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things could be worse, I suppose A few nights ago I headed out in my van from Southern Oregon to Milwaukie, Oregon to visit friends, run errands and perhaps make a bit of cash working a few odd jobs. Things were going quite smoothly, and I admit to feeling pretty darn good in general when the transmission in the van went. I was perhaps 20 / twenty miles from my destination, it was the middle of the night, and in the end I just had to lean my seat back and nap until morning arrived and my friend Chris could help me out. He had the vehicle towed to the house we were sharing, right before I left for Southern Oregon, and I’ve spent the last few days here trying to figure out what to do. The transmission is shot and to replace it would cost more than I have, so I am returning to my land with no transportation. Chris will give me a ride there tomorrow, and then I will essentially be stranded. That’s a difficult situation to accept considering the nearest city where I can buy groceries and whatnot is 40 / forty miles away. I am very nervous. Today I did enough grocery shopping that I hope to have food for an entire month in the back seat of the vehicle I borrowed. If not, I’m not likely to starve to death, but I’ll have to contact neighbors and ask if I can accompany them next time they go into town. That’s something I absolutely do NOT want to do, unless I have to, so hopefully my shopping was adequate. I grew up with a mother who could get enough food for us for a month but as soon as I became an adult I began shopping like a European, going virtually every day sometimes. Trying to plan for an entire month was tough, but I think I did okay. My previous attempts I only managed enough for a week, so I just tried to get 4 / four times what I normally would. No kidding. Father is going to be an issue. No matter how far I have to travel to get it, I’m going to have to walk it back to my place. If you’ve ever tried to lug around 5 / five gallons of water you know it’s no easy thing, but add the terrain I’ll be walking, then throw in the fact that temperatures might be up in the triple digits at times and you get a potentially unpleasant task. If I want to survive, and be able to not only have enough to drink but also have water to bath and clean things like dishes and clothes, I better get used to it. Time is not the issue; what else do I have to do with my day except fetch water and whatever else comes with the territory of living off grid, in the middle of nowhere? I mean, technically I still have a great deal of building to do, but you get my point. If I have to devote a portion of a day to getting water, once or twice a week, so be it. Made the bed, going to lie in it. I do worry that my phone will break and I won’t be able to communicate with anyone, but my neighbors are close enough that I can walk over to their house and ask to borrow theirs for a moment. They’re great people, and I know I can rely on them, just want to do it as infrequently as possible. Emergencies will arise, things will break, I’ll run out of food or something, but none of it is going to be too extreme I hope. In the end I am resigned to whatever happens, mainly because I have no choice, no real options, and don’t want to remain in a negative frame of mind if I can help it. What will be, will be, and I approach my fate with cautious optimism. Before, I was going into town once a week or so, and was able to post at that time. Out on my land, I can use my phone as a hotspot but it works very poorly. So, it might be a very long time before you hear from me again - unless you head over to my TikTok. Did you really think you’d get through a post without me mentioning that? You’re so silly… |
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