to keep working on developing my voice in poetry (which is trash right now) so maybe I’ll start sharing some of that? Who knows. Stranger things have happened than me trying to write poetry, that’s for sure.