Getting settled in

As of today we are once again connected to the internet. It's been a little while since I have been able to sit at the laptop and post an update. Somehow sitting in a hotel parking lot with the laptop balanced on the steering wheel just is not conducive to writing...

We have decided to stay here for a while. The area is just so beautiful and the more we explore the more we feel at home. The weather has been a bit rainy the past couple of days, but everyone is still very excited about the area. I have tons of pictures - there is just so much to photograph. I may have to get a bit better camera so I can really capture some of the Oregon Coast.

Brookings Oregon

We safely arrived in Brookings Oregon a few hours ago. We're checked into an RV park and soaking in some of the gorgeous weather. It's breezy and a nice and warm 72 degrees. We had lunch at a little pizza parlor near the harbor and took a quick tour of the town. Everyone in the family is in love with the scenery and so enjoying the sunny springtime weather.

Tonight is relaxation time. Tomorrow we move to a better RV park for the week and then head out exploring the area.

Traveling

Hitting the road is always a little nerve wracking for me. The longer I sit in one spot the harder it is to relax when it comes time to move again. Somehow it gets into my head that something is going to break down on me or that the road will be too dangerous for me to drive on. I don't know where the feelings come from, but they happen every time to some degree or another. They subside at some number of miles down the road. After watching in the rear view mirror and being aware of every little odd noise for some period of time I start to relax again. Even if something were to happen I feel confident that I could handle whatever it was, but it's the anticipation of some unknown event that prevents me from just enjoying the scenery from the very beginning.

I have a similar feeling about the future. I know that our civilization will have to move again in some other direction. Find a future home and settle down in a more sustainable way. I know that it's inevitable and needs to happen for the benefit of everything living on this planet, but I still spend all of my time focusing on the little things that might foretell what event or circumstance will cause us to all have to move quickly and solve whatever problems may come up. I still worry about where I will be and if I will be prepared for it instead of enjoying the current situation.

So moving from time to time reminds me that we can move. That we are not stuck in one place and unable to adapt. Challenging myself to think about everything differently and working outside of the normal work, debt and class roles helps me to keep moving and accept change as a part of everyday life instead of allowing a never ending routine to lull me into a sense of permanence. There is no way that we can all continue to live as we have been for the past few hundred years. It has been a roller coaster ride, a fun house, a wild adventure for some. Most of us have just worked and forgotten how to have a real and meaningful life. I am doing my best to unlearn the lessons taught by a society driven to distraction and to embrace change and natural cycles as part of my re-education. It's a hard lesson to pay attention to when you are surrounded by people that all think that this is some kind of amusement park.

Time to move again...

Finished Bears & Family

AJ and Kathy stopped in for a visit on their way back from California. They brought us some goodies from where we both grew up. AJ helped me diagnose a problem with my saw and then we worked together to modify the chain to remedy it. I'm able to do plunge cuts a lot easier now. I may still have to modify the chain a bit more, but for now I am happy with the way it seems to be cutting. We'll hopefully see them once more before they catch a plane back to Minnesota for the Summer.

I finished carving the signs and got all of the bears burned and details added. There's one bear that I decided to not finish the base of and it turned out to be one of my favorites. I'll have to try doing that more often and see if I get the same results.

Tomorrow we're planning to hit the road again and head toward the coast. We're not sure exactly where we want to stay or if we'll head North or South once we get there, but we're due for a move and need to go exploring in another area for a potential spot to settle. Cave Junction is a possibility, but we're still in the exploring phase and don't want to pick any favorites until we feel we've got enough to choose from to be relatively satisfied with our final choice.

More Carvings

Yesterday was a long day. I spent about 8 hours carving bears and tutoring one of the RV park owners on how to carve a bear in the process. They're paying me to carve them 4-5 bears while I am staying here. They wanted to trade for rent, but since we're leaving this spot within the next few days to go to the coast, it didn't make sense to work for lodging credit. They're going to re-sell the bears in their trading post. I negotiated for a price per bear that seems fair enough. I don't have to finish them with varnish, so it's a bit less work than I am used to having to do.

I didn't quite get the bears finished yesterday, so today I have about an hour or so more carving to do - mostly signs for the two bears that don't have them already. I could have carved a few more, but it took some extra time to stop and walk Lyle through the blocking process and answer questions. It was worth the extra time though because his bear turned out pretty good and he gained some confidence. It was also a good introduction for me to the world of chainsaw carving outside of the shop environment. It looks like it will be fairly easy for me to find work in this field and earn some cash as needed.