I had weird dreams last night: the kind that are not so disconnected from the real world as to be impossible (no flying, no spaceships, no monsters) but that are mystifyingly implausible. In one of them, I was taking on the responsibility of raising the infant of a friend’s son. I woke up from that one trying to figure out how I was going to change diapers in Serenity — the actual logistics of storing diapers and wipes and clean cloths and that kind of thing, and was both relieved and a tiny bit disappointed when I woke all the way up. I’m obviously not going to be raising any children while living in a van, and I can’t imagine how I would end up being the person responsible for that specific imagined kid, but I do like babies. The other dreams are all a lot less vivid now — can’t remember a single detail — but all had that same sense of taking on impractical responsibilities that don’t belong to me. At the time, they were mysterious, but looked at in the cold light of day, it’s more obvious to me where my brain was wandering.
This morning I went to yoga with my dad. If I had dreamed that ten years ago, it would have been mystifyingly implausible. If I had dreamed it two years ago, it would have been surreally unlikely. As it was, it was very fun. I haven’t been able to do real yoga at all while living in Serenity. I have about twenty different video classes saved on an iPad, but it’s too small inside to even do a good stretch, and outside… well, there’s uneven ground, dirt, heat, bugs, observers — a bunch of things that have disinclined me to make that choice. Going to a class reminded me of how much I love it, though, and how great it feels. The instructor suggested putting my mat on a picnic table and doing it there and I really ought to try that. Observers to be ignored, of course.
Right now I’m parked in my dad’s driveway, one of my favorite camping spots, looking forward to a quiet day today and a busy day tomorrow. The last few days have been busy-busy, with lots of stuff that realistically I could have done any time but somehow I saved until I was back in central Florida. Example: after more than eight months, I finally went to Bed, Bath & Beyond and bought small bins that fit inside the medicine chest. When I opened up the medicine chest this morning, nothing fell out on me. It was so exciting! Why I didn’t do this somewhere along the way, I can’t say. Some tasks still feel like things you should do at home and central Florida still feels like home. I wonder how long that feeling will last?
I also bought a new garlic press. When I still had a house, I had three garlic presses, and I decided I didn’t need them when I was getting rid of things. It’s the one kitchen item that I have regularly looked for, not found, and — with regret — remembered that I thought I didn’t need. I thought I might have kept one in the storage unit, so I looked when I was cleaning it out on Saturday, but nope, I truly did get rid of all three of them. I’m going to have to make something with garlic really soon to try the new one out. Maybe salad dressing for dinner tonight.
I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be in central Florida. I’d hoped I’d be able to head north next Monday, but Serenity still needs some warranty work done. The sink in the bathroom is broken (again — 3rd time) and the heated tank system is falling off. So I’m busy making fun local plans for next week — Pokemon hunting with a friend one night, visiting another friend at her childhood home for a couple days, lunch with a third friend — but also trying to decide what makes sense for the three weeks between the time the van might feasibly be repaired and when I need to be back in Florida.
Three weeks feels like forever — that would have been a great stretch of vacation for me ten years ago, certainly sufficient to have any kind of adventure, up to and including driving to the Grand Canyon and back again! — and not nearly long enough. What I really wish is that I could find a place that I love to settle down and finish Grace. But I suspect I could easily spend three weeks just trying to find such a place. If it weren’t so hot here, I’d just stay in Florida. And maybe I’ll do that anyway, but I’m having to run the AC for the dogs most of the time, which is not my favorite thing. Decisions, decisions!
I had weird dreams last night also. The only part of them I remember is waking up thinking I had a tigers paw in my lap and talking to the tiger as I applied some kind of medicine to a scratch. No clue what that was about.
I am really struggling with my walking program. Not sure I am going to be able to do 3.1 miles in time for my Color Run…
Yesterday I got a little excited because I realized a series I thought about writing would make a good graphic novel series. Both my daughter and my granddaughter are excellent at drawing so we are considering a collaboration.
Regarding Grace; don’t know if this will be helpful at this point or not but here is a quote by James Thurber: “Don’t get it right, get it written.”
Great quote! And good advice to follow — I just need to get back to lots of time dedicated to writing, instead of all the other stuff I’m doing. (i.e., Universal Studios, yesterday. Movies. Friend visits. Etc!.) As for the walking, I posted on Facebook, too, but just to elaborate a little while I’m not on my phone: a friend who’s a personal trainer really stressed the importance of getting good shoes, meaning the right shoes for your feet and how they work. I did a bunch of reading on it, about the different issues people can have based on the way we walk (start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronation_of_the_foot) and then spent forever reading reviews of shoes, and finally bought the shoes I mentioned, the Saucony Omni Grid Walkers. They are very ugly. But I get much less tired when wearing them then I do when wearing the Nikes I had before or even the sandals I wear, which are supposed to be really good walking shoes. I’d walked four miles by lunchtime yesterday, probably easily ten miles by the end of the day, and while I was tired, I was not exhausted. And there’s no way I could have/would have done that five years ago. Some of the things my niece wanted to do, like going back to the Harry Potter section at the end of they day, would have just seemed like so much work. I do credit the virtues of the walking shoes with some of that. Also, obviously, I’m walking a lot more on a daily basis these days, so some of it was just that I’m in much better shape now than I was five years ago. But still, ten miles is a lot of walking!
I like Judy, Judy, Judy’s quote by Thurber. Sounds right to me… Glad you got the storage bins for the medicine chest. We’ll have another RV — possibly as early as next year, and I’ll possibly need to remember your tip and put it into play! Enjoy your visit ‘home’.
Thank you and thank you! Yes, I wish I’d gotten those bins months ago — it’s nice not to have stuff falling out every time I open that door! And good luck with your new RV!!