This Fulltimer is Staying Home!

Hey Folks! Here’s a little piece on what stay at home means to me right now. First of all, what is “home” for a fulltimer? Well, in my case home has been wherever my trailer is. People ask me where I live and I point to the trailer. Right now my trailer is here in the Sonoran Desert. As someone who has been enjoying a nomadic life, sitting still can feel confining. I have had to learn to travel in my imagination, keep the company of myself and explore more deeply who I am and what is important to me, furthering what I started out doing in my original downsize. I have had to learn to be ok getting still and quiet and hearing what my fears and anxiety are gifting me to learn about myself. Everything I have been through in the last couple years traveling as a fulltimer, I believe has prepared me to be right here, stying put, in the desert, one of the most spiritual places I know. I have let go of lots of material things. I believe this has prepared me to go deeper exploring what I value, and what guides me to be a better person once life speeds up again. I know I will look back on the pain and suffering of this time and realize, as in everything difficult, it was giving me an incredible gift.

Right now I have disconnected the battery and am staying still in this river home, while my trailer sits behind me. Staying in this ghost town of a park has allowed me to save precious cash in case things get really tough. It has given me the luxury of a full size refridgerator at which my spinach stayed fresh for one month. Yep! Unbelievable. In my trailer I would have had to get fresh vegies every few days. I get joy from the small things! It has also allowed me to store up on staples like beans and rice, canned spam and canned fruit and veggies if needed. It has kept me healthy and safe.

Sitting still here has given Mr. D. room to run about free indoors, vs his usual back and forth in the one hundred square feet of trailer, although I’m not sure that he really cares. My dog does thouroughly enjoy our morning desert walks and acts like my daily alarm clock if 6:30 am comes about and I have not gotten up yet. I’m guessing as the sun rises earlier that will be 5:30 am, but that’s ok. I enjoy our time as much as he does. I mean who would have believed I would be going for four and five mile hikes into the desert daily. We photograph the sights, commune with burros, track bobcat prints in the sand, collect wild flowers and add to our collection of rocks for our rock garden. Sitting here has allowed me to go within and find my inner strength and courage to be there for my loved ones from afar, and to be there for myself. We are never guaranteed tomorrow and I am grateful each day for everyone of us who is still here.

The photo below is of the closest neighbors I have had up until now, Bob and Dee. They head out to their home parking in Oregon in a few days and I wish them safe travels. All things happen for a purpose and having had these two here is no exception. Dee gets all of the credit for showing me how to navigate the hikes in the desert, how to appreciate small desert finds, and how to build up my organic garden.  It would not be appropriate to share her age. I’ll just say she is a rock star and when I started hiking with her I knew I had to step up my game, and I’m forever thankful. These two have become family. They are both what I call givers, and have taught me to be more of a giver myself. We look out for each other from a distance,  and keep each other’s spirits up.

I also have had the luxury of an outdoor space to create more paintings and show my artwork. Getting lost in my creativity is my favorite way to soothe my soul while all of this craziness goes on around me. I actually hosted a six feet, wear your masks art crawl. Yah, Bob and Dee were the only ones around to come by but it was fun. You have seen some of my pandemic pieces. Here, you’re getting a sneak peak at one piece that has not been released yet and will be on show in an online art exhibit May 1st. I encourage you to look for notice of that and see works from my community of artist friends. All of the artists out there, photographers, musicians, comics, painters and more, have helped me keep going.

“Patron Saint of the Earth” Acrylic on Canvas 16 x 20

I never thought of myself as an off grid gal but I’m picking up some new skills that will help me get there. I’m working on growing as many vegetables as I can in containers and learning how to blanch them.  Sitting still has allowed me to do that. If you remember when I first went on the move I gifted many of you my beautiful plants and pots. I love seeing them doing well in your gardens. But I am also glad to have some of my own again. As a fulltimer, I am a full believer there needs to be more opportunities for us to have a base camp, or a place we call home that we can return to  when feel the need to sit still.  I love my plants, yet they  are too difficult to take with me. If I could have them in a place I consider to be my base, I could come back to them.

I am picking up other skills such as dog grooming. YouTube is amazing! And here’s a shoutout to UPS for delivering my top of the line grooming tools. I think I did quite well. I’m not sure that my dog would agree that I now possess this as a skill though. If you’d like to see what he has to say check it out here.

 

A lot of my other fulltiming friends have also found a parking spot that allowed them to stay put. Just because we can jet set across the country in our trailers doesn’t mean it would be appropriate. There are so many frontline workers risking their lives to help the rest of us that sitting still until there is a vaccine, is my way of saying thank you, I see you.  Thank you to the nurses and doctors and the scientists. Thank you to the truckers. Thank you to the delivery folks. Thank you to the grocery store and gas station employees. Thank you to the law enforcement and security folks. Thank you to my local park employees. Thank you to the workers in the fields keeping food on my table. Thank you cleaning people who are doing the seriously dirty work, and the folks working the morgues. Thank you to the folks at the post office for delivering my essentials. Thank you to the internet company workers for keeping me connected. I know I am missing someone who is putting their life out there for me. I know there will be plenty of time to be on the move again down the road.

I believe in people’s right to protest, but one has to ask, what if they got it wrong? Is that worth people dieing? Stay safe my friends and give me a facetime, Google Duo or a Zoom shout out if you’d like to “travel” via phone, see the desert and keep entertained as these quarantine times allow the scientists to find solutions for us.