Thinking About Moving...Again

The Beach In Crescent City, CA

The older I get, the more I feel like I am not meant to be in one place, at least not for very long. I have this urning deep inside me to change my surroundings and see something new. Maybe it is a genetic leftover from when my ancestors were nomads. Whatever it is, I've got that itch again. 

This time I think I am going to move to California. Not the California that probably pops into your head when anyone says the name. I don't want the palm trees and glitz and glam of some so-cal big city. I have been thinking I want to move to Crescent City in Northern California. You get the beach, but you also get the Redwoods, the beautiful scenic highway and a nice small town America kind of feel. 

Right now my plans are to buy an RV, then buy a small lot of land to put it on until I have enough money to build something more permanent. I think that is where I want to settle down. Who knows though, I said that about Kodak, Knoxville, Spokane, Seattle. I say that every time I move, but I at least like to imagine that this will be different. 

We are going to be taking a little visit there later on this month. If you would like to see whatever video I put together you'll be able to see it on the Two Weirdos In A Van channel on YouTube.

Somewhere In The Sky I'm Flying

Near Denver, from my instagram account nottibynature88

Sometimes when I am up in the air I like to pretend I am flying into outer space and when I land it will be a different planet. When there aren't clouds I look out the window. Then I pretend to try and figure out if the planet below is able to support human life. Survey the land for a good place to land and try to find a place for a base camp.

I just happened to be doing that when we were flying over the Colorado Rockies on our most recent trip out of state. The lake at the top of the mountains was totally frozen over. If in fact this were another planet this would not be the place to land. It was however my favorite picture of our whole trip to Montana. 

I am one person who doesn't mind multiple stops between destinations and lay overs. If it wasn't for those I wouldn't have been in a holding pattern around the Rockies. Everyone else was annoyed that we were delayed, but I was very happy to be circling around and around Mountains for nearly half an hour. If you are on vacation you have to pay a lot of money for that, but we did it for free because of a thunder storm. 

Becoming A "Grownup"

So, Molly and I were planing on going hitch hiking cross country this summer. Then hiking in Alaska. The overwhelming urge for stability caught us by the loins and wont free up its grasp. We are buying a house, very likely the house pictured above. Or something similar.
We do however plan on having a room mate, so that when we get together some money we can go on some grand adventure to Alaska. Until then we are settling with a trip to Washington state, Idaho and Montana. We are going to spend the majority of our trip in Montana.

Hitchhikers Guide to a Happy Life

I don't really have any answers about happiness or life. I have decided though that we are going to hitchhike to Alaska. Or as close to Alaska as we can get. We haven't got passports, so I know we have to fly up to Anchorage from Seattle.
I'm posting it here so I have to hold myself to it. Or at least attempt to. I haven't made any solid plans as of yet what route we are going to attempt to take. If we leave in the Summer we will probably take a Northern route and if we leave in the fall a Southern route. It all depends on how much money I can put together and how fast.
I really want to see if we can make any stretch of the way without using any money.

All The Words Are Wonderful

I taught myself how to read when I was very young. Before I even started school. My favorite thing to read was the thesaurus because I liked to just see words. I also regularly read the dictionary, every volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica 1984 Edition, and every issue of National Geographic in our house. I started walking all the way across town by myself when I was 9 to read National Geographic when I found out they got new issues there every month at the library.
Even though I could read I was held back in Kindergarten because they said I didn't know my alphabet and that I didn't get along with other children. I didn't bother mentioning that I knew all of my alphabet and knew how to read. I just didn't like being asked questions because no one ever listened to me anyways. When I was 4 1/2 my father told me I talked to much when I was trying to tell him about the tribes in Brazil. I know I should not be so sensitive, but since then I still do not share things that I know with people unless they ask very specifically.
The school didn't realize that I knew more than they thought I did until we started taking written tests. At which point I was put into advanced classes. I didn't like them, because children at school called me a nerd and beat me up, also my best friend Kendra was not in those classes. So I found out what level average children were at and made sure I got enough answers wrong to be put back into only regular classes.
This only worked until junior high. In 7th grade a teacher figured out my system and asked me to take a test which showed that my reading level was 13+ and my I.Q. was higher then average, but I prefer not to discuss. She agreed not to tell anyone and allow me to stay in core classes with my best friend if I agreed to start taking AP science classes and privately take college level classes. I like school very much, I just don't like having to work with people.

The Layers

Sometimes I look back at who I was, maybe more resolutely, the people I use to be and I wonder who I will be tomorrow.

Once upon a time I use to be a girl who stood a-top large buildings launching paper planes. I was a girl who went to tremendous lengths to travel to places like the ocean, the redwoods or mountain tops to be totally engrossed by the idea of how small I actually am. 

Who am I right now? I don't know. To define myself would seem to put flight restrictions on the everything and nothing I yearn for. Today I am an androgynous being. That is very plainly content with simply existing, no matter the format. 

The only thing I will allow to be a definitive description of all of my selfs is the wanderer.

The Emptiness

He stood there, sun beating down on him, thinking about what he would have for dinner. Still not sure why he had ever wanted this job in the first place. The money was nice, the vacation time wonderful, great retirement benefits. There was just something very demeaning about being a president. Especially President of the United States. 

He stood in the pathway of what he had personally come to refer to as Valhalla Boulevard because he knew where these boys were going and that most of them wouldn't be coming back. His secretary handed him the speech cards as someone else straightened his tie before he went on stage. 

"Smile at camera one, then two, wave at the crowd, smile to my wife, begin speech. Smile, wave, shake one hand from stage facing camera one."

He muttered it a few times under his breath, then practiced his stage smile a few times before being summoned to the podium. This is it, he thought, I've spent my life being preened and primped to be a stage puppet for people to make jabs at. 

There was really nothing more to the job then to look pretty for cameras, reading speeches and signing bills written by God knows who. Everyone bustling about, taking commands, yet no one really knowing who is in charge. The ambiguous "they" that is everyone and no one all at once. Pointing fingers at this one man, the potential cause for the entire universe of human suffering. A mere jester, smiling for a camera as the emptiness swells up to consume him. 

His final thought before ascending to the spotlight, if they want change why isn't anyone taking action?