A COLD WIND BLOWS

A WIND BLOWS COLD

 

Middle of November, and a big winter storm passed by.  It is over now and on Monday morning, am experiencing a let-down when I look around and realize, tranquil environment in the RV Park, and people have left and only a few hard core people like me, are here.  So it is a quiet morning, and yes, expect that to change as the roads open, the snow melts and the ice permits road travel.  As for me, am here for another week.  Big rig and my driver is out and about, so I am here to enjoy the amenities.  That would be all the coffee you can drink, and a golf course with frost on it, and yes, November and the outdoor pool is closed.  On the inside is a spa tub for you to warm up in.

And I like that after a long walk out in the nature section of the park, where I am for another week.  Car and Driver, and mostly I am a passenger.  Not complaining, to be the one left behind, as that indeed is a state of mind.  Not rushing off to work.  No commute.  Tranquil and Quiet, with plenty of coffee and time to write a blog.  Great way to start this week.  Before I know it, will be Thanksgiving and after that, all the holidays of the season.  It is the time of year that I often find myself traveling.  Off to see the kids and family and anybody who will have me.  Not that being old is a curse of its own making, more like it is the contrast time, when you have time to do the things, left unattended when you were working and raising your family.  Past that now.  Have made other arrangements for the nuts and bolts of life.

 

So here I am, out and about, with no real history of being here before.  So it’s a mini-adventure, and starts with coffee and TV.  Watching the screens for news of what I might be missing, and as it turns out.  I am doing okay.  Missing, but not in a major way.  There is UPS and the retrieval process.   And have decided to give it a rest, back up to the fireplace and get warm.  And that is exactly what I find myself doing.  Warming up, but hope to be invisible in the middle of activity reserved for others.  Talk and Chatter and basic news.  Will use the day to plan for the week.  What exactly do I hope to accomplish, down the road we take?  Will need google map and my computer to see what is in range.  Turns out there are rental golf carts and small cars available.  So its not like I am a prisoner in Old-People’s-Camp.  More like it is up to me, to decide and then act.  And I will, once the nice lady behind me stops offering me more coffee.

 

Flashback to the reason I am here.  Here and it is comforting to know that rain ponchos are provided, if needed.  Of course, inside the RV has all one needs.  Club house and facilities of the place we are parked, has space and a few live bodies.  Once in a lifetime experience, if you register the fact that on this crowded planet, few have followed me to this space, where for a reasonable fee, on this day, have the place mostly to myself.  Has to do with winter storm, and people not traveling and moving around on the road surface.  Waiting for the ice to thaw and the light snow to stop.

 

Am here because I decided I could not stay in the city, in a small apartment and go out of life, without somebody around me, to call 911.  So am doing the out and about routine.  Spending, and no longer saving for a rainy day.  Is a planned progression and a Baby Boomer, end of generation party and celebration.  Luxury to just be.  And that is the reason I am here.  Going out in style.  And found that the RV and Snow Bird style is cheaper than a Rest Home.  Monday and catching up.  Waiting for somebody to come by, with the local news from a live and knowledgeable person, and not news on the TV.

The master plan and the general scope of things is good, but there is room for improvement.  What was I expecting, when in the end, I find myself alone.  Alone in the sense, I am not in the middle of a large city.  Alone with my thoughts and first impressions of this style of being that is somewhat new to me.  What was I expecting?  Comes down to just being, and not being entertained by others.  Dealing with the space and tranquility, like an astronaut in outer space.  Dark and dismal and alone.  Except when I am not and there are visitors asking, “How’s it going?”    “Interesting experience.”, I say and leave it at that.  Not unfriendly, but still finding out how it is out in the middle of an RV Camp, and its raining and I am starting to get cold, so I know this is not a good time for a long conversation.

 

Ready to start my day.  Not Motel 6 and there are no Dunkin Donuts establishments  close by.  Mostly I am on my own, and as if I was at my place in the city on a rainy day, I will curl up with a blanket, keep warm and read and stay busy.  And if somebody stops by, knocks on my door, and invites me out to play, I will consider all offers.  Even if it comes with the expected, “More coffee, Sir.”

 

WHEN STRANGERS MEET

 

WHEN STRANGERS MEET

I want to write a blog about when strangers meet, but before I do that, must use this blog venue and mechanism to air my thoughts and then get on with everything else.  I had a computer crash just last week.  I knew what to do.  Throw money at the situation and just go into Best Buy and purchase the latest and greatest at a very high price for something that ends up on the scrap heap before the year is out.  Running around the countryside in an RV, enduring bumps and vibration and everything conceivable, once you find yourself at the mercy of the road-forces.  So  throw money at the situation, or investigate.

Found myself in a foreign location and where people deal with you in the way they choose.  Sometimes rude and arrogant, they notice you are not a local, probably won’t be coming back, and in some ways this makes you a second class citizen, instantly.  So I had this encounter with sales person #1, who at age 23 or younger, told me how it was or is.  The message came through loud and clear.  I thought the kid was not entirely right, but through long years of training, stayed polite, and left the store without protest.  Didn’t buy anything.  Kid was being local and still young.  Did the smart thing.  Thanked him for his time.  And left. 

 

Gave the benefit of the doubt.  Just left.  Didn’t say anything, but have been thinking about it.  The message left with me.  Didn’t sit well, but when I find some distance, will figure it out and go from there.  Turns out this rude/arrogant salesman approach is keeping me from writing a blog about when strangers meet.

So message received.  It went like this.  Jettison tradition.  Anything you did, 10 years ago, and that would be 2004:  “ Forget about it.”   Learn from your mistakes, well forget about that too.  In fact, it’s a different now.  Make no comparisons with what you did before.  Get rid of erroneous thinking.  Move forward.

 

Of course, there is much more that this young person imparted to me.  And am still working with my thoughts, but see quite a bit of common sense, mixed with a lot of bullshit.  Being I am out in the country, I can smell the bullshit, before I can see it.  But moving along, I realize, we are moving at the speed of light, in so many directions at once, that there is no one way to do life, as it is presented in the moment. 

 

The computer problem was solved in the old way.  Went out into the community and took advantage that I have white hair, and an expensive RV as background for the first look and first impression.  Pull up to a yard sale with a 52 foot diesel rv/personalized bus, and what you get is very unpredictable.  Turns  out good this time.  Walked away with a laptop that allows me to write this blog, about:  When Strangers Meet.

 

There is a problem, but I am working on it.  This blog is inspired by communication I received in the way of personal email, from one who reads my blogs.  So I have two tasks to complete.  Write a blog about:  When Strangers Meet.  Also, to write a personal response to email, from somebody who takes the effort and energy to write AND say, “ I find your blogs interesting.  Tell me more.” 

 

My problem.  The blog will come first, but because I have a word count limitation, when I have baggage and  words and issues, that have nothing to do with you, I blog.  I air it out.  Have my say, and come back on another day, to actually write about:  When Strangers Meet.  But do want to come back with a follow up blog that gives me more content and detail about what I am thinking about when Strangers Meet.  Old way or as the young sales man said, “Wing it.  Fake it till you make it.  Discard lessons of the past.  There is no past. 

Just what happens in the present moment.”

Leaves me thinking, what should be my approach to internet private mail that suggests:  “ Tell me more.”  ??

 

So tomorrow I will be back.  To write about:  When Strangers Meet.  Part 2.  As for the email to my online friend, will give it a rest until I have done the proper amount of personal inquiry, reminding myself that my response will deal with the issue of Meeting A Stranger on The Internet, or   with the second possibility:  Meeting a Stranger:  face to face.  And because I have a word count limitation, it makes me wonder.  Writing and Seeking with those of like-mind:  How is it different then and now.  I wonder.  

Now I will leave you with this.  My lesson for today.  When You Meet A Stranger, things get stranger and stranger.  Believe it or not.  As for me, I copy that.  And move on.  Deferring judgment and  comparisons with a previous experience in a previous time, until I am old, and have more time to think about it, or not.  My blog for today, When Strangers Meet is finished.  But requires more thought.  So actually this conversation is not finished.  Or is it?

 

BARKING DOG

BARKING DOGS

As usual I am doing too many things at the same time.  But as you know, or maybe don’t, is how I roll.  Came across that expression a while back.  “How you roll.”   And then they tell you

something and that is supposed to explain it all.  For the old ones like me, there is plausibility and then there is denial.  At opposite ends of the spectrum, I find myself in the middle.  At this point it is not a big deal and I am avoiding trauma and drama and what comes first, I am pledged to handle it. 

 

But we all know, there are those days when our energy shield is down, and the star wars people invade and after that there is Darth Vedar and the how-we-roll-people, and it all goes down hill from there.  That is me speaking.  We all seem to have our individuality and individual take on things.  It is how we roll.  For now, that is the story line, but am subject to change.  Depends on the day or week we are having, weather and mood changes.  After you, there comes the barking dogs, fighting over the wise owl watering can. 

 

Disturbance and distractions and from that point on, it’s like salmon in a poisoned stream, it takes a lot of years to write a report and get official approval for your version of things.  In the meantime, I have become distracted by the barking dog.  So it’s’ taking over my senses and state of mind, and this blog.  Let’s continue on.

It has taken a while to get my house in order.  Had a computer crash at the beginning of the week, and had to undergo a process to make things right.  Seems I am doing that, and felt the need to blog.  Miss what you don’t have, and when computers are not in functioning status, you notice that all the more.  Regular routine and the things we do, when centered around our computer and our link to the outside, it becomes more important that perhaps it should be.  So it was asking for help and paying attention when others get involved.  I was aware my computer was about to crash, as it did mini-acts of shut-down mania as the week progressed.  Would just go kiss-of-death screen, and leave me wondering what to do. 

 

Mostly, I would ask my traveling  companion if there were any computer stores around where we could resolve things and get back to the way it was.  Advice asked, and now I must practice attending to the other, even its not the way I would have it.  Turns out the advice was, “Give it a rest. Let’s stop for coffee and a walk-about.”  And that’s what happen.  Barking Dog.  Wise Owl.  Am still sorting it out, which is which.

 

Seems somebody had left their dog in the car when they got out, and stepped away.  As was the same thing I was doing, travel companion, steps away.  Dog in the car in the parking area, just barked at me.  Wasn’t sure if I should respond by saying, “Nice Doggie.  Master will be coming right back.  Chill.”  Or if I should be the wise owl and act like I had it all figured out.  Computer Crash.  Out in the middle of nowhere.  What’s a guy supposed to do?  And it seems caffeine is the answer.  Or at least it was for me.  But that’s how I roll.  On a good day.

 

“ Give it a rest.”  And for a while, is what happened.  Then got back in, the how-we-roll machine, and found a place where I could inquire about my computer.  For $40 they offered to do a diagnostic test and then give me a quote for repair.  At the same time, young person had a script to follow, and at that point I decided to further different options.  Like leave the store, roll some more, and see what plan B might be.  In the end, a cheap computer came to me.  Stolen or just yard sale old, I checked it out, and paid out less than $40 for a laptop that does what I need it to do.  WiFi and word processing and Blog machine.  For now that is all I need. 

 

So give it a rest and more caffeine and a few more miles down that road, makes my day more settled.  Writing a blog and that’s what I wanted to do.  Ignore or move away from the barking dog.  Be the wise owl, I am.   Smile at the “Give it a rest.” – person.  And call it a day.  Miles away from yesterday, and the results are sufficient to give me peace of mind.  A good way to roll, away from the difficulties and the barking dog.  Wise Owl and it pleases me, I could finish this blog without more calamity and disturbance.  Distance myself and get on with it.  And that’s it.  My blog for today.  All done.