A little catch up

Lets see if we can get this thing up to date.

I left off in New Orleans. The day before I left I spent the entire day in the hospital as my dad had what was supposed to be his first surgury and was gratefully his last. When I got back to Tampa I found out that he had yet another infection. I was once again house bound. That was the plan, a month more of helping with bathing and bandage changing. It was not to be though. The new bandage was practically a bandaid next to the first and it did not take much time to change. After about a week I talked with dad and Marty and we decided that it was not necessary for me to stay. I went down to Sarasota to help Bob with his various projects and to enjoy my friends there.

The projects were of two classes; Van and Nancy's. The van had been bought from a friend who could not afford to pay someone to do all of the work that was necessary to make it a reliable vehichle. Bob on the other hand could do the work himself. “Should take about a month.” I think was the original time estimate. Nancy is a delightful middle aged woman who Bob liked to call his patron. It was a pretty sweet deal. In exchange for food (half dumpstered) and a place to stay (Bob's parents) I would come to Nancy's do about 2 hours of work a day, play my new Ukulele, play in the yard, and hang out with Bob and Nancy. Hanging out often included Ukulele lessons. Nancy is a great Uk'er and both Bob and I got Uke's from her. Mine in exchange for massage along with an old Iphone.

After “work” we would usually hang out with Crystal or Morgan. Local girls who both deserve more airplay but for the sake of brevity let's just leave it alone. Well, how about one fact each. Crystal is an indentured servent and Morgan was planning on coming to Alaska with Bob and I.

Alaska, did I Mention that? (I guess anyone reading this probably already knows anyway.) The plan was to hang with Bob for a month, fix up the van and start on a two month epic road trip to Alaska to work on a day cruise line. The plan went mostly according to plan... Fact is... If Bob say's X time he means 2X time. After about a month I was planning on Hitching out of town. Just before leaving I got a call from my mom saying she was going to do a roadtrip to visit her Sisters and Cousin and that if I wanted I could ride back up to West Virginia with her. Perfect.

We met up in Tampa and after breakfast with both my Mom and Dad (one of the few times in my life I ate a meal with both parents.) we took off! I like my Mom, in particular we travel well together. We both got sick from some pork sandwiches and I got my first speeding ticket. Otherwise the two day trip to West Virginia was pleasant and fairly uneventful. We met with my sister in Beckly and had dinner.

Dinner with my Mom is a strange thing. Mostly in that it is paid for. She knows that I table dive and what not but I don't really do it when she is around. The food at the 'Best of West Virgina' tourist stop was great so when the people next to us left a plate of fish I had to grab it. She (Mom) was obviously disgusted but polite. One of the best traits I learned from my mom is to, for the most part, keep my opinions to myself. She is better at it then I am.

Merrin and I went to Montgomery, West Virginia. It's a small smoggy coal town with a horrendously dysfunctional elementary system, where Merrin worked. If the details were fresher in my mind I would retell the stories leading up to the state taking over the operations and the mass quitting of the teachers. Nah.

I spent my days cooking for Merrin, Studying Go, and toying with my Uke. The week passed quickly, I only left the house about 4 times. Once to go hiking, I had developed a headache from hiking in the smelly, thick air by the time we were done. Once to go to the dumpster, and twice to walk around town.

Merrin and I went to Elkins for the weekend to visit more Family. Christy, my brothers wife, is a CPA and absolutly swamped with tax work, Jack, my brother, works for the forest service and was busy catching up in the office after a weeks buisness trip. Riley and Nevada, the kids, are super busy with swim pracice, soccer, music lessons, etc. My mom and I were chillin. We both have about the same work ethic and sense of time. We hung out around the house and did little projects here and there and cooked for the busy ones. My first night in town I went to a fund-raiser for the arts school program and met some cool people. I enjoy Elkins, slow paced as it is it has a nice feel and allot of friendly people. I think the highlight of the week was playing with the kids on sunday. We climbed trees and wrestled and played tag and what not for hours. Another day I put on my stilts and all the neighborhood kids and I went on a parade through the park. Christy is forming a Roller Derby team so we went to a practice. Nevada had a concert at El Gran Sabor one of my favorite restraints. And just before leaving my moms roof sprung a leak... I was off to wait for Bob in Asheville but I decided to spend only a week there to come back to help Jack fix the roof. The ride there and back was secured, Merrin was on spring break and planning on spending the week with friends in North Carolina.

In preparation of my arrival I got on couch surfing and messaged about 20 people asking to stay with them. Of the 6 responces one said 'if you stay here you have to do some work, anything from sweeping floors to blacksmithing...' Any place where blacksmithing is on the list of chores I wanted to check out! I called but no one answered. I left a message saying that I was arriving the next day and if I didn't get a call back I would find another place to stay. Slightly risky, but I didn't want to confirm with someone else and miss the blacksmithing!

When we arrived at the Montana house the instruction was to ring the doorbell. I could see a bunch of people but I followed orders instead of shouting to them or walking in. It was a trick doorbell. Be warned. This deal was getting better and better. A sense of humor is always appreciated even if the (friendly) joke is on me.

We got the full tour. It had a similar feel to the Hostel in the Forest. The coolest thing wasn't the slack line in the back, the art room, the forge, woodshop or garden... It was the Dog. I think the dog was an old Taoist master who died while meditating on the golden ball of light... Anyway, now it is obsessed with fetch. It will even fetch bowling balls if you roll them down a hill! I fell in love.

The whole week stay was delightful. With Five Rhythms dance on easter sunday I was off to a good start. Every day was full. Full of yoga, food, new friends, old friends, go and other games. Almost half of the people at the Montana House had heard of go and played before! I traded backgammon lessons for go lessons. Practiced massage every day. Worked in the yard. Cooked 2 or 3 meals a day for a handful of people each time. Went hiking with Merrin. Table-dived Chocolate at the fancy place down town. And slept out every night.

After a week of hobo heaven I returned to Elkins. At first I felt sad, but soon I was enjoying family, lone hikes in the woods, and more free time with Jack and Christy. I cooked lunch most days and mom cooked dinner. We pulled 8 or so tires out of the Tygart river where locals deposit anything from oil barrels to human waste runoff. Many wonderful memories that will have a fairly long lasting impact on my life. The most significant one may the 4 bowls of icecream at the 'local feast' that was part of the sustainability fair. I woke up the next morning stiffer then I had felt in years and my morning pee smelled like cream soda. Mmmm... I decided it is time to do a process sugar fast until I can manage better moderation.

Bob arrived on Tuesday night. We ate a late dinner with mom and went to meet Jack at the local beer meetup where some of the finest bullshit artists of the area meet up and pretend they know something about beer... The next morning we packed up, ate lunch with Jack and Christy and took off!