April 12th
                          The LIFESTYLE Diet
Turns out memories may be without price but they do have a weight requirement!
     For those of you who don't indulge in the camper lifestyle, your vehicle can only pull so much weight. Big Red is a beast but she can't be overburdened for too long a stretch. So between the weight of the Fifth wheel, the "stuff" inside it and any water or (ick) waste product in the tanks, we don't have a ton of wiggle room. We have 3200 pounds to be precise. All day, the number has been running through my head, 3200, 3200, 3200... How much do my memories weigh? Turns out, too much! It's not just the weight either. To avoid a monthly storage unit fee we are stashing things in the basements of generous friends, and then the discussion becomes, how much space is it worth? Do I store my Grandmother's buffet, the one piece of "real" furniture we own? Or instead use that space to store my recumbent bike, a T.V. and a box of my favorite curtains???
     This whole week has been about the loss that I knew was coming at some point. No, not the loss, the FEELING of loss. It's only a year, and what are we loosing? Nothing that can't be replaced. Nothing that can't be re-purchased. It's the promise, the illusion of time that we take for granted.  The feeling that I am loosing experiences with my community. And it comes in tiny waves that sneak up, a beloved friend and scout leader making the summer schedule we won't be a part of. A friend planning a game we can't come to, a camping trip we won't join in on. Students who were SO SURE they would be in my class next year... But, as they say, "Tomorrow is promised to no one, " And this is a season of change. So, we are sticking to our guns, getting used to telling people that we are doing this totally crazy thing, and learning that grieving over the loss of things is allowing possessions to posses you. And, as my Brilliant Husband says, Ikea is a wondrous place! We can replace at all, and get Swedish meatballs to boot!
Happy Trails...