Our last hurrah??

It’s a quiet Monday morning. We are at our daughter’s house where King is building a “Little Free Library” for our daughter’s mother-in-law. The next project will be a closet organizer. He has already built a storage unit for all of our daughter's outdoor Christmas decorations. I christened it the "Sears Tower," because it is rather tall. (As in it almost reaches their second-story window).

Last week found us camping in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. We stayed at the Blair Valley campground which is a primitive campground – meaning no electricity and no water. It was free, which is always a good price. The only amenity is a vault toilet near the entrance to the campground.  Campers bring their own water and carry out their trash. There are no designated campsites, the "rules" say to park no more than one car-length from the "road." I think the entire time we were there about seven cars drove past our campsite. The isolation is awesome and the solitude is beyond explanation. The park itself encompasses about 600,000 acres with many different campgrounds within the park, so for those not into "roughing it," there are alternatives.

It was a good week for exploring. King and I were generally up early and did our wandering in the morning. We were back home (and by “home” I mean our trailer) by noon and would spend our afternoons napping or listening to satellite radio. It was a relaxing week. We visited small towns nestled in the mountains or sprawled out in desert valleys. We saw the remains of Native American seasonal camps, experienced warm days and cold nights, and watched the solar eclipse under crystal clear skies. The only noise was the occasional radio music from our nearest neighbor about a mile away as it drifted across the ancient dry lake bed.

This week we are settled back into the noisy campground at Sweetwater Summit County Park. It’s a different kind of relaxing. We have electricity and although we never hook the trailer directly to running water, we can fill the tank whenever we need to. As an aside, King and I don’t trust the plumbing in our trailer enough to hook it up directly to city water. She is 40-years-old and our fear is if we directly hooked up the pressure would blow our plumbing apart.

At this campground we are surrounded by campers. We wave at our “neighbors” while we drive to our campsite, but King and I are not the mingling types, so we don’t share campfires, we don’t really talk to them – just basic pleasantries and assurances Cindy doesn’t bite. 

And there are showers here. Oh, blessed showers.

Two years ago King removed the shower from our bathroom in the trailer to give us more storage space. It was an all-in-one unit, meaning you could sit on the toilet and take a shower. I used it one time to wash my hair. We needed the space more than we needed to shower.  So, now that we we have the availability of a campground bath house at this particular campground, we take advantage of the facilities. The showers here, by the way, are coin operated – four quarters for eight minutes. I am determined to use my full dollars’ worth (must be the Dutch in me) and I’ve found eight-minute showers are longer than the ones I used to take when home was a regular house with a regular bathroom and regular shower.

Our children bought King a small TV for Father’s Day last June and our oldest son helped us set it up internet TV with all of King’s favorite TV westerns and old sitcoms. I bought King a wall mount for Christmas and now it hangs over the bed in the back of the trailer. Here in the greater San Diego area we can pick up at least 50 stations with an antenna. A few weeks ago King watched a few of the college bowl games in Spanish. For someone like me who only listens to the games halfheartedly it was interesting to hear the same game voice droning on and on – except in Spanish.

And speaking of King watching TV in the back of the trailer… that “back” spot (or family room) is about seven feet from where I sit, in what normally would be the dinette area, but I’ve converted into a sofa (formal living room). This is our home. Small and compact with all we need a few feet from wherever we are. People may ask, “How was camping?” and we will tell them it’s “fine,” or “fun” but the reality is, this is our lifestyle now. This is what we do. This is our home. Permanently. Our “home” is truly where we park it. The realization that this is not a “vacation,” but our new lifestyle, is going to take some getting used to. It can be a little daunting at times. 

We will be heading back to Michigan this spring so King can play golf with our sons. I wonder what he is going to do to keep himself busy. When we worked on the farm there was always a project – 20 acres of lawn to mow, wood to cut, chickens and rabbits to feed, etc. etc. – so the concern of boredom does loom now.  My suggestion that he take up whittling was met with laughter.

This has been a learning curve for both of us and this type of living arrangement is not for the faint of heart. I would say it takes a giant leap of faith, but in reality it is more than that. It takes a willingness to be able to take things as they come and also takes the realization that, yes, we know this cannot last forever. After watching my parents struggle with their aging bodies and then standing by helpless as my mother's mind disappeared, we know this is basically our last hurrah.  Someday we may have to find a permanent place to live (one that cannot be moved), or move into an assisted living center. But until then it's our turn to have some fun.

Happy New Year

It’s the last day of 2018. I’m not one to wax poetic about the end of the year and new beginnings. I’ve never kept a New Year’s resolution and I don’t think I will be starting now. Not that I don’t believe in them, I just know myself and my limitations. So other than to say I’m going to try to stay out of political debates on Facebook, I don’t have any resolutions.

I’m pretty sure the biggest change for me for 2019 is the same change I’ve made every New Year – remembering to change the date on checks. And since I don’t even own a check book any longer, it’s not much of a concern.

My older sister Donna would have turned 70 on January 1. I miss her. But her absence is one I’ve adjusted to. That may seem harsh, but it’s my reality. When I think of Donna I think of the good times we had. I remember the trips she and I took together. I remember her temper. I remember her generosity. I think of the things that made Donna the person she was. But my first thought when I realized she would have been 70 in 2019 was, “Wow, I have (or would have had) two sisters in their 70s.” That’s a sobering thought. Wasn’t it just yesterday my younger sister and I were anticipating their return home from college?  And wasn’t it the day before yesterday we were celebrating her birthday with friends from Chicago and sledding down Veldhoff’s hill?

Today King and I are spending the last day of 2018 in our “new” home. He is watching football and I am writing, messaging our daughter, knitting and just generally chilling. It’s rather relaxing.

Santa gave King a wall mount bracket for our TV for Christmas. We were going to install it last night, but King left the charger for the drill at our daughter’s house. So we drove to her house today to get the charger and returned to the campground to get the wall bracket installed. The most I can say about the installation is we are still married. Projects, King and I are not a good combination.

I may have mentioned before that our travel trailer is tiny. I don’t think that fully expresses how small it truly is. Before we got the TV mounted on the wall we had it set up on a small rolling cart between the refrigerator and the bathroom door. It had to be moved any time we wanted to open either door.  Now it is hanging above the bed and I am sitting at the table – about eight feet away. It really has not taken much to become accustomed to living in a small space. We have a place for everything and when it is not in the proper place it is VERY apparent.

I have had people tell me they would love to live in a small space, but can’t imagine parting with their possessions. The reality is, once you start looking at possessions/treasures as simply “things” it becomes easier to do. I will admit, there are nine boxes stored at our son’s home. But in those boxes are things that I might need should there ever come a time when King and I can no longer live in a 16-foot travel trailer – a crock pot, food dehydrator, a juicer and a few other items of that nature.  Sentimental items are either gone or have been given away.

So King and I are content. It’s not a matter of learning to go without. It’s a matter of enjoying what we have.

Later today we will be heading back to our daughter and son-in-law’s home to babysit while they go out to ring in the new year with friends. It’s been a long time since King has made it to midnight and I doubt he will tonight. Whether or not I make it is questionable as well.

I wish everyone a happy and peaceful New Year.