What I Did (Am Doing…) on My (Not-Quite-Summer) (Not Quite) Vacation
Okay, I wanted to use the classic
back-to-school heading. Even though I’m not back in school
(although I am having educational experiences). And even though it
hasn’t been summer (until now). And even though it’s not nearly
done (and I don’t really know when it will be).
I guess I could have come up with a
better title if I’d given it some thought, huh?
Onward…
For those who don’t know (meaning,
almost everyone who sorta kinda knows me, a little or more): in an
impulsive moment, outdone only by the time I ran off with Aaron &
Jerushah’s father well over 30 years ago (and that time I had the
excuse of being a teenager) (though it seems there are similarities
between entering one’s 50s and the teen years… at least for some
of us. Ahem.), I ran off… with myself. To… wherever I decided to
drive. Nominally, I’m writing while I travel (or traveling while I
write, it seems to shift), and I am indeed getting creative work
done, and having inspiration and such… It’s funny, because the
practical challenges of being on the road, without a lot of planning
(or funds!) means that sometimes I don’t have as much time to work
as I’d like—busy with driving, arriving at new places, meeting
new people, staring out at stars, sunsets, sunrises, mountains,
oceans, so on—but my mind is still working better than if I were
sitting still somewhere that I only half-heartedly want to be. I’ve
got a little outlet/USB car-charger adapter, so I can plug in my
little old laptop in the car, and write while I’m hanging out at a
park or rest stop or truck stop or wherever; so I do manage to work
most days. I am thinking it might be nice to get a little voice
recorder or something, because I find myself talking through stuff
(to myself, yes! While I drive. I figure people passing me just think
I’m talking on a hands-free phone thingie or something. Or, y’know,
that I’m a little kooky. Whichever, it’s all good.).
It’s been two and a half months now,
and it looks like it will go through the end of the summer. I’ll be
spending about a month in L.A. from late June to mid-July at Aaron &
Jasmine’s place, taking care of their cats & garden while they
tromp around South America. Also plan to spend time in Oregon,
Washington, and maybe even go out to Texas & the Midwest, and go
to Michigan in August for the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. Some
of the upcoming traveling may involve seeing long-lost family, which
is another story altogether, one I’ll write about sometime in the
nearish future… particularly if the visits happen to go well!
Haven’t gotten past August in my plans; though the long-ish term
plan, if all goes well, involves my moving back to Portland for the
long-term. We’ll see.
So… there I was. In February. Started
driving south, and spent time in Santa Cruz and Watsonville while I
decided what to do. Came back to Berkeley for 3 days, but didn’t
tell anyone (I was just here for a doc appointment and to get mail),
and cut off all my hair. Well, most of it—buzz cut. Love it,
really; sent the snipped braids to Locks of Love and thoroughly enjoy
the six & a half seconds it now takes to wash my hair, and am
especially pleased as the weather turns toward climate-change summer.
Headed east, to Utah; spent time in &
around Zion Nat’l Park, and then up near Salt Lake City. Came back
through Nevada & over the Sierras; picked up a couple of
hitchhiking hippies (and their dog!) in middle-of-nowhere Utah and
brought them to Grass Valley, stayed around there myself for a short
bit, and then went out to see the ocean again (had been gone for a
bit over a month at that point). Moseyed down the coast, from Marin
to Pescadero to Monterey to Big Sur to Pismo Beach; then took a side
road trip with another traveler to Arizona and on up as far as Idaho.
That was the only not-so-great encounter so far; it wasn’t
dangerous or anything, just icky. Uncomfortable. Was supposed to go
to Yellowstone (so close! But it was really cold there, freezing
still, and I can always go back when it’s warmer), but instead cut
the trip short & took a bus back to my car in San Luis Obispo,
hung around there & Santa Barbara & then worked my way north,
and now I’m here, in the East Bay, for about a week and a half,
until I leave again and head further north. Gotta get some work done
on the car, and get mail, and get rid of some stuff in storage (more
on that below).
From her I head up to Oregon &
Washington until it’s time to go back to L.A. It’ll be nice to
stay in one place for a few weeks by then, to be sure…
I’ve been doing a combo of hostels,
Couchsurfing (which is a truly awesome system/site, and the only
“social networking” you’ll ever see me do; no, you will never
find me on Facebook. Or Twitter. Or any of that. Though I do sign in
to one of the daughters’ Facebooks sometimes to keep up with pics
of the grandkids) and not-exactly-camping (i.e. staying in the car!)
between stays & while in transit. It’s kept the budget within
bounds, and allows me to see places I probably wouldn’t otherwise
go & meet incredibly cool people. The focus on traveling, and
transient nature of both CS and hostels means that it’s not hard to
mix a fair amount of autonomous, introspective, hermit-ish
leanings/activity with discrete social interludes (chatting over a
meal, an outing to a local event/cool place, playing a game, etc.).
It works well for my energy and interaction tolerance; I can
generally find time to rest, relax, withdraw, and/or work without
much fuss, as I need it, and am able to engage in short bursts that
are both rewarding as well as interesting, and often fun. I’ve only
had one significantly poor match in terms of
personality/energy/expectation, and I left it behind as quickly as I
reasonably could, and learned from it (e.g. listen to your
intuition!).
My stays have ranged from a couch or
futon, or even pallet on the floor in a living room to my own room
(and once, even my own bathroom, woo-hoo… and a hot tub! Not my
own, but I was the only one who used it, so just about…) to a dorm
bed, to a whole cottage to myself. One night, I stayed in a hostel
dorm, in a gigantic old Victorian mansion, with so few guests that I
had the 8-bed enormous beautiful room all to myself. Another time, I
was on the coast, at a weathered little hostel under a lighthouse and
had both the dorm room & its private bathroom all for me, as the
wind howled outside, the rain drummed the roof and the waves crashed
at the bottom of the cliff just feet away. *Wow.* The night before,
there had been a stunning lightning storm out over the water, great
sheet and multi-branch trees of lightning lighting up the tossing sea
for seconds at a time, pitch black in between. My kids know how I am
about thunder and lightning; I was too awed by that show to even be
scared. Most of the time, I’m staying in small spaces; most of the
time with limited privacy; some of the time with limited facilities.
Sometimes, as mentioned, I stay in my car (the weather hasn’t been
good enough to camp until recently, for me anyway, and I don’t have
a tent in any case; I want to get a hammock, though—just napped in
one recently and had *no* idea how comfortable they are!). Yeah,
there have been moments, even hours and a few days along the way when
I felt daunted, discouraged, even worried/uncertain about getting by,
being able to function, etc. I got sick once (for a day; an amazingly
gracious host let me stay an extra day while I recovered); I’ve
been cold a few times, uncomfortable a few more. But it’s kind of
remarkable how much it all seems to work out, most of the time just
when I really really need it. And the stellar stuff more than makes
up for the less enchanting elements, for sure.
It can be frustrating and sometimes a
bit nerve-wracking to not have internet access more consistently,
because that would definitely help. (Though I will also admit that
sometimes it makes it easy to say “oh, dear, I totally *would* keep
in touch, but darn! No internet. Poor me. Sorry!” Y’know,
*please* don’t throw me in the briar patch! *Whistle whistle grin*)
But truthfully, I am hoping I can find a way to rectify that (I’m
considering getting something like a Kindle Fire; cheaper than a
laptop or tablet, with wifi/web browsing ability; if anyone is
getting rid of a working one or something similar—or a wifi enabled
laptop, etc.!—and would be willing to do some sort of
trade—housecleaning? petsitting? editing? something else?—or take
a number of small payments, or just wants to make a donation : )
or something… I’m all over it. Call or text me, by all means:. Just don’t email me. ‘Cause, y’know… I probably
won’t get it. Snerk.).
On the subject of stuff (well, sort of,
but now we are): I’m selling a lot of mine. I’d left most of it
in storage, and well… I don’t want to pay for that anymore, and I
just don’t know when/if I’ll be moving somewhere permanent(ish)
in a way that I can bring stuff with. So, the book collection is
going: probably around 1500+. I’m having a book sale in Antioch
this Sat the 12th (um, tomorrow, heh) at the home of
Anna’s boyfriend’s mom (got that?); address below.
I’d like to
sell some other stuff, too; furniture & whatnot. Actually, one
thing I could really use (no, two, let’s be honest): it’s likely
I’ll need to do a second sale, next weekend (the 19th/20th),
and I probably can’t do it at the same house. I might just go to
the Ashby flea market, but if someone was open to letting me have a
yard/book sale at their place—I just need a driveway or manageable
yard space, no indoor space needed. Even more, I could really use
someone with a truck/van/SUV who could either loan me said vehicle or
do the driving themselves so I can get stuff to/from sale… and of
course, I’ll cover gas and beer and whatever else.
I’ve got a great couchsurf host in
Concord for a week+, starting Sat night until the following Mon (the
21st), so I’m all good for a place to stay, as long as I
don’t decide/need to stay longer (though if I do, I might could do
a hostel if the sale goes well!). I don’t think I can do much in
the way of social gatherings while I’m here, and I know I can’t
visit everyone… but if folks want to stop by on the day of the sale
& chat, or do a pizza & beer fest on the eve of the second
sale (if I have one!) next weekend, I could probably manage that : )
My car will be in the shop at least one day early next week, so
I’ve got that to contend with, too.
Well, that brings us current, and me to
the end of my time to write & post this before running off to do
chores. If you got an email that led to this, it means I think about
you, actually pretty regularly. If you got here some other way, and I
know you, it might just be that I don’t have current contact info
for you, and I think about you too, or it might mean the early onset
Alzheimer’s has rearranged the letters in your name and I’m all
fuzzy. Or maybe I don’t know you, in which case: Hi! *waves* Um,
not sure what to say. Take what you will from this, y’know.
Bye for now, all. Hope your lives are
all fascinating and healthy and have some laughs and enough things
that you’re content with and enthusiastic about to be rewarding.
Oh, yeah, folks, weigh in if you’ve a
mind to:
I can never decide between ‘Hermit’
and ‘Curmudgeon’ because really, it’s both, enough of the time,
anyway. So I was thinking about combining them, but I really think
‘Cermit’ (pronounced like the frog, of course) is just too silly
for the intent. So I’m thinking ‘Hermudgeon’. I like it. What
d’ya think?
Miz Hermudgeon, Deborah
posted by literaterose @ 12:44 AM
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