Away We Go: Both Sides of the Valley
And now, at the end of a trip where one foot was in the world of staged house showings and the other was in a trailer in a campground, we find ourselves on the other side of the valley from where we took that very first test trip. It was in that rental house we tested this life to see if it would work. We watched tremendous desert sunsets from a patio that faced the direction we are right now. We have gone so far - tens of thousands of miles - since then. We've crossed the valley and we are permanently changed for it.
Now I'm looking back to where we were and seeing the sun rise. New starts come from there. The earth evidently agrees.
Away We Go: Shifting Gears
It is possible to be difficult and just right at the same time.
There's a metaphor here as I’m sure every one of you has seen coming. Sometimes you're not moving in the right life-gear. Your legs are circling around and around and it doesn't feel like you're getting anywhere and certainly not quickly.
Away We Go: Mapping the Waterway
River maps are no longer accurate. The blue fingers of creeks and streams on the car's navigation system yield perhaps an arroyo when I glance out the window. A trace of a wash. If water exists it is choked with cottonwood and willow making their last stand; they know this is desperate. Plant wisdom sussed that out some time before we did.
Away We Go: We All Fall Down
I am now pushing any piece of this guy into the vehicle that I can with little regard to whether things bend the way they should. At long last his seat is in the seat. Legs still dangling but this has crossed over into a doable situation. Both men ask, are you a Park Ranger?