Here 2 Indiana: 2009

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Mocking the cloud

I walked to the store, this large cloud gathering and swirling around
my head, flickering constantly with electricity. Sure enough, I
stepped inside the store and the skies opened the torrent onto my
head. I steeled my nerves and sloshed home. The water ran into my
sandles, and the cars drove, their tires under the accumulating
currents. Once my clothes and hair were 75% properly saturated, it
stopped as quickly as it started. All that is left are the swollen
lakes and rivers in the streets.

May 30

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Streamin' Dreamin'

I have had this fantasy for most of my adult life. It may have started after I read the book, "Skinny Legs and All" in 2000, but it was likely around been before that. The fantasy was to hit the open road, discover the corners and crevices of the country, be lost in the wilderness, yet finding so much more.
In 2003, I announced this dream to my family. I believe my mother spit out her drink, my step-father pulled me aside and said my career was doomed to fail and this was the first sign, and my grandparents said, "sounds great!" In 2004, when I met my partner, I told him the dream I was planning for post-graduation. He said, "sounds great, I can't wait." (That's how you know you when you should stay with someone.)
Here it is 2009. The economy is in the tank, and my job security has a fear of commitment ("maybe we should just be friends"). It is devastating to be jobless. Americans are raised on having jobs. And this may be coming up for me.
Enter the dream.
Everyone else is selling off their hobbies, tightening their belts, hunkering down for a long, cold, depression. Having saved some money myself, it seems the time to take advantage of the flooded market and start working on that dream.
The Airstream.
It really could have been any kind of RV, but the Airstream is the sterling princess of my dream. And I want to drive her off to find the American Dream, wherever it is, whatever it is. With my faithful kitties at my side, I will gallop down those forgotten roads that cross our country, where you can drive for days without seeing anything. I will go there, and I will find things. This is my dream.
Will I go through with it? True, it has been a fantasy for a long time, but I have spent a good 40 hours in the last three weeks browsing ads, sending emails, scrutinizing pictures, reading manuals. I have told my co-workers and family of my plan. I have test-drove tow vehicles. I have seen three trailers in person (one restored one, two for sale). The one I have moved to the top of the list is driving into the state of Indiana tomorrow. Is it fate? Is it destiny? Is it manifest destiny?! Seize the day, seize the trailer!
If my stomach holds, and I do go through with the plan (why do we block our own dreams), I will be abandoning this blog, and starting another. It's true. "Here2Indiana" has run its course. I cannot pick it up with the fervor I once had. But all is not lost! I will begin a new blog! I am working on it right now, so I won't tell you its name yet (it's a secret!). The project "On this day" will continue until all the days are accounted for. Since I missed the pesky Leap Year, the last post will not be until 2012 ("isn't the world going to end then?!" "no, just this blog-- but if it does, at least I pursued my dream!").

Follow my progress on http://streamin-dreamin.blogspot.com/