I feel the freshness of possibility of life. It feels as if I am beginning my 20's again.. for the 3rd time. I moved out of my family home when I was a teenager and supported myself, and at that time I learned a great deal about my own maturity and self discipline by taking responsibility for my own survival. In my actual 20's I was a young mother, for a time I was a man's wife, and I had a fulfilling and demanding career. During those years I understood myself to be maturing by learning to make myself do things, big and small things, that I didn't necessarily think I could do, or things I didn't want to do. Now I have little problems or anxiety about making commitments because I know realistically what I can and can not do, what I am and am not willing to do, and I know how to communicate with others and follow through on things we agree to do together. I also now know how to walk away from situations and people that are toxic and dangerous because I know the value of what I am and have to offer, to myself and to others. I know the joy of the blessed community.
Now, in my early 30's I am learning how to create the conditions for success, or the conditions that create a good environment in which to make good choices and treat others with respect, dignity and love. I am loosing pounds and pounds of weight from off my very soul since I have been on the NO DRAMA DIET, now that the stress and failures of the past few years have been reconciled in reality. I have found myself to be in the best possible position to practice some of my gentle ideals of how to act and think, behave, decide and do. My contact with the flow of chances and changes is palpable and energizing.
I am not quite sure what is going to happen next, but I know that I want a little longer to rest before I strive to see clearly the next course; but to get from NOW to THEN I am making a deal with myself to get motivated. I wonder why it is that it is such a common trick to make deals with oneself. It helps me to have sympathy for others. For instance, to cut other people some slack when they seem to be slack, because I don't always live up to my own standards, how important it is to be productive and positive in ones' own life so that other people will be willing and able to help, how important it is to help others, and how to see if they will be able to make good use of my efforts to help them.
I want to go to the People's March on September 21st in NYC (350.org for more info). I want to take a vacation. If I start in Montreal to visit friends I can ride my bike pretty much straight to Glover VT where my friend is the new farm manager of the Bread and Puppet Theater farm. Then is is a straight shot from there to Colebrook CT where another friend will be teaching at Nature's Classroom, and then on to the march. I went to the GA Museum of Art yesterday and sat for quite a long time before a 100+ year old painting of Silver Thread falls in Dingman PA, and from there to get to Philly to see friends would only be about 60 miles! So, I am making a deal with myself: Here is my To-Do list.
It's not that long. I want to get this list finished before I leave for
my trip. The stuff high lighted is stuff I need to get in order to do
the projects. When this list is completed my home will be fully
enclosed, road-worthy and ready for it's VIN#, and the interior will be finished enough to be able to live
comfortably (camp style) anywhere I could want to go if I choose to travel
while finish installing the solar system and building the cabinets,
which really would be the last things to do, aside from trim work.
HOBO KITCHEN
I rode with a friend to Clarkesville GA to buy this new 4 burner RV over from a Craig's list ad. $50. This was that last piece of equipment that I needed to accommodate in the design of the cabinetry.
This where everything will live in the kitchen. The right side wall will have a very shallow cabinet. There will be upper cabinets above the chest fridge on the right, to the right of the window, and also on the left side, to the the left of that window.
There
will be about 18 inches between the corner of the chest fridge and the
oven door when it is open, and a great deal of open floor space inside
the kitchen to the right.
I bought all these painting to become the backs of the cabinets. The
oven is the right height for the tall painting and then a little one on
top, and still 2" for the kick plate.
Left side (port side) pantry and upper cabinet painting. I have some old octagonal tile I want to set in a wooden frame to cover the space below the right side upper cabinet, that will have a cut out for the duplex box and maybe some towel bars.
Brainstorming the cabinet units.
I have been working a lot of plumbing jobs lately and been collecting crappy scrap which I am using to build railings for holding stuff in open shelving units. This one is for the bathroom shelves inset into the wall, with a bar for hanging towels.
Rough in of the bathroom shelf space.
The rough in of the self unit. This still needs to be caulked and painted. This will have to come out to install the ceiling paneling, and then the trim around the room, but this is ready to finish when that work is done.
Looking straight on.
In use.
Windy and cool l8ly. POLAR VORTEX!
The
guy I bought the oven from was awesome to talk to. He sold me the oven
so cheap because he had it in a camper that leaked, and was completely
ruined. He said he has owned RVs for 30 years, and they all leak. I told
him that short sections of the low part of my roof leak.. very small,
but I am worried about time + wear and tear. I have in my mind a gutter
system that lives inside the roof, to catch
any eventual leaks and prevent any damage.. preemptive solution and
fix the problem I have, since I have already built out this section of
roof twice. He told me not to look @ it as fixing something.. things have a way
to be, and that includes the little quirks, tinkering and trouble-shootings to get things just right and work-able. He said it was smart of me
to have designed something that can channel water, give it a natural
course to flow even if it is a "defect"..since it's gonna happen anyway because water falls from the sky! It gave me great confidence to speak to him at such length, and changed my perspective about accomplishing the rain gutter task on my to-do list from one of trying again to fix and problem to thinking about it as working on my project until it is just right and works great.
In a final thought : I am so glad that tiny houses/ hand made trailers/ off grid living has become such a fad lately. When I first started this project many people derided me for being crazy or hypocritical. It was even asserted in court that I am a crazy unfit parent for having embarked on this project. Now that it has become a popular idea, and married to such deep Americana ideals as the open road and independence, it is so much easier and more enjoyable to talk to people about my project because I am less likely to encounter criticism and negativity. PEACE!
