Pizza Night

My planned pizza night has been taken from me.  Last Wednesday Gloria made a wonderful curry and I supplied ice cream sundaes as my contribution.  My turn for the main meal was coming up this Wednesday and I had already decided this was becoming too much of a burden for me and after my pizza night, I was going to bale on the weekly workamper get together.  I am not trying to recreate any aspects of my former life that I did not enjoy.

I stayed late after last week's dinner and Gloria confided in me that she no longer wanted it to be such a scheduled event, and would like it to be a bit more impromptu.   Glad to know I was not the only one feeling a bit stressed by this "schedule".

I expressed my feelings to Chelle, how  I am not enjoying this, and to count me out on any further weekly gourmet meals.   Chelle loves to cook, will happily cook three meals a day, and since no family will be with them for the next few days, she wants to cook one last adult meal.  I happily hand over Wednesday's meal to her.  Instead of my planned "going out for pizza" she is planning a meal of  baked feta, pistachio crusted shrimp, Greek chicken, and who knows what else.  In addition to this menu, she continues to try to feed me daily, along with the entire office staff.  It is starting to feel like too much and I have recently turned down two meals.

Lesson learned.

A Glimpse

The rains have finally ended and the forecast looks good for the next 10 days.  The faucet has been turned off and we are all now enjoying a more typical Oregonian summer.

Yesterday I took my dinner break around 5:30 PM and made the walk back to Minnie.  As I was beginning to approach this vehicle I call home, the light shifted and the colors changed, so much so that I no longer recognized the landscape.  I have lived in this spot for over a month and am familiar with the many shades and color nuances, but this was different, it felt more like a physical shift and the coloring very other-worldly.

I have heard and read much lately about the New Earth, as if the Earth egg is dividing to form a different world for those choosing that direction.  I wonder if this was just the briefest glimpse...

Wren

My dear friend Wren came to visit and pulled me out of the field of poppies I had fallen into since arriving at Mt. Hood.

Thank you Wren, and all the wonderful Beings, for this timely help, encouragement and remembrance.  I didn't even realize that my sight was missing until the visions returned.  Feeling so much better:).

Sunday Paper

Finished another 20 hour work week.  This weekend was far easier than Memorial weekend due to the lower numbers checking in, but being mentally alert for 8 hours is still a challenge.  By Saturday night I am thoroughly exhausted and want nothing but to allow my mind some peaceful space.

I have a wonderful neighbor, her name is Jan, and she comes down for the weekend with her son Ben and sometimes her husband Carl.   She is a woman of the woods, climbs mountains and is the third string for mountain search and rescue crews.  She has left some wood and cardboard on my "new" picnic table but I am just too tired to build a fire and decide a lit candle will just have to suffice.  Happily, Jan comes out and offers to build a fire for me so we sit and chat for a few hours about our sons, both named Ben, the camp and our lives.  I tell her far too many times how happy I am that she is my neighbor.

After watching a movie I got to sleep around 1:00 AM and up again at 6:00 AM to get the Sunday newspaper.  Because they deliver a very limited number of papers, if you are not up that early, chances are you will not get the paper.  It is the only newspaper I purchase during the week and it is the Portland Oregonian and I love the travel section, the crossword puzzles, the weight and feel of it.

When I arrive at the news stand, there is an elderly gentleman who is surprised the paper is not in yet.  He comes every Sunday at the same time and assures me it should be in by now.  I decide to wait with him and enjoy the quiet and beauty of the early morning.  After about a half hour's wait, another woman shows up for the paper.  She also decides to wait.  Under normal circumstances, all of us probably would have gone home and come back another time, but there are now three of us waiting and all of us agree that there may only be 5-6 papers allotted to this particular box.  I love my Sunday paper, I want my Sunday paper, but how long should I wait?

I finally give in after an hour and a half.  It is raining, I am chilled and I am tired from lack of sleep.  I leave the other two people still waiting and go back home, sleep for a few hours and return at 10:00 AM to an empty box.  I don't know if the paper ever came, or if it did come and now they have all sold.  Bummer.

Before leaving to return home to Portland, neighbor Jan knocks on my door to say good-bye.  I tell her my tale of the morning paper vigil and she offers to get me a paper when she goes to the grocery store.  She is gone less than 15 minutes and returns with the prize, a Sunday newspaper.

How many times can I tell this woman how happy I am that she is my neighbor??

First Workampers Dinner

I don't think I can keep up, but it was an amazing feast!

Food

Food is starting to become somewhat of an issue.

I dislike cooking and at times even hate the whole idea of cooking.  I tried for 17 years to come to terms with the daily task of planning, shopping and cooking a meal.  I tried being inventive, new recipes, colorful cookbooks, crockpots, everything I could think of,  and rare was the day that I actually enjoyed cooking.  I am much happier just eating beans straight from a can.

I did make my first attempt to cook over an open camp fire this past weekend but even that felt more like a chore than a pleasant experience.  This cooking thing and I are just not meant to dance together.

Chelle has decided that the workampers should meet on Wednesdays when none of us are working and share a meal together.  I think this is a great idea until I realize they actually expect me to cook something for these meals.  I am great at bringing a bag of chips or hummus to these types of gatherings, but begin to hesitate when there is talk of appetizers and dessert and I know they won't let me get away with chips and a jar of salsa.  They seem to think it is just a matter of making something "easy", when for me nothing about cooking has ever been easy.  I have told them for my turn I want to order pizza and have it delivered, but they are already telling me these "easy" meals I can make.  The other four people love to cook and cannot begin to comprehend what it is like to loathe the mere thought of cooking.

As all my friends before them have eventually figured out, I do not like to cook, will not cook, and for my turn, there will be pizza delivered, or beans straight out of the can.

Here are pictures of Chelle in the kitchen, her husband David, and their foreign exchange student from Bangladesh.

Propane

This is the cheapest propane I have bought in the eight months of my new lifestyle.  The standard price is $2.50 per gallon but with my discount it is only $1.87.  And, not only is that an unbelievable price, but they also come right to my tank and fill it up.  It is so inexpensive that I have even started using propane for heat instead of my small electric heater.  Because I very sparingly use propane my full tank should last me until September.  What a deal.