Back in the world of the frenetic struggle

I am currently in Los Angeles, the busiest city on earth!
Here, I walk the streets with executives and hobos alike... many people from all walks of life.
There are some who are amazed when I say I live in a converted van. Well, when I look around me it sure beats wandering the streets pushing a grocery cart full of stuff... am I lucky to have this life.

Not a vacation by any stretch.
I am simply living and working in a new city, that's all.
I work when I have time to do so and visit as often as I can, as most relatives as I could manage.

The adventure continues. :)
To date, LA has not disappointed. As soon as I landed, I was treated to a Mediterranian grill, had some awesome beef bowl at Yoshinoya and wonderful dinner tonight at Kowloon. Can't wait to hit the Korean BBQ!

Farewell to Great White... for now.

I am writing this in my cousin's Los Angeles office. Living the mobile life and working on my laptop, I took over a little cubby hole here to call my own till I move on.
I left Great White, my little home, back in Texas. I will miss you, my trusty friend!
I gave my home a fluid check and an oil change... also got all the tires inflated properly so that they won't deflate too much... I will miss my own bed!
It's parked in my brother's neighborhood safe but idle... He will be starting the motor and running it around every now and then.
So here I am on the road again! Traveling really light and on to other adventures!

My little nest

Happy New Year!
It has become a routine now...
Every night I go into my little house... the little nest. Like a bird, I look around making sure I was unseen and quicker than a moment, I poke into my hole and into the little lair. It's cosy in here. I am having a good time at this. It is a test of humility for sure, but with each day that passes, I am beginning to leave the regular world of the rat race, pride and the lust for material things.
It is liberating... and peaceful.
I am happy.

Holiday Humbug???

Christmas was really fun for me when I was a kid. I think most of us had fond memories of Christmastime. But... as we got older... we became more and more disenchanted with it.

My recent past has been one filled with a lot of bah humbugs.
Every time the year rolled around, I'd be miserable. It was also the time when I would get sick a lot.
This was when I was in my 20's. Those were really bad years... a lost decade, if you will.

But then, I began to change my mentality.
It began with a new diet of daily fruit intake.... took care of the seasonal sickness big time.
I never had to take a flu shot and I weather the seasons in near perfect health. Flu's last only 24 hours. Yes, the aching bones, high fever variety.

With new health, came a newfound sense of what this season is all about.

It is what you make of it, I find.
I no longer celebrate the shallower aspects of the holiday. That's what really depressed me, anyway.
the thought that we should be extra nice just this one time a year? That's bogus. If I am gonna be kind this month, why can't I carry it over all year round, right?

I face this holiday not with a sense of dread anymore or cynical humbug.
I just face it with the mental state that I am determined  to be happy no matter what.
And this is what is important; I never let anyone dictate HOW I should be happy --during this holiday or whenever. That's the root of all misery, I find, when we are pressured to have that postcard perfect Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving or Christmas and anything less than that is cause for depression or sadness.

I don't expect anything nor am I pressured to conform to what this holiday is supposed to be.
I give gifts when needed, and I don't give gifts when I clearly don't want to. And most important of all, I give gifts only to those whom I feel need or deserve them. I don't buy gifts just because. People already have way too much crap in their lives. I must do my part to not add to the clutter in their homes.

the result of all this is there is NO pressure on me to "have fun".
And because there is no pressure to have fun... I have a jolly good time... Not just this season, but all year round.

Merry Christmas, Hannukah and all that good stuff!

Oh wouldn't it be looovely!!!

All I want is a room somewhere... far away from the cold night air... in one enormous van oh woooudn't it be lovely?

That song is in my mind tonight as I curl up to sleep in my little home.
A little fire warming my feet and all that...
I cannot believe I am having the time of my life!
I just attended a party tonight and what a happy thought it was that my home was just a few steps away... I suffered a hang nail... no problem... run down to your home and get the nail clippers. :) Forgot anything? It's right there... at home... a few steps away.
Tonight I listen to the pitter patter of rain on my roof... It is very soothing to me. I have woken up to many magic mornings lately... Magic mornings are what I call waking up to a gentle rain and you curl up again to sleep...

oh it is lovely... loooovely.... lovely...

The portable heater

I am typing this in my little home tonight. Oh, what a good feeling it is to have a little fire... in my vehicle.

sounds strange and you'd think this was a dangerous thing, but I oddly feel at home with it now. 

The plastic smell that comes from it when it is new is mostly gone now. 

So all that's left is a nice warmth.

Having fun so far. So thanks to Tippy for suggesting this model. I had to buy one of those little handy lighters though to start the flame each time. It only cost a dollar so no worries!

good night, America. :)

A Blessing of a Peaceful Life

Today I am reminded yet again of how lucky I am.
A dear aunt passed away last year and I am just finding out her kids are still fighting over her estate. Two of the older sons are married, have jobs and they still want a portion of whatever she left the two younger sons who are still in school.
They are fighting over the value of a house that is underwater in the mortgage. Underwater!

If you were a decent human being, you would just say heck with it and give the two younger sons her house. They have lived their most of their lives anyway...
You would think these two older sibs would look in on them and ask if the mortgage is being paid off or what expenses need to be taken care of. The two younger fellas are a high school kid and a college sophomore for crying out loud...
But no...

 Instead, the two older sons use a lawyer and try to divide the house four ways. They don't even apparently care where their two half brothers end up in. It's not like the two younger brothers have done anything terrible. They're good kids just trying to do well and stay in school. And these two older jerks --grown men in their 30's with their own homes and families still want to grab the house from under their younger half brothers.
These things I will never understand about some people.
It's plain greed and avarice.

It's my dear Aunt's one year anniversary today.
She must be turning in her grave.