Seven

Happy Birthday Girls!

Tool, Texas, U.S.

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- July 13, 2019 - -

This year we spent the girls’ birthday in Texas. Stuck in the middle as it were. We made the best of it. I drove to the nearest Mexican market and got a piñata. We found some papel picado at the bottom of a bag. We bought way too many balloons. As you do.

We made do with what we had, a skill you learn well living on the road. And we had a pool, a lake, and family in town. Everything you need for a good birthday. And some chocolate waffle cake. Of course. We’ll always find a way to make chocolate waffle cake.

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As per usual we were up at early dark thirty for the girls’ seventh birthday. I’ve embraced the early rising. I’m usually up before the kids. Not on their birthday though. No one beats a kid out of bed on their birthday, not even the one trying to pile balloons on them before they wake up.

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Birthday morning photographed by luxagraf

After presents and breakfast we strung up a piñata and took turns pounding on it with a stick. I can’t recall who finally broke it, one of the birthday girls, but it was a sturdy piñata, made in Mexico. More impressively, despite never playing or even watching any baseball, the kids can hit. Some things come naturally, especially things useful in the pursuit of hidden candy.

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piñata swinging photographed by luxagraf

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girl swinging a stick at piñata photographed by luxagraf

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birthday pinata photographed by luxagraf

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Summertime Rolls

Stuck in Texas, Again

Tool, Texas, U.S.

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- July 28, 2019 - -

We flew back to states thinking we’d booked a house in Athens, GA. That ended up falling through at the last minute, which left us homeless. Not a new thing for us, but a hassle when you’re trying to start a new job. We decided to head down to where the bus was stored to see where things stood.

We knew we had to stay in one place for a while and unfortunately we didn’t have time to move. Between the summer heat, working, and a cracked exhaust manifold, there was no time to go anywhere.

We decided, against our better judgment, to hunker down in Texas and wait out the summer. We’d get our exhaust manifold, knock out a few other bus projects we’d been wanting to do, and then, once the weather caught up with us and things cooled off, we’d head west and spend the autumn and winter out west in the Arizona desert.

homemade aligator photographed by luxagraf — Alligator sculpture.

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marker on face photographed by luxagraf — Temporary tattoos.

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sign for country dancing photographed by luxagraf

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The challenging part of this plan was the middle, the wait out summer in Texas part. As regular readers know, I do not like Texas. I try not to complain too much because we have a pretty great life, but given a choice between Texas and anywhere else and I’d go with anywhere else. Yes, even California. Still, it was the best plan we could come up with and I thought we could do it.

There were a couple things going for us. The RV park where we were staying had a nice big oak tree we could park under and a swimming pool to cool off in. Even better, just down the road some extended family have a lake house where the kids could swim, ride jet skis and generally have fun and stay cool.

Those things, the pool and the lake house were the highlights of the summer. The girls learned to swim and got to go inner tubing, ride jet skis, and spend their days in the water. If you’re stuck in Texas, this is the way to do it.

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swimming in Texas photographed by luxagraf

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swimming cedar creek reservoir photographed by luxagraf

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It’s funny how oblivious children are to the problems of adults. Not all problems, but some. Corrinne and I were frustrated being stuck in Texas. We tried to make the best of it, but I’ll be honest, we didn’t always. But the kids didn’t care at all. They loved it. They had a pool to go to every day, a playground to run around on, a lake house to visit at least twice a month. Jet ski rides, boat rides, inner tubing. When I look at from their perspective it feels like we had everything we could possibly want. They didn’t care where they were.

Early on, before the heat became insufferable, we went out and explored the area. There was a big flea market once a month in nearby Canton, Texas that was fun to explore.

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hot dog stand, canton, tx photographed by luxagraf

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I was struck by the fact that we could stroll around a huge flea market for a couple of hours and the only thing we bought were some small bamboo flutes for the kids and snow cones.

Living in a small space really does curb your consumer tendencies. Everything we even consider buying has justify itself: where would we put it? More importantly, is it worth the space it takes up? The answer, after a bit of reflection, is almost always no. At this point we don’t even really have to think about it. We have what we need, adding more would create clutter.

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eating snowcones, texas photographed by luxagraf

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What’s nice about this way of living is that it eliminates purchasing stuff as a form of entertainment. That leaves us free to be entertained by just wandering, watching the world around us. We’ve always done this to some degree, but I think our time in Mexico really brought this out. There’s so much to see just walking around in Mexico that it became a habit. When there’s nothing to do you walk up to the Parroquia, sit in the shade, have a snack, and watch the world around you.

That was early on though. As the heat increased and the utter lack of anything to do overwhelmed me, I got considerably less zen about being stuck in Texas. Still, I’m old fashioned. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.

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