Yesterday was the 14th occurrence of being notified that my husband had died while I was out of state to bring my first grandchild into the world. There are years that this passes with just a ripple. Then there are other years that the pressure in my chest becomes unbearable, a weight I am dragging…
The last few weeks have proven to be fertile ground for candid people shots, and photography in general. Landscape and nature photography were always my safe spaces. Leaves, bees and other things never seem to mind my peek into their worlds. My fellow humans, though, that is another story altogether. I try to find non-identifying…
So I have been absent, and lax, not writing about my adventures. And there are a string bag full of them! But not now. Later, when they have settled in and become pieces of me. Instead, here is a poem I worked on. I’ll post it on my poetry blog too, but wanted to dedicate…
Oof. Working. Driving. Doing. These things leave little time for reading or updating as I’d like. But the trip is going well, if a bit slower than anticipated initially. When you stop to see and try to do as well, or the weather decides to become an obstacle, things change. Thankfully, there is not a…
This will be my fourth opportunity to cross our wonderful country. The first three times were pretty harried and hurried – the first a true unknown adventure full of break downs and roadside kindnesses in a dilapidated van (I didn’t know it at the time of purchase, but it had a blown head gasket!) which…
When you read the words of great writers, you realize that what you offer when you sit down at a keyboard is paltry; perhaps not even worth typing. After spending the morning with the words of Rachel Carson, Emily Dickinson, M.C. Escher, Thoreau, Oliver Sacks and the like, you wonder what in the world makes…
Today on a break I sat outside, away from computers and phones, and practiced just being. Why is this so darn hard?? Thoughts came floating in and I let them float by. I looked at the ground. I looked at the sky. I looked at the golden air where sun streamed between tree limbs. Here…
Shabbat is always good for a lazy, reflective, do-nothing-much day. Today it has rained on and off. So I fired up some wax tarts (Cinnamon Roll and Orange Spice), took out the sketch book (if you can call what I do at this stage ‘sketching’ lol), and connected the phone to the laptop. Yes. I…
Some days are just made for observing. Today was one of those days. The above is looking out my doors a bit after sunrise. It takes a while to become fully sunlit due to the mountains and trees. It is usually very quiet, enough so that I can hear the hummingbirds while inside. I love…
Heh, maybe I should change the bus name! Monday at work is usually lightly peppered with meetings and then plenty of time to actually get work done instead of meeting to talk about getting work done. But today the merger and acquisition was formally announced, so a lot of post meeting time was spent by…
Today was a pretty good measure of what a non- work bus day looks like. Sleep in (I get up around 0430 on weekdays), coffee, read the digital newspaper, start puttering. The bus is energy independent in most situations, as I have 750 watts of solar on top, plus another 400 watts on stand alone…
Today was errand day, With the hope of picking up mail along with groceries, and a stint at the laundromat. Alas, mail is still in Denver, which means a return trip to civilization tomorrow:( Mail retrieval is a challenge on the road. I have a mail service, but then I have to pay to have…
People’s affinity for affixing stickers for public consumption fascinates me. I linger far too long in front of mass gatherings like these, possibly making the folks behind the window wonder if I’m a little daft. Anyone else here actually read through displays like these? A few other recent discoveries in towns or on roadsides I’ve…
At the same time I am embarking on poking my writing muse, I am also doing an art journal…finally. I follow an artist whose books I own, and I’ve been watching little clips for probably close to a year now, contemplating doing one. What held me back? I sketch like a kindergartener, lol. Plus, you…
Ah, I can remember when sixty was a distant thing, and how wise and patient I’d grow to be by that age – if indeed I’d live that long. Now that it’s here, what is it really like? Am I wiser? A life of ashes and rebuilding teaches one a great deal. Things like: Nothing…
And, it’s been a while since I wrote anything. I’ve been busy traveling, trying my hand at other forms of expression like watercolor (long way to go on that media!), Junk collage mixed media, alcohol inks, bone art, photography, and practicing looking at things differently. Today the real chill of fall is in the air,…
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…
The days are rushing by as I prepare for a visit to the sticks and bricks, anticipate travel from there to a wedding in Florida, and sleeping in a house for the first time in almost two years. I’m… apprehensive. When your house and all of your comfy stuff goes everywhere with you as a…
When I went on the road, I had no idea one amazing benefit would be dark skies by which to grow much more appreciative and aware of celestial happenings. Over the last fourteen months I’ve seen dozens of meteor showers, gobsmacking full moons, lunar eclipses and now the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Last night…
I’m poised once again for take off, but first a little backtracking. After a couple of days at Caliente, I ambled south towards one of Nevada’s amazing places, Valley of Fire. I had really good intentions of going to the park, but it didn’t happen. I did drive past it, does that count? After a…
After leaving Hope behind, the path southward down Idaho became one long, undulating journey through the many shades of dun. I drove mostly in solitude, seeing more cows than cars, past miles and miles and miles of hay stubble. With the combination of the wildfire haze and the pallid, wan disc of the sun, it…
Oh my, my, how I had forgotten the joy to be found in driving – particularly driving a responsive, well-functioning vehicle where gauges and issues did not have to be monitored. It’s glorious. You feel one with the car. The radio playing classic sounds – The Cranberries, Aerosmith, The Beatles, Panic at the Disco, Plain…
Do you have superpowers? We all do, sometimes they are just hidden from us until needed. Lately, I feel like my cape is at the dry cleaners. I’ve been accused of being a Pollyanna, a rose colored glasses kind of gal often in my life. The eternal optimist. Today was supposed to be a celebration…
.. Where angels fear to tread, as the saying goes. I’m fairly certain I’ve discussed my sometimes resemblance to this persona on the blog a time or two before 🙂 Idaho was gorgeous. I really enjoyed my time there, as well as the friendships that were formed. It’s nice to get missives and pictures about…
… And other musings. Ruby had been sputtering along in a stoic way on seven cylinders but she finally complained loudly enough, and refused to signal when turning, so I bit the bullet (wallet?) and took her in to a mechanic referred by another nomad friend. Whatever gremlins have been rambling around in my other…
Yesterday we took a ride up to the Dixie National Forest in Utah. It’s the first time since my trip to Anza Borrego that I’ve seen trees with real leaves, like, oaks and pines. And my first time by living water since the creek at the canyon in Arizona at the beginning of fall. I…
This life is about freedom, exploring, community and nature. Much about van life though is naturally self isolating, or at least involves very reduced social contact within small groups. Yes, we stopped game nights and yarn-spinning around the campfire, even though no one in our camp had been sick. We stay a few feet apart…
The title may be a tad misleading… There is a river, but no one’s running 🤣I do ride my bike beside the Colorado, though. As our camping group breaks apart bit by bit, the pace slows considerably. As folks move on, more arrive. Sometimes we have visitors for a few hours and then they mosey…
Originally posted on Haphazard Homemaker:
This post was updated September 2019. The CDC says you should get a flu shot by the end of October, as it takes about two weeks after the vaccination for you to be protected through the coming flu season. However, it only protects against the 3 or 4 strains in…
I finally fulfilled one of my dreams out here, to sleep in the open, under the stars. It’s something I’d only do in a safe place. Last night I visited my original camp for a potluck, but I was packed to the gills for a camp move. Seemed like the perfect place to try it…
I came out to the PAR TR for a weekend of fun, to shuck off a couple of difficult weeks and to just relax. What I’ve experienced turned out to be much more. In a world that grows more expansive each day via the Internet, people seem to be growing more isolated and lost feeling;…
After almost two weeks of talking mainly to myself, plants, and inanimate objects, I need some socialization. Yes, an introvert just wrote that sentence. I too, am surprised. I’ve figured out that introversion is how I process the information I take in over time, but it doesn’t really define my personality type, now that my…
The wonderful thing about Google photos is that it sends you reminders of where you were x years ago and what you were doing. Well, sometimes it’s wonderful; other times, painful. Today it reminded me of where I was five years ago. I was camping, alone, down in Florida, under another full moon. I hiked…
I’m nearing the end of twelve work free days, a luxury I’ve not had in over five years. But today I had to start easing back into my normal sleep/wake patterns for work on my East coast timeline. So I was up at 0300 Pacific time. Music kept me company for a while, checking email…
In my everyday life I can be scattered, clumsy and downright hazardous to myself. Not so with dance. It is like someone else lives in my body, perhaps that wild, free part of me that wants to take over now and again to just be. I’ve seen more of her out here on the road,…
After a day full of music, mucking about in the van, and a huge meal with good company and good food, I was feeling the need for moving around a bit lest I resemble a stuffed turkey! I took an easy bike ride around the area, dropped off the trash and then headed back as…
As the sun falls behind the hills, woodsmoke drifts my way bearing the scent of juniper or pinon, which I’m not sure. The sky is a soft baby blue layered with pale pink and translucent yellow, with violet indigo coming in fast. By the sun’s falling place, brilliant orange with a red tint flares up…
Words to make note of in this day of rush and do. Can you just…be? Good catch and knit, my friend…
Last night I did something I rarely ever do – I stayed up past 8pm. Why? The Geminids. It wasn’t a work night, and here I am in Big Sky country. So I bundled up and went outside to stare at the sky after serious caffeine loading.
I have a lot of people in my life right now, which is rare for me. I’ve been pretty much a recluse for several years. But I made a choice to change that and here I am. Fear something? Immerse yourself in it. At least, that’s how I have done things (Okay, maybe not applicable to spiders, roaches or snakes)
As I stood under the expansive sky and watched meteorites streak, I began naming people and making a wish for them. Do I believe in that? Not really. But each falling star gave me a moment to think on someone else, to ignore self and focus on others. I thought of long-time friends and those recently met. I thought of people who have been kind to me. I thought of people I really don’t know well, but are in my sphere currently.
As I stood there, neck craning every which way, I heard night birds of the desert that I was unaware of. Coyotes howled in the distance.I watched clouds expand and turn to ribbons to decorate the sky. I thought of how small we are and how great the lack of knowledge we have is. I thought of how full and content my heart was at that moment, and gave thanks.
I don’t know the answer to why life can be so hard for some, and appear so easy for others. Maybe because we don’t really know them? Appearances can be very deceiving. But from the outside, that is how it looks sometimes.
What I thought and spoke about those on my mind last night – those bearing burdens immense; those suffering from illness; those struggling with anxiety, bitterness and fear; those with financial problems; those simply wiped out and overwhelmed from being responsible – will have no impact on them. But it had great impact on me as more than an hour went by and I was still naming people to falling stars. My life is rich. I have so much to appreciate.
Yes, at times it is overwhelming, the amount of ‘me’ that is being given. I get tired. I need to withdraw and recharge. But as a friend recently said, “Better to have too many people to talk to than no one”.
So I suggest to you, sometime name all of those in your life to yourself, and think on them for a moment. Look outward. Change your perspective and see how much falls away from you.
Lest you think I’m above self absorption, just ask anyone very close to me. I can be totally annoying with it. Thankfully, those closest to me also care enough to tell me when I’m being a self-absorbed ass. That is what true friends do, you know. This was an activity to improve my own behavior, to do and be better.
The next time pieces of space debris come our way, try it. You might be surprised at how much better you feel.
Be content. Be kind. Be forgiving, foremost of your own failures. And finally, never overestimate your own importance. It’s a painful place to fall from. 
Star gazing in the desert…
~SE
And so it goes! After traversing Arizona moving south and westward, I finally arrived at the RVing Nirvana known as Quartzsite, or “Q”, as one mountainside proclaims visually. I had seen a video or three on this place. Seemed cool enough. However, after having the freedom of truly boondocking, this is just a leetle different…
It’s funny sometimes, how things happen. I stood in the chilly darkness before work this morning straining to see a falling star. It was breezy, quiet and dark. Only the sound of the wind in the junipers, the rustle of grasses, and the trill of unseen insects kept me company. But no such luck. Tonight,…
This is my first post via cell phone because my laptop simply will not cooperate! I have no idea how this will turn out, lol. I made it 2,200 and change across our beautiful country in Ruby, and it has been delightful, despite yet another breakdown en route. I wish everyone could see the America…
As I told someone earlier, today is my last night here and already I am bereft feeling. I do not want to go home! I have fallen in love with this form of being. Every day I rise in the dark without an alarm, make a pot of coffee and just sit outside and breathe…
My eyes open in the dark, savoring the sounds of crickets and the edge of morning. It is quiet but not-quiet; life wells up in the dark and seeps into the windows of the van. I stretch and lay here thinking of all of the mornings like this I have missed while being surrounded by…
So, I bought a campervan. Nothing big, nothing fancy, nothing new. Just new to me. I want to approach this kind of like a fiddler crab, edging sideways towards a new hole in the sand; or maybe a hermit crab, checking a new shell for a better fit, always remembering that it is me…
A friend of mine recently said ” It doesn’t matter what anyone else wants, what do YOU want to do?” I thought back to what my goals were before Plannus Interruptus (common ailment for plans, no doctor needed). Remember nearly five years ago when I bought an RV and planned on paying off debt and…
Some music to watch for storms by: Riders on the Storm Or if you like something a bit more upbeat: Skywatcher The good news is that no one in my family will be impacted by much more than some rain and a bit more heft to the breeze. I have one friend on the…
The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living A decade. One hundred and twenty months. Three thousand six hundred and fifty days. And so on. The pain of missing has diminished, except on the days when it has not. Those days have at least become less and less frequent. Philosopher and Poet David Whyte says of…
Today started pretty normally, woke up at 0300 and then fell back asleep and slept past my alarm. I wasn’t late to work though, since work is ten steps from my bed. But I got coffee and some crossword puzzle time in before the old bell rang to get out of the gate and make…
Sunflower Solace Farm 