“You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment.”
OOOF…IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK.
I’ve been living in my van since November.
That’s a long time to live without plumbing.
But I love my van. I love to go. I love the nomadic lifestyle—waking up in place A in the morning and later going to bed in place B. I was born to wander, rootless, restless, free.
But coming home—to indoor plumbing; to wrens building nests in the birdhouses we set out; to my East coast mountains, lush in the explosion of spring. How much more delicious after almost six months of cooking on a Coleman stove, using way too many paper plates and too many times getting into some random shower only to discover I’d left my soap in the van.
I wouldn’t give that up for anything. But I’ll admit I do love my own shower.
TWO THINGS
Two things rocked my world these last few months.
THING ONE: KANGA
After working four months in eastern NC (where blogs and hiking go to die), we loaded the van with crates and chewys and went to California to see family, but mostly to adopt a puppy. A standard poodle puppy. A ridiculously cute little mischief maker now named Kanga. (For those of you who knew me on the AT in 2017…I KNOW. If you saw him jumping around, you’d know I had no choice. He named himself.)
THING TWO: YELLOW LADY SLIPPER
I’ve lived, and hiked, in WNC for 23 years and today, for the first time ever, I spotted one single Yellow Lady Slipper.
Well I never! (Until today.)
It’s good to be home.
And giving voice to my own astonishment.