Hell, It's Always Been About the Adventure...

The excitement accompanying decisions made this past weekend and tonight’s full moon... The boys and I are sending full moon manifesting adventure vibrations out to the universe… A special thank you for tonight’s full moon blog pic provided by the best guitar player I know… My cousin Dave Viterna…

  

Continuing my literary journey through “Walden”… It becomes more real to me with each turn of a page… “Life simply and wisely is not a hardship, but a pastime…”

As the weather continues to warm I’ll be getting the RV ready… Cleaned and doing a few repairs… The boys and I will be geared up for our next off the grid adventure… Five months in the Montana Mountains… We’re leaving mid-May…

Sharing this news with my best friend of 45yrs earlier this month… He made the comment… “What a life you’ve led.” Replying with… “It’s all about the adventure now.” I quickly corrected myself by adding… “Hell, it’s always been about the adventure.”

Maybe I should change the name of this blog… Ok, I just did… Sometime the titles comes before writing… Sometimes it comes while writing…

There’s still a chance we’ll be heading to Garnett, Montana… A 19^th century ghost town… To work as a tour guide… A job that will still leave time for quality time alone in the mountains… I’m waiting to hear… But we leave as soon as it’s warm enough… Mid-May regardless…

No drunken assholes walking in the hotel lobby after midnight on the weekends… No apartment tenants to baby sit… No traffic… No noise…

I am listening to the neighbor’s kid scream like a banshee at 930pm, as I write this… There’ll be none of that to hear either… Fuck you, Mormons… Have some more ‘cuz your bishop told you to… Turn all your homes into baby mills… WTF???

There’ll probably will be no internet connection or cell phone service as well… Who cares??? Unlike many people today… I can read and write cursive… Yeah, that’s a shout out to my Catholic school education… I’ll fill up notebooks in lantern light by hand again…

There’ll be campfires... And star filled night skies like no one from NY has ever seen… Stars so close you’ll think you could touch them…

There’ll be apple pie moonshine to sip beside the fire… One batch is made two or three more to be put up before we leave… Thoreau and Emerson to read…

Long walks, mountain streams and pictures to take which will sadly not do the beauty justice…

Asked often if it bothers me to live life alone in the wilderness… I can only reply… Life alone in the city is what bothers me… I never feel alone in the mountains with my dogs…

I almost always feel alone even in this small city…

Surrounded by people and unnatural noise… Cars, sirens, screaming babies, rude and entitled people… Phones, TVs… Idiots sharing shitty music at stop lights with the bass turned up so high… Potato fed Idaho white boys wanting to be gangster… How about you try to be better than that instead…

I’ll be listening to the music of a crackling fire and instead of car exhaust I’ll be enjoying the wonderful smell of a campfire every night…

I will be making some videos to post on you tube if/when an internet connection is available… I have already filled a notebook with video skit ideas and characters… If I’m lucky… I won’t have one until September… I would prefer not to have the distraction…

Can you tell the boys and I are excited to go???

What happens in September??? Well, there are several options… None of which need to be discussed now… We’ll see how this 5 month adventure plays out before we decide…

Yes… WE… The boys are a part of every decision… Sadly, Riley will only share these adventures with us in spirit now… But share them he will… As he chases slow rabbits in doggie heaven… His picture the only one currently gracing the walls of our apartment… We’ll leave a marker on his grave on our way out of town…

Well, it’s time to get this posted before headed to bed… Dreams of campfires dancing in my head… I’m counting the days… 

The Continuing Saga of Front Desk Adventures…

Phone rings tonight…

Me: Blah, Blah, Blah… This is Steve… Can I help you???

Lady: We’re coming through town with our kids…

(Me thinking… Like that matters???)

Lady: We’d like a room for tonight…

Me: I’m sorry we are sold out tonight…

Lady: What??? How come you’re sold out??? What’s going on??? Blah, blah, blah…

(Me thinking… Her blah, blah, blah… translates to… Bitch, Bitch, Bitch)

Me: Patiently explain I know that might be hard to believe… But she didn’t sound smart… So I talked slow…) to her why we are sold out and what’s going on…

Lady: And that’s the reason you’re sold out??? Well, we’ll never stay the again!!!

(Me thinking… Well… You’re not staying here tonight, either… If we knew you were coming through town tonight we would have saved you a room… It’s called RESERVATIONS!!! I’m it’s not my fucking fault you didn’t make any…)

Me: Glad I could help… Goodbye… 

All the Rabbits are Slow in Doggie Heaven

I went for a car ride today… All by myself… Don’t worry, I’m not gonna sing for ya’… Who’s got that song stuck in their head now???

My dad had to carry me down the steps and help me into the car… I can still walk, but it hurts and I can’t go far… I get tired…

I got the whole back car seat to myself… My brothers stayed home… They will take good care of you, dad… We doggie talked about it…

Dad, and, our friend, Vicky took me to see the doc… They were very nice there and gave me a blanket to lay on…

I was so relaxed I fell asleep in with my head in my dad’s lap…                               

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Wow!!! I feel like I can run again… It doesn’t hurt… I’m running off the leash… Dad is still sitting with my head in his lap… What is this place??? Lots of dogs here… some cats here… I’ll try to ignore them…  

I feel like I’m almost flying… Ha, dad used to joke that is was time for me to fly when he would pick me up out of the RV or to carry me down the apartment steps…

Hey, I wonder who those guys are running towards me… I think I’ve seen pictures of one… Hey wait, I played with the other one a few times when I was little… Ha, almost knocked dad out cold, one time…

Sniff… Snifff… Snifff… “Hi, Riley, I’m Jack… This is Buddy… He told me you two already met a long time ago”… Sniffff, Snifffff…

Wow, yeah it was a long time ago… I’m sure we all sniffed a lot of butts between then and now… I heard a lot about you, Jack… Did you know I was coming here today???

“Yes, your dad told us… Said to make sure we met you at the bridge and showed you around… You took good care of him through a lot of adventures… He wants us to take good care of you… We will all see him again some day.”

Showed me around where??? Where are we???

Buddy, never one to wait to speak, screamed… “YOU’RE IN DOGGIE HEAVEN, RILEY!!!”

Doggie Heaven???

“Yeah, it’s great here… We all can run as fast as ever… No one’s legs hurt… No one ever gets sick… This place is great!!!”

Is he telling the truth, Jack??? My legs feel great now… They will never hurt again???

“He’s telling the truth, Riley… No more pain, run all you like…”

“See, I told you… And even better… All the rabbits are slow in Doggie Heaven…”

Really, we get to chase slow rabbits??? That’s cool…

“Let’s go chase some now…”

Hey, wait… Sniff, Snifff, Sniffff…

You smell that??? I ain’t wasting my time chasing slow rabbits… It’s FIFI… SHE’S IN HEAT AGAIN!!!!

It’s not just my legs that work good again… 

Thoroughly Thoreau

In a Facebook status posted earlier today…

The boys and I have been living "Off the Grid" for more than a year... But as we sit in the grip of the Idaho winter and the even colder weather to come... Plans have been made to move into an apartment next week... Details to be announced next week following the move... 

My question... Is this an admission to "getting soft" in my old age??? Luckily, they have pills for that...

Yes, it is for “The Boys”… Riley for sure… And as I have said many times previously, all decisions are based on what’s best for them… Riley’s get up and go hasn’t got up and gone yet… And as long as there’s still a light in his eyes and I can manage his pain with meds… He’ll get the best life I can give him… 

The other two as well, but they are doing fine… And we will be “Off the Grid” again…

One thing to consider/to remember is… Less is more… Don’t fill the apartment with too many things that I don’t need… Things I will have to get rid of when winter is over and it is time to go off grid again…

Whether that is this coming summer or we wait to just head south prior to next winter remains to be seen… And I am already looking forward to it… We’ve learned a lot about this life in the last year… This break gives us some time to make some upgrades and repairs to the RV… So we’ll be ready to head into the next round of off grid adventure with a better plan… And thoroughly Thoreau…

Happy trails to you… Until I write again… Help me get my readership up... Please share the link to my blog... 

Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness

Well… Trying to put the random thoughts running through my consciousness into any sensible order is proving quite difficult… So this blog, while sure to be entertaining… May prove to be a very difficult read…

Expanding upon some recent Facebook status updates… The friend’s list trim is complete for now… Though I stand as ready to point and click as I do to point and shoot… hopefully you do as well… Sadly, it’s coming to our shores… Invited and imported… If you are reading this and you voted for Obama… You voted for it to happen here… Proving you weren’t racist was more important to you… Hell, we know you're not racist... One of you never fails to remind everyone your wife is half black... 

“Free Healthcare” was more important to you and now you are surprised to find out it isn’t “Free”…

Sadly, many of the ones cut from the friends list will never admit to being fooled… I guess you just can’t give up feeling smarter than everyone else after taking 6 years to complete community college…  Please just once give me something to respect about you… Just once admit the idiots you blindly vote for are criminals…

I won’t hold my breath waiting for it… This time you’ll vote for Bernie because you want something for free… Or you’ll vote turn a blind eye to Hillary’s criminal behavior and a deaf ear to her lies and pull the lever… Massaging your conscience by saying something stupid like… “I vote straight line American Workers Party”…

How's that been working out for you anyway??? Some of you are living in the ghetto... Some of you are still home with mom and dad... They must be so proud... 

Yeah, whatever makes you feel better…

Moving down the list of subjects I made to touch on today…

Plans for the future…

Well… Who knows what the future holds come springtime… Could be nuclear war…

But hoping for the best… The boys and I will be heading to the mountains somewhere… Washington, Oregon, Colorado or California for obvious reasons… Maybe as a camp host on BLM or Forestry Service land… Or maybe just as a long term off the grid camper…

There are numerous options… I’m not going to list them here… I kind of like people not knowing where the fuck I am… Hell, there’s plenty of times I have no idea where I am… Why the fuck should anyone else know???

While we are doing okay for now living in town… It’s not a big town… It’s much better living far from everyone…

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” - Henry David Thoreau

Ready, willing and able to defend our right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness… We are stocking up on more than candy bars to take camping with us… ‘nuff said…

Doing everything possible to keep Riley as healthy, happy, strong and with us on our adventures as long as possible…

The boys and what’s best for them continue to be the basis for most of my decisions… I wouldn’t want it any other way…

The blessings continue for us daily… Sometimes simple and small… Sometimes much bigger… Being mindful of my thoughts to manifest good… Aware and grateful for even the simplest good that comes our way… Opportunities, my job, friends, an extended hand, a simple smile and a pleasant conversation… Appreciating it all…

Gratitude is my god and religion… Practice and celebrate Thanksgiving daily…

Time for dinner… 

Insights and Observations…

Now more than two months into working the other side of the customer service fence… I won’t say which side I think is greener… But I would like to share some Insights and Observations…

If you call me to reserve a room and you are constantly repeating any info I give you back to your wife, while seeking her OK and answering her questions… HAND HER THE FUCKING PHONE!!!

If you call me and constantly ask me to repeat everything I say… TURN YOUR GODDAMN TV DOWN WHILE YOU ARE ON THE PHONE!!!

I understand I might be the only friendly voice you have spoken to all day… BUT it doesn’t mean I don’t have other people to talk to… Like the line of people standing at the front desk waiting for me to finish your phone call… It’s not time for one more question… It’s not time for chit chat about the ballgame or anything else… It’s time to finish the call…

While the rude ones have made me aware of my own behavior and more patient with service… I felt the need to vent the frustration caused by the stupid ones… It feels good to unload…

Thought this was going to be longer and who knows… I will probably encounter even stupider ones and have to add them to this list… But for now… Happy Tails to you… Until I write, again… Goodnight…

Only the Lonely...

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” - Henry David Thoreau

I came across this link a few days ago and it started me thinking… Yes, the gears were grinding and noisy… http://therelaxedmind.com/the-truth-about-loneliness/

I realized it was because I haven’t taken the time lately to oil them… I wasn’t “lonely” in the mountains on my way back to Idaho Falls… Just the dogs and me…

Many places without a cell phone signal or internet connection… Time to think… Time to write… Time to be with me… Time to be grateful… Time to listen… No distractions… No bustle… No hustle… No place to be and all day to already be there… Never lonely…

Yes, there were the daily chores of living… Caring for myself and the boys… But there was never a rush… Though Simon always seems to be in a rush to eat… We never ate “alone”…

I took the time daily… To think… To be grateful… To listen… To write… And though the only human contact I had for 8 weeks was when stopping for fuel… I was never lonely…

^“ …for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want…” Php4:11-12

What I realized after reading the article referenced above is… Now that I am in “town” virtually surrounded by people comparatively speaking… I do feel alone…

The distractions of life too easily eating away at the time to think… To listen… To feel… There’s deadlines, work schedules and trips to the gym that all need to be fit in around the daily chores of living… All the while surrounded by people all doing the same thing… All going the nowhere at the same break neck speed… All of them alone…

Not realizing the need to slow down… None of them truly connecting to each other… None of them realizing the need to connect with themselves first… Too busy to think about it… Too busy to listen to the “small quiet voice” inside them trying desperately to be heard… It screams… “Slow down!!! Shut up!!! Listen!!!” All of them alone while surrounded by life…

While always trying to remember to be grateful… I realized I had gotten out of the habit of writing a list of gratitude’s first thing each day… Something I started doing each day while in the mountains… Sometimes many, sometimes only a few… It slowed me down and made me stop to remember how blessed I am… I wrote a new list today…

Off from work until 11 pm tomorrow night… I am taking the time to reconnect again with myself… With the boys and the universe… To think… To listen… To feel…  And while I will be here, in Idaho Falls, for a while… Research is being done and plans are being made to again… Create a life I don’t need a vacation from…

For those who may be wondering… As far as comedy goes… I have no desire to integrate into a local comedy scene anywhere… See my statement above concerning feeling alone while being surrounded by people…

Occasional road comedy or no comedy is fine with me… I’ll be working at the hotel for now... Doing some media and voice over work… Writing this blog and maybe a podcast from the forest sometime next year…

And for those who need to get away there will always be a seat beside my camp fire…

Well… It’s time to sit and listen again today… So… Happy Trails to you… Until I write again…