We have begun to develop a rhythm here on the south coast.

It is Sunday morning. It rained steadily all day yesterday, but today pale blue sky appears between patches of high, grey clouds. Water still drips from the Spanish moss that dangles from the tips of the evergreen trees around our camp. My morning has started early, 4:00. (I keep farm hours and sleep is 8 or 8:30 at night.) I read by lantern until Lyd wakes around 8. She stays up after I’ve climbed onto our bunk, reading and listening to music. As she can attest, nothing keeps me awake.

 After a breakfast of hash browns and eggs scrambled together with sausage, we’re having what our daughter calls ‘screen time.’ Lyd is catching up on communications on her cell and I’m starting a post. Later she’ll catch up the few dishes then we’ll take turns getting ready for the day. Flannel tops and pants giving way to flannel shirts and jeans. We do a chore or two to tidy the bus then it’s time to walk.

Lunch is usually apple, cheese, and crackers after which we read, or walk again.

So far, supper has been soups I make in the afternoon, turkey and rice followed by vegetable beef and noodles with tube roll dumplings. These simmer all afternoon, making the bus warm and fragrant. We are very minimalist in our camping here. I use few dishes for cooking, so dishes are rinsed and set in the sink for morning.

The evening then is more reading with music on the CD player and a walk for Annie.

It is a comfortable rhythm we’ve settled into. No meetings, no daily errands, no yard work. Our one trip out was to set up some PT for me, shopping for supplies, and an exploratory ride into California. (Half way to the border, I realized that the oranges we had just purchased would be confiscated. Lyd, unwilling to give them up, suggested we “stash” them at a turnout and pick them up on the way back. We did, at a place called Indian Sands. Ironically, the border guard waved us through without a second glance and we retrieved our contraband on the way back. A bit silly, but for a bit it was deliciously like a part of the 60’s for us all over.)

So, we’ve settled in here on the south coast. The trees are green. The rain is warm.

Blessings.

The Road