Dear Friend,
I’ve been striving to write to you every Sunday. This letter is showing up on Monday, so I apologize, and certainly do appreciate your patience. This isn’t the first time my letter has been late and I’m afraid that it might not be the last time, either.
Well, Yay! Today is the first day of Spring. Did you do anything special to send winter off into the place that winters go when they are all finished? It seems appropriate to acknowledge winter’s presence – it certainly made itself known – loud and clear: cold and drippy and long, three adjectives that don’t often get used together to describe something so grand as winter.
I’ve been looking forward to this very important day: it is the anniversary of our wedding day, and the Vernal Equinox, and, we are about to get back on the road! This is indescribably exciting!
During our January 29th – March 3rd trip, our daily mantra: “TOO MUCH STUFF!” prompted us to do what we could to downsize our cargo for the next trip.
To do this, we made a few changes to the truck.
Frank took out the back seat! That might not seem like a big deal to most people but it frees up at least 8” of wall space which adds approximately 3.3333 square feet to our storage area in the cab.
Also, Frank built a beautiful, perfectly-sized, wooden shelf onto the back wall of the cab which will house my flute, our toiletries and various other things that don’t seem to go together.
And we’re leaving behind our borrowed tent, 2 large sleeping bags, 3 pillows, a useless ice chest, our big, round, 5-gallon water container, books, towels, coats, shoes, two large tubs full of pots, pans, dishes and blankets… What were we thinking?
We did acquire a rain/shade awning for the back of the truck, (yet to be tested), and a different tent, (also yet to be tested). We also purchased two additional 3-gallon water containers to add to the three that we already have. These containers are rectangular and they stack, so they take up a lot less room than the bulky, round ones. All together, we have five, 3-gallon water jugs. 15 gallons should last us at least a week.
All of the planning and preparing for this next leg of our adventure cannot change the fact that the weather is still an X factor - modern-day technology can predict, but it can’t control, so we are waiting until the last hour to make up our mind about which route we are taking to go South. The desert is blooming!
It seems that I mention the weather in all of my letters. It does have a lot to do with our direction, our capabilities, our comfort… it is the rule-sheet for our journey and unfortunately, it is just about as inconsistent as – the weather. If we weren’t out in it as much as we are while we are on the road, maybe we wouldn’t pay quite as much attention to it.
You know, all of this weather-checking does remind me of the last time I raised a puppy, and, yes, I’m talking about Winchester. When you have a puppy, you have to go outside, a lot, rain or shine or whatever! And, WAIT! Now with all this extra room in the truck… Can a puppy fit in 3.33333 square feet? Yes! But, no, it’s not going to happen.
Winchester has been on my mind a lot, I sure do miss him. He had a special way, he wasn’t ‘normal.’ Every dog is different. In fact, I’d say that every living thing is different… But if I had to sum Winchester up in one word it would be: wholesome.
He was a wholesome English Yellow Labrador Retriever. He didn’t knock people down the stairs, or eat poop. He didn’t roll in dead things. He never tore up his babies. He was gentle with lizards. He stepped carefully around fragile cameras on tri-pods, wires, and plugs, and never, ever chewed anything up. If someone was speaking in an angry tone, he would sit by the back door, he would want to get away from the negative vibes. He liked to listen to music, play the piano, sit on peoples’ laps, watch cooking shows… he was - wholesome.
That guy was wholesome!
Is it possible to describe a person in one word? How about you? What one word would describe you? Are you fun, strong, cute, annoyed, weird, curious, kind… does it just depend on environmental variables?
Maybe you can’t be pinned down to one adjective, and that’s fun, because it might mean that when you’re gone, loved-ones will say that you were “indescribable.”
Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers and for writing! If you have any poems or comments or advice, please don’t hesitate to write to me and let me know that you have something to share and I will share it in my next letter!
Have a wonderful first week of Spring! From wherever we are, no matter how the outside is treating us, we certainly appreciate YOU!
Gently Be,
Leslie