Passion for reading

September 24, 2012 / Sheila / 4 Comments

I’m a reader. I’m one of those strange people who prefers to read over watching tv or almost any type of recreational activity. I also love pithy quotes. Some people have the gift of choosing just the right words with the perfect blend of wit and wisdom, or truth-telling with clarity as piercing as an arrow.

When we visited Montreal earlier this month, we toured the city’s botanical gardens. One of the exhibits on display was a series of carvings that the artist had designed around the theme of reading and books. Each piece of art featured a quote that the artist had chosen to pair with that particular work. These are a few of my new favorites:

“Ideas are slippery things. Best to keep a pad of paper and a [bunch of pencils] at your bedside, so you can stab them during the night before they get away.” ~ Adapted from Earl Nightingale

“The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them.” ~ Samuel Butler

“My arms are killing me. I didn’t know words could be so heavy.” ~ Markus Zusak

“I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves.” ~ E.M. Forster

” ‘Tell me what you read and I’ll tell you who you are’ is true enough, but I’d know you better if you told me what you reread.” ~ Francois Mauriac

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” ~ Victor Hugo

“Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere.” ~ Jean Rhys

“To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him and travel in his company.” ~ Andre Gide

“Always live your life with your biography in mind.” ~ Gareth van Meer

“I wold sooner read a timetable or a catalog than nothing at all.” ~ W. Somerset Maugham

“There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love.” ~ Christopher Morley

Happy reading! Hopefully you won’t find yourself reduced to reading a timetable or catalog, like poor Somerset Maugham, but hey, if that’s what’s available, better that than nothing, right?! Or, if you’re Canadian, eh?

Standing Still

September 22, 2012September 22, 2012 / Sheila / 9 Comments

Home again, and I’m finding my balance. After two months and five days of travel, I’m in my own bed, my own kitchen, again. The RV doesn’t quite rest, or cook, the same. Still, it offers options the house doesn’t. Haven’t found a way to put wheels on this 90-plus year old home yet.

Ketchikan in September can be wet and wicked, or beautiful, as the past few days have been. It’s perfect fall here, cool, with that certain something in the air that tells me, more clearly than the calendar, that summer is done and October is around the corner. I celebrated by pulling out a few of my favorite things: pumpkins, and a cozy recipe or two, and an arrangement of oranges and browns for the dining room. I put away a few things. Summer clothes and sandals are stored, suitcases are emptied, backpack cleaned out. The fridge is restocked.

The externals are tidied up. Now comes the mental game of tucking back in. Back to work, back to routine. I used to have a hard time doing it after a week or ten days away. But with the new rhythm to life, I have to be more flexible. I kept a few threads of work going while we traveled, the beauty of email and internet access, even if it was somewhat fractured. But the majority of what I do, how I make a living, was on pause while we were going full speed. Funny how incompatible pieces of living can be.

I’m still in the process of creating this life for myself. My husband is more practiced at it, has been doing it longer. For me, the on-again, off-again of work and travel is still a novelty, still a little unsettling. I don’t have it down to a science. I don’t have an automatic feed for employment. The travel is the easy part. Who wouldn’t enjoy rambling for weeks at a time? As long as the money holds out, sign me up!

But on the other end of the trip, I am spent. I love the road, the new places, re-visiting old favorites, and seeing family and friends along the way. That’s a joy and a privilege, and one I don’t take for granted. But at the end of movement, I crave stillness. For a time, I need a time-out.

I am grateful for internet I don’t have to search for, laundry I don’t need quarters for, a full size kitchen, the homey tasks of tidying and puttering that are small in meaning, yet oddly satisfying to my down to earth self. After the last two weeks in Canada, I appreciate using my cell phone without cringing at the added fees for an international call or text. I loved hearing French in Quebec and Montreal, but I’ll admit it’s nice to hear English and know what is being said. I can even admit that I’m ready for a little predictability again.

If I am broadened by travel, home is sweetened by travel. I know that after a few months, I’ll be rested up, ready to go, excited to look at a map and make a plan. But for today, it’s ok that my big outing took me to the hardware store and to get a haircut, and that I’m on deck to make dinner. For now, the everyday has a new glow about it, and it will take more than a few weeks to wear off. For today, I’m standing still.

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer” ~anonymous

Nomads on the road

A Quebec landmark, Chateau Frontenac

All done!

September 1, 2012September 1, 2012 / Sheila / 5 Comments

Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

We made it! Six weeks of RVing and exploring California! Doable because we are traveling light and pretty inexpensively. That’s one thing about camping…doesn’t cost a lot after the initial set up.

What a state! We’ve spent time in California before, largely in San Diego, with a little time in and around San Francisco. This trip allowed us to visit areas we haven’t seen in the past. The diversity of landscape is amazing, and the biggest surprise of all is how rural a lot of California truly is. I’ve been buying California produce forever in the grocery store…well, it seems like most of the fresh fruit and vegetables come from California….and it makes sense now. From at least the middle of the state north, what part isn’t desert or forest is farm or cattle land. Beautiful, and a wonderful change from the huge population centers of southern California. I’m not really a farm girl…didn’t grow up in that environment. But I love the rural countryside!

I think we’ve found all the winding roads possible, and especially the ones that are difficult for RVing…Rob has had a few complaints about my choice of routes! What can I say? I’ve been driving a little pick up, and he’s been following in the RV. So I’ve had a great time! Driving Highway 1 on the coast, or some of the twisty highways crossing the mountains has been beautiful, and my need for road tripping is temporarily satisfied.

We aren’t souvenir buyers, for the most part. I think we picked up two coffee mugs, designed by a local potter, and Rob bought a baseball cap…his standard reminder of trips we’ve made. Other than that, our biggest purchases have been produce and gas. We hit farm stands and local markets and I’ve had almost enough fresh tomatoes and peaches and strawberries and corn. Almost! Not sure I ever really get done with those flavors. But what a treat to get all of that and more, straight from the fields!

We’ve had pain at the pumps. Try filing two gas hogs on a regular basis! Good for us that our other expenses during this trip have been low. As it is, we’ve done our share of shoring up the oil industry for the past few weeks. Not that it seems in danger. Regardless of the economy, there are people everywhere. Or maybe we’ve just been traveling in popular areas. Maybe we’re just seeing summer in a busy tourist state.

From Yosemite to Lake Tahoe to the broad central valley around Sacramento, and on to San Francisco and the coast, we’ve roamed and crisscrossed. We have some favorite spots and favorite views, and places marked to visit again. We’ve found a few campgrounds that would be perfect to bring our kids to. We’ve remembered all the little tricks to success with road tripping, and RVing in particular. And now we’ve tucked our little caravan away for the next several months, stored in a new place in California, and waiting our next adventures.