ocotillo

last day in CA

Tomorrow we begin our great trek back to Texas. We were going to stay a bit longer and visit family and friends in the Bay Area, but Richard has a job interview next week. But not before we spend some time near Taos in New Mexico for a couple of days. Hey, it's on the way and 20 degrees (F) cooler tha Texas.

I feel terribly spoiled spending my summer this way. It's been a great month. It seems that this summer (maybe this year now that I think about it) has been about exploring those windows of opportunity that don't open very often.

And as I mentioned before, we've been rethinking. When I first met Richard, he was really interested in alternative/green building. Especially in straw bale and cob. Richard participated in a few projects in the early years of our marriage. Then I don't know what happened. We had a baby and it all went on the back burner. Well, now the house-building desire is back for him. He's still looking for the IT job, but only as a means to escape that which is life-draining for us. But it's one step at a time. He needs to develop skills and meet others. We don't want to do this alone.

I know it sounds very out-of-nowhere and sudden, but it has been a dormant dream of his (and mine) and now it is awoken.

Is it just our age (40ish), or are a lot of people dreaming and rethinking? It seems that most everyone I talked to here is at some sort of crossroads and thinking of doing things, well, differently. Even friends of mine who were content in their lives.

I'm home now. I have a lot to blog about. We went to Taos, New Mexico and visited an earthship. Rather lunar looking, but very interesting. They're much more ordinary looking on the inside. Quite nice actually. They are completely off the grid and self-sufficient. They're constructed out of all sorts of things including old tires for the walls. A lot of them have been built now and there are whole communities of people are living like this. It's been a long learning-curve for them, but they've put in the work to figure things out that will make it easier for others.

This is the one we saw.

Earthship wiki

coming, going and rethinking (again)

I had thought that if Richard didn't get the job in Portland that we might spin into the abyss of disappointment. But it hasn't been like that. More like a shrug of the shoulders "oh well". So we still don't know what we're doing. And I still need a haircut (I said I wouldn't cut my hair til he got a job).

I'm not sure where I am when I wake up in the morning. In the past 3 days I traveled thousands of miles, both on my own and with my family. I have crossed the Puget Sound and we drove across West Texas, the Painted Desert and the Mojave Desert. My feet have touched the earth (or asphalt) in 6 states in a very short time. We have escaped from Suburbatopia in our soccer mom minivan (a.k.a. the Space Shuttle). At least temporarily. Richard and I are once again rethinking everything. He is rethinking IF he even wants to go back to the cube farm (his IT job). Where to live, how to live and everything in between. It is nice to hear him dream aloud again.

We'll be camping here in baking California with some old friends who will also soon be on the road to unemployment. It will be good to rethink together. We will be computer-free for a few days, but Richard will continue his job hunt at my parent's house.

It is strange to be away indefinitely. No schedule and no time we have to be back. Our Texas home is being looked after. We don't need to be there. The future is open and undecided. And we are at peace with that. Father is looking after us.