I arrived in town two nights ago. I had the idea of surprising a friend of mine (who I used to dance with a lot) by showing up at the Elks Lodge. This idea was helped along by a mutual friend. Well, it was a surprise alright...seems that since the last time I saw her and this time, she has gotten into a relationship. I got the distinct impression that, as far as her new male friend was concerned at least, my presence was not welcomed. She and I had a couple dances and then I left. While I was in the parking lot, getting ready to go find a place to pop the camper, one of the Lodge's bigwigs stopped and talked with me about my "rig"...the bike/trailer combination. He wound up giving me permission to stay on the Elks property for the night.
Backing up a little in the story, when we hooked my trailer up to my daughter's car to haul it down here to the Southwest, I had to change the wiring harness to get the trailer to work with her car. After getting it to Vegas, I had to reinstall the old harness, but was unable to get the tail lights to work on the trailer. I got all the other lights to work, just not the tail lights. Back to the Elks: our mutual friend referred to above (Tony) volunteered to fix the tail lights. That was the reason I was given permission to use the private Elks RV lot. Tony did wind up fixing my tail lights; turned out to be a pretty time consuming job. I doubt I would've figured out the problem by myself.
Well, I've wondered about town for a couple days now. I have learned that the towns that I feel "welcomed" in are towns that my presence does some manner of good for someone. Havasu, this year, doesn't feel welcoming. Just as an example, I went to Wal-Mart's to pop the camper last night. After getting it all set up and being warmly ensconced in my sleeping bag, a security guard came by to tell me that I would not be allowed to camp in the parking lot and would have to move. Now, it is well known that if you are traveling in a camper, you can pull into any Wal-Mart and sleep for the night. This Wal-Mart didn't even have signs prohibiting camping. Well, it turns out that there is no public camping allowed in Havasu anywhere. One has to drive out of town into the Open Range to find free camping.
I drove out to the open range and found a spot to camp. As I was preparing the camper for the night--with a flashlight in my mouth--a cop pulled to a stop up on the road and shut off his lights. Sitting there, lights off, it seemed after my recent expulsion, that he was waiting to get backup to come talk to me. Well, after a few minutes I decided to just pack up and leave the area. As I drove in front of him (a sheriff) I got off the bike and approached him with my hands carefully away from my sides, and asked what was up. He said he was watching traffic and that it was fine for me to camp there.
Thus far, I've made $1 since I've been in town. I've spent pretty much everything I had...which wasn't much. I have had the opportunity to plant a few mind-seeds into a few young people. I love doing that, it makes me feel that my choice to live this way is valid. Yes, I have a few issues, usually centered around funds, but then, doesn't almost everyone? I've just traded my big issues for smaller ones.
I've noticed that though I often complain of not having a few dollars, other friends of mine are complaining about not having the thousands they need to pay their monthly bills. To someone who can't swim, water an inch above their nose presents a tremendous challenge. To someone who can swim, staying afloat in water above their heads sometimes becomes a life-threatening challenge. There is a street festival in town tomorrow. Last year I was paid $100 to come twist. I also was allowed to accept tips for my balloons. This year, I was given permission to busk, but no extra pay. I was told that it was a fundraiser and that is why I needed to volunteer my time and balloons...the people who are the recipients of the funds that are raised are often in a better position financially than I am. That isn't a complaint, but rather I find it to be an amusing little fact.
Okay, it's getting dark and I am exhausted. I have chiropractic and massage treatments scheduled for tomorrow so I guess it is time to go collect the camper and head out into the desert.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Friday, December 27, 2013
Christmas update
I'm now in Las Vegas. It was a tough drive down because of the injuries from the accident, but we made it. I put my bike in the back of my daughter's U-Haul while she pulled my trailer with her car. We got a later than desired start due to a blanket of snow. I didn't want Cly to drive on snow hauling a trailer when she had never pulled a trailer before. Then it turned out that we had trouble getting the lights to the trailer to work with her car. Well, we finally got everything ready to go and hit the road.
I've got to say, there was a big comedy of errors getting everything ready! However, most parts aren't needed for the story to work. The biggest event of them all, though, happened just south of Seattle. I was following Cly at 60 MPH in busy traffic when suddenly sparks began to fly and the trailer started wobbling all over the place. Cly pulled to the emergency lane with me right behind her. We found that the ball had broken or unscrewed. In any case, it wasn't there. (I sure hope no one was hurt by the metal pieces!!!) The trailer was attached to her car only by the emergency chains. Luckily, I was able to take the ball from my motorcycle off and put it on her car. We had no more trouble with the trailer the rest of the way.
It felt odd, getting back on the road in this way. In fact, I find that I must trust the Universe even more than usual because I am not able to work much at all. Usually, I can trust that I can ride to where I need to to make a living and have the agility to do so once I get there. Right now, I don't have the agility and can barely ride.
So, I'll ask this, if you would like to help me make it through this time of healing in the form of financial Dana, it will reach me if you PayPal it to my email, twistofair (at) yahoo.com. Any help will be greatly appreciated and well used.
I am presently camping on my daughter's futon in Vegas. I don't gamble so being a block off the strip is interesting. I've walked through the Circus Circus casino looking for cheap food...seems they don't do that anymore. It used to be that the casino's would offer very cheap food, knowing that if people came into the casino, then it is likely that they would play. Seems that the big casinos don't need to offer such things anymore. All the food was at rich tourist prices.
My arms have been hurting a lot for the past few weeks and so twisting balloons (or even ripping toilet paper off the roll) is almost too much to do. Seeing all these tourists walking around while I need money and have a few balloons, yet not being able to twist is really challenging. Sigh...the Universe is giving me a present...I wonder what it might be.
Christmas came and went without much notice in my life this year. Well, I knew that it was Christmas, but there was hardly any sign that Christmas had happened. My friend, Francine, cooked a lovely dinner for me, Cly and Alexaray about a week ago; an early Christmas. I exchanged a couple Christmas wishes with a few folks and that was about it. I had an Ethiopian meal at one restaurant and desert at another and that was it. Cly and Serryn went to his family's celebrations and I just hung out. This was the most low-key Christmas holiday I've had yet in this lifetime. Not sure how I feel about that. :-/
All in all, even though I am having difficulties, I still feel very blessed and content. It is joyful to once again be talking with people about how awesome they are. It really is an amazing feeling to tell a stranger how wonderful they are and to see them tear up. Or when I ask a deep question and see that this was the first time they had ever thought about what might be deeper than who they were going to marry and what kind of job they might want to have. I am truly a blessed man!
May all beings feel as blessed as I do. Om Shanti and Happy Holidays.
I've got to say, there was a big comedy of errors getting everything ready! However, most parts aren't needed for the story to work. The biggest event of them all, though, happened just south of Seattle. I was following Cly at 60 MPH in busy traffic when suddenly sparks began to fly and the trailer started wobbling all over the place. Cly pulled to the emergency lane with me right behind her. We found that the ball had broken or unscrewed. In any case, it wasn't there. (I sure hope no one was hurt by the metal pieces!!!) The trailer was attached to her car only by the emergency chains. Luckily, I was able to take the ball from my motorcycle off and put it on her car. We had no more trouble with the trailer the rest of the way.
It felt odd, getting back on the road in this way. In fact, I find that I must trust the Universe even more than usual because I am not able to work much at all. Usually, I can trust that I can ride to where I need to to make a living and have the agility to do so once I get there. Right now, I don't have the agility and can barely ride.
So, I'll ask this, if you would like to help me make it through this time of healing in the form of financial Dana, it will reach me if you PayPal it to my email, twistofair (at) yahoo.com. Any help will be greatly appreciated and well used.
I am presently camping on my daughter's futon in Vegas. I don't gamble so being a block off the strip is interesting. I've walked through the Circus Circus casino looking for cheap food...seems they don't do that anymore. It used to be that the casino's would offer very cheap food, knowing that if people came into the casino, then it is likely that they would play. Seems that the big casinos don't need to offer such things anymore. All the food was at rich tourist prices.
My arms have been hurting a lot for the past few weeks and so twisting balloons (or even ripping toilet paper off the roll) is almost too much to do. Seeing all these tourists walking around while I need money and have a few balloons, yet not being able to twist is really challenging. Sigh...the Universe is giving me a present...I wonder what it might be.
Christmas came and went without much notice in my life this year. Well, I knew that it was Christmas, but there was hardly any sign that Christmas had happened. My friend, Francine, cooked a lovely dinner for me, Cly and Alexaray about a week ago; an early Christmas. I exchanged a couple Christmas wishes with a few folks and that was about it. I had an Ethiopian meal at one restaurant and desert at another and that was it. Cly and Serryn went to his family's celebrations and I just hung out. This was the most low-key Christmas holiday I've had yet in this lifetime. Not sure how I feel about that. :-/
All in all, even though I am having difficulties, I still feel very blessed and content. It is joyful to once again be talking with people about how awesome they are. It really is an amazing feeling to tell a stranger how wonderful they are and to see them tear up. Or when I ask a deep question and see that this was the first time they had ever thought about what might be deeper than who they were going to marry and what kind of job they might want to have. I am truly a blessed man!
May all beings feel as blessed as I do. Om Shanti and Happy Holidays.
Novermber and Most of December
A lot has happened since the last post. Most notably for my few readers would be the accident I was involved in on November 3rd. When I left Bandon, I had chosen to go North to Bellingham for three main reasons: 1. To see my young friend, Alexaray Taylor, settled and comfortable in her new home...my old RV. 2. To surprise my daughter for her 27th birthday. And 3. To visit friends who I had no idea when I might see again. After all, I was just around the corner from them, only 500 miles away.
So, Alexaray is a lovely young woman (20 years) with whom I had had a strong spiritual connection with from Florida. I had spoken to her a few times while I was visiting my family down there. I had offered her some advice that she liked and so we kept a very loose texting connection for a few months after I left there. Then we lost contact. Well, about three months ago, she contacted my sister with the idea of finding my number. After just a short time of talking on the phone, she decided to come visit me in Bandon. The visit was to talk place very close to my 50th birthday.
She did come out and we had a great time. It was her first visit to the Pacific Northwest and so, having received a camper trailer and hitch from my mother for my birthday, we just traveled about and I showed her as much of the area as I could over that week. We got along as though we have spent decades in each other's company, a truly blessed time. At the end of just a few days, she was questioning whether she even wanted to go back to Florida. I talked her into going so that she would be sure of her decision.
She did go back, but really wanted to move out to the PNW. So I arranged with my friend, Francine, for her to live in the RV that I had lived in for years. Then I arranged with another friend, Keith, to give her the car he had offered me on several occasions. Alexaray told me that she had enough money saved up to not have to immediately through herself into work and so it seemed a perfect fit.
Cut back to Bandon where my time to leave was fast approaching. I decided to head North for two weeks for the reasons outlined above. I arrived in Bellingham a couple days in advance and so was able to borrow a vehicle to pick her up at the airport. Oddly enough, it was so foggy all the way to Bellingham that, even though the freeway runs right through downtown, nothing could be seen of the city but a slight glow. In fact, all the way to Bellingham the fog obscured all vision more than just a few hundred feet away. It was the strangest weather I had seen in my 10 years in the PNW.
Well, the car Keith gave to Alexaray was a manual, and she wasn't very familiar with a manual, so I went about helping her to become comfortable driving one. Just as she was becoming comfortable, 3 days before my scheduled leave date of November 5th, we were on our way to church on almost empty roads. About .5 miles from church, a young man pulled his car out in front of us without warning. It wouldn't have mattered if I had been driving, there was nothing to be done; we hit.
I just had time to see that the accident was going to happen before we hit. I remember saying, "Here it comes!" I put my left hand out to try to brace Alexaray and my right hand out in front of me and "boom", I left the seat and flew into the seatbelt (WEAR THEM!!!!) which caught me but my head, unfortunately, did not stop so quickly. Instant pain! I was very surprised my the words that came out of my mouth as I sat there holding my neck; normally I don't cuss but I heard, "Oh, f---." coming out over and over. Poor Alexaray, to just get a car and then have it taken away in such an abrupt manner...
From what I understood, the other two involved were okay. It seemed like no time and an eternity passed before the EMT arrived and were taking care of me. They transported me to the ER where after a bit of time, they finally gave me something that took away the pain. To make a long story shorter, I spent a week going to a chiropractor every day, then 3 times a week until I left Bellingham. I've also been getting massages 3 times a week, though I would gladly have missed all of that to have a pain-free body, but it is what it is. As I often say, "The Universe wraps Its gifts in the worst wrapping It can find. The worse the wrapping, the more valuable the gifts will be." I don't know the extent of the gifts the Universe intends to give me, but one lovely gift was to be blessed with the company of some wonderful friends, not the least of which has been my young friend, Alexaray.
While all this was going on, my daughter decided to move away from Bellingham to Las Vegas. She had developed an online relationship with a young man there and they decided to give living together a shot. Cly asked me to drive her U-Haul down and since there was no way to make money in Bellingham (being too cold and rainy, plus the fact that I can only wear my helmet for VERY short times, thus am unable to ride the bike) I decided to help her as it was also a way to get my bike close to a non-helmet law state. Although I don't enjoy riding without a helmet all that much, sometimes we must do what we must do. Hopefully, the Universe will be as kind to me on this next journey as It has been during my last journey.
I really want to thank all of my friends in Bellingham for their kindness and continuing generosity. May they receive the blessings of their kindness and may my action while embodied be worthy to receive it.
So, Alexaray is a lovely young woman (20 years) with whom I had had a strong spiritual connection with from Florida. I had spoken to her a few times while I was visiting my family down there. I had offered her some advice that she liked and so we kept a very loose texting connection for a few months after I left there. Then we lost contact. Well, about three months ago, she contacted my sister with the idea of finding my number. After just a short time of talking on the phone, she decided to come visit me in Bandon. The visit was to talk place very close to my 50th birthday.
She did come out and we had a great time. It was her first visit to the Pacific Northwest and so, having received a camper trailer and hitch from my mother for my birthday, we just traveled about and I showed her as much of the area as I could over that week. We got along as though we have spent decades in each other's company, a truly blessed time. At the end of just a few days, she was questioning whether she even wanted to go back to Florida. I talked her into going so that she would be sure of her decision.
She did go back, but really wanted to move out to the PNW. So I arranged with my friend, Francine, for her to live in the RV that I had lived in for years. Then I arranged with another friend, Keith, to give her the car he had offered me on several occasions. Alexaray told me that she had enough money saved up to not have to immediately through herself into work and so it seemed a perfect fit.
Cut back to Bandon where my time to leave was fast approaching. I decided to head North for two weeks for the reasons outlined above. I arrived in Bellingham a couple days in advance and so was able to borrow a vehicle to pick her up at the airport. Oddly enough, it was so foggy all the way to Bellingham that, even though the freeway runs right through downtown, nothing could be seen of the city but a slight glow. In fact, all the way to Bellingham the fog obscured all vision more than just a few hundred feet away. It was the strangest weather I had seen in my 10 years in the PNW.
Well, the car Keith gave to Alexaray was a manual, and she wasn't very familiar with a manual, so I went about helping her to become comfortable driving one. Just as she was becoming comfortable, 3 days before my scheduled leave date of November 5th, we were on our way to church on almost empty roads. About .5 miles from church, a young man pulled his car out in front of us without warning. It wouldn't have mattered if I had been driving, there was nothing to be done; we hit.
I just had time to see that the accident was going to happen before we hit. I remember saying, "Here it comes!" I put my left hand out to try to brace Alexaray and my right hand out in front of me and "boom", I left the seat and flew into the seatbelt (WEAR THEM!!!!) which caught me but my head, unfortunately, did not stop so quickly. Instant pain! I was very surprised my the words that came out of my mouth as I sat there holding my neck; normally I don't cuss but I heard, "Oh, f---." coming out over and over. Poor Alexaray, to just get a car and then have it taken away in such an abrupt manner...
From what I understood, the other two involved were okay. It seemed like no time and an eternity passed before the EMT arrived and were taking care of me. They transported me to the ER where after a bit of time, they finally gave me something that took away the pain. To make a long story shorter, I spent a week going to a chiropractor every day, then 3 times a week until I left Bellingham. I've also been getting massages 3 times a week, though I would gladly have missed all of that to have a pain-free body, but it is what it is. As I often say, "The Universe wraps Its gifts in the worst wrapping It can find. The worse the wrapping, the more valuable the gifts will be." I don't know the extent of the gifts the Universe intends to give me, but one lovely gift was to be blessed with the company of some wonderful friends, not the least of which has been my young friend, Alexaray.
While all this was going on, my daughter decided to move away from Bellingham to Las Vegas. She had developed an online relationship with a young man there and they decided to give living together a shot. Cly asked me to drive her U-Haul down and since there was no way to make money in Bellingham (being too cold and rainy, plus the fact that I can only wear my helmet for VERY short times, thus am unable to ride the bike) I decided to help her as it was also a way to get my bike close to a non-helmet law state. Although I don't enjoy riding without a helmet all that much, sometimes we must do what we must do. Hopefully, the Universe will be as kind to me on this next journey as It has been during my last journey.
I really want to thank all of my friends in Bellingham for their kindness and continuing generosity. May they receive the blessings of their kindness and may my action while embodied be worthy to receive it.
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