Hello all! It’s been 8 days
in the forest and I have to say, it’s been WONDERFUL! When we first got here it was packed and all
these families and party-heartys were being a bit obnoxious. Once the weekend was over, however it thinned
out immensely. We moved to a bigger spot
and have been taking lots of walks and if it wasn’t for the lack of electricity,
I think I could live here. Ok, I know I
cannot live here because they kick you out of the forest after 30 days. You can come back after 14 days out and we
have met a few people who are literally living here. I believe they go down to Oscala forest (I
made a mistake last time and posted I was in Oscala when we are really in
Osceola forest) for the 14 days and then back here, etc. We are in an area where you have a designated
site. We however, do not have electric,
water or sewer hook up. There are a few
full sites here but they stay full. The full sites
are still under $20 a night which is really cheap.
They also offer just water sites but that seems crazy to me to pay an
extra $4 per night just to have water. I
mean we have to move the RV every 4 or so days to dump at the dump station so
why not just fill up your water tanks there when you do this and save the
money? It has been chilly (I cannot say
cold because I know my friends in Ohio have it much worse) but when we you go
from high 70s and low 80s to highs in the 40s and 50s in a matter of a day or
so, it seems cold. We have had a few
cold nights. Yes, cold. Like 30s.
In an RV with no insulation, that can be cold. Luckily we have a propane furnace and an
electric blanket. We use an external
generator and also have a large battery bank and solar panels so my husband
makes sure to keep us energized. It
sometimes takes some finagling on his part but he is a great sport.
I was thinking about my last post and how I probably came off
really down on myself. That wasn’t the
intent. (HA! "intent" and talking about
camping…) anyhoo…I have always been critical of myself as are many and just
want to be continually improving.
I have
come up with some insight. I wish they
were answers but for now I will take insight.
1. I have realized that the more I have, the more I want and the more I get the more
unsatisfied and less appreciative I become.
For instance, if you work for a cable company like my husband and I did,
we had free cable and that included pay per view and all the premium channels,
(Showtime, HBO, etc.) I would literally have HUNDREDS of channels to choose
from and would complain THERE IS NOTHING OOOOOOOOOOOOONNNN! Now we MAYbe get like 3 channels and I get SO
excited when they come in clear and don’t skip!
I have found myself watching a lot of PBS type shows and old classic
TV.
2. I have realized that for me to feel fulfilled and have some self.....I dunno worth, I have to be creative. I
HAVE to be doing some type of art or writing or singing or cooking, etc. SOMETHING!
Even though I am not always thrilled with the outcome, there is
something I find SOOOOO therapeutic about creating something that didn’t exist
before.
3. I want to earn what I have and if I don't, I don't feel deserving of what
I get and therefore do not enjoy it. For
example, when I have a day where I am very productive, it doesn’t matter how or
whatever, but at the end of the day I go WOW, I got something done! I can enjoy my rest time. Otherwise I feel edgy and grumpy and
frustrated and worthless. While a day of
jammies and movies and eating in bed is nice, I can only enjoy it if it comes
after days of being busy and working at or towards something. Let’s look at it from a food perspective
even. If you give me a spoon, and a
carton of ice cream, I will eat myself sick.
Literally SICK! By the 2nd
or 3rd scoop I won’t even be tasting it OR really enjoying it…BUT it’s
there and I know I love ice cream and it needs to be in my belly NOW. Now give me a scoop of that ice cream and don’t
give me access (and you better be good because I am smart and STEALTHY) and
then let me have another scoop the next day, etc. and I will so love that ice
cream. I will look forward to it each
day and savor each bite. Wanting and not
having or wanting and waiting doesn’t kill me.
In fact, it just sweetens the reward.
4. I forget how blessed I am. OFTEN!
We were talking with a guy that was staying here. He was one of those that were living here and
Adam was talking to him in the road and he was telling Adam how his 30 days was almost up and he had
to move out of the forest before he got fined.
This was when it first started getting colder. I
asked Adam if he knew where that guy was staying and he said in the site next
to us. The guy was literally living in
his van. Now it was a large cargo van
like ours but even if he had a mattress to sleep on, he probably didn’t have a
frig and stove or perhaps even a heater.
Later we saw a family with a child and they were in a TENT! A TENT!
Did I mention earlier it has been in the low 30s at night!??? Ok, let’s say they did have a heater in their
TENT during the day they had to either be all crammed in the tent together with
the heater or walking around in the cool weather or just sitting outside in a
chair? Meanwhile we sit here with a 3
burner stove, an oven, a microwave, small crock pot, George Foreman for heaven’s sake and a
pretty large refrigerator. We have a
toilet, sink, shower, and a foam mattress!
Our dogs sleep on a couch and our CATS have nice foam beds! How can I ever gripe about what I don’t have
when SO MANY have SO MUCH less?! I need
to shut up and take a look around once in a while and get over it!
5. We are all broken. It’s what we do with our brokenness that makes us who we are.
Therefore, if I HAD to make some resolutions, this is what they
would be:
A. Live simply and enjoy what you have. There are many with WAY less. If you start feeling you don’t have enough,
give them some of your stuff. Then see
how you feel.
B. Earn your keep and you will enjoy the payoff much more.
C. It’s ok to wait. Stop eating
ALL the ice cream in one sitting. You
really only enjoy the first little bit.
Enjoy it a little bit at a time for longer.
D. Realize we are all struggling and no one has it all figured
out. Share what you have learned with
others and listen when they share with you their lessons. Together we are better than all fumbling
alone J
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