She’s damp, dark and cold, with dead leaves scattered in and around doorways and windows that don’t quite shut all the way. But she stands just as I left her – in disarray from hurried packing. Freshly decorated rooms with art both purchased and created hanging on the walls, candles arrayed on platters waiting to be lit, and antique books on brand new bookcases , ripe for the plucking and perusing. Well seasoned wood, pitch kindling and paper were left stacked, so the stove springs to life quickly and easily. Those are the good rooms, lol!
The rest is a hot mess. TOO.MUCH.STUFF. Living in the van and then the bus, has shown me I don’t need much to live happily. But to create? That takes storage room. I’ll donate, trash and sell a lot of stuff if I can in my limited time here. I have no confidence that I can tackle it all in this one visit, though, so I must prioritize. If the car will run to Florida and back, then I’ll drive it back to the bus, sell it, and buy a small trailer to pull behind the bus and be able to shift things not for daily use into the trailer and also have an art space. If not, then I’ll sell it here and rent a car for the trip back out. Decisions and financial constraints make this a fine balancing act.
A friend said to me the other day that it must be hard to be here. It is. I haven’t figured out how to blend my creative life with life on the road yet, outside of the very portable photography work I’ve done and a tip toe back into multimedia canvas work. I need time and space to work.
Moving every couple of weeks is both invigorating and also restrictive. I can’t leave things to simmer like I usually do when creating. I hope to create a small home base out west, but that’s contingent on other things yet to be organized. And time… Well, with still working full time on the road, it’s a commodity in scarce supply sometimes.
There is more daylight, but my days stretch longer and start much earlier. While there is less housekeeping, there is still cooking and washing, exercise and self care to attend to, in addition to exploring the areas I’m visiting. The majority of my camping companions no longer work, either due to retirement, disability or independent wealth 😊. Many sold all that they had, including homes, and so have both time and money to go and do. I still straddle both worlds, and it’s often frustrating. I’m free in so many ways, and yet bound as well in so many. And that doesn’t include familial complaints about my long term absence. But that’s for another post…
Weather is changing my well made plans, as plans will be in my life 🤣🤣 Now it’s a rush to complete things in a shorter time window, extra time off from work in order to travel safely, and a whirlwind of other responsibilities!
Joy. Peace. Reflection. They are missing from me right now. I buckle up and know they await me back at the bus, in the wide expanses of the West, on winding roads up hills, by lakes and rivers, under the black night skies. Until then…
~SE grounded
Sunflower Solace Farm 
I think you are enjoying your freedom. Don’t add constraints to it. Just bite off a little at a time. Most of your stuff is not going anywhere. Though we know none of us will live forever, I think and hope that you still have plenty of time, my lady.
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I kinda think SOME of my stuff needs to go somewhere…else! Lol 😊
Good to ‘see’ you, Sue 🤗
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Wonderful post, and for me no matter how long I am away, there is something special about returning to a home. To experience the feeling of having roots. Sometimes it is the knowledge that having a little something solid to return to makes the adventures all the more exciting. Love that you are straddling both worlds ~ that is exciting in itself. Whichever way you go, you will have made the right decision! Cheers to a great autumn ahead.
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