Signs — Something More Project

I’ve been building this list of short stories over our trip as I was certain I would continue to see signs and look back on them, and be like “WOW - if only I listened” or “what a good soul that person was” or “what a beautiful placement of that acorn by that squirrel”. I’m not a full on hippie, but I do try hard to have awareness and listen to what the world is telling me. I mean, why take the path of resistance when one of lesser resistance is available? Why battle IN your mind if decision A or B is better when the answer may be OUT of your mind? Anyways, I have been working on raising awareness to my surroundings and pausing to listen to what the world may be telling me. That is one benefit of being unemployed :) For example, right now I’m very aware how annoying and poor-parented the kids in the campsite next to us are. I know all of their names due to the random shouting from their dads guzzling 40-hands and “kicking ass” in bags. For the sake of all of our sanity and your future wife, Rider, would you please be nice to your brother, Blaire? God damn, we’re tired of getting yelled at for you.

Here is a list of short stories of the universe talking back; I plan to continue adding as I encounter. ENJOY!

1.the Lake Alva saint (early Aug 2020)

If I’ve learned anything on this trip thus far, it’s that people love #skoolie builds. No matter where we go, we have curious people asking about our build. Although it’s not a perfect set-up (what is really), being red and being in the shape of a bus comes with some advantage. This specific morning, we were searching for a campsite in the National Forest lakeshore which we have learned is really tough to come by in this area and most “campgrounds” have less than 10 designated spaces, so luck always plays into the equation - especially at mid-morning on a Friday. Anyways, we were driving through the second campground of the morning which had 6 sites - it looked busy and the first 5 sites we passed were completely taken over, by the looks of it, by an entire tribe of people. We turned the corner to site 6, the last site in the campground, and saw a truck there. I sighed and slumped my shoulders as you would when you get strike #2 of the morning. Then I noticed the man was waving us over - it looked like they were either packing up or just arriving. You can’t “reserve” these sites by the way - they are just FCFS & we knew we were taking our chances as it was a Friday morning. I perked up a bit and we rolled the window down - “pull on in” - he said, “we are just packing up”. WHAT?!?!? “We’ve had around 20 cars stopping by asking us for this site, but good timing, it’s yours if you want it”. I was ecstatic! Looks like luck was on our side this AM. Oh, and look at these pics to really understand why I feel like we hit the jackpot. <3 We call you, sir, the Lake Alva Saint.

LESSON: there are good people in this world

2. the bald one (early Aug 2020)

Once we found the site as mentioned above (it was a DAY for signs), I was jacked with the prospect of taking out the inflatable kayak as the lake had motor boat restrictions and was very peaceful and the kayak’s worthiness has been a strong debate ever since we packed it. I hopped in and took her across the lake. As soon as I made it across, I saw an eagle taking off from a branch near me and literally flew 30 feet over my head. Naturally, with the good luck of the morning, I had to look up what signs are associated with eagle encounters. It’s not that I never see eagles, it’s that this is the closest I have ever gotten to an eagle. I could see it’s 5ft wingspan and it actually looked 5ft, not the white head in the distance. I was sure it must have something to say to me. So here goes, here is what California psychics tell me a close eagle encounter means:

Oh, and then I turned the boat around to go along the shoreline and BAM - huge ass mountains, some even with snow strips, in the background of the lake. Where our campsite is positioned, we had absolutely NO idea these were even there. What a lovely, awe-inspiring surprise, full of peace & balance :) Not a bad morning after all; thanks Mr. Eagle for showing me the way <3

LESSON: the Eagles are brilliant; follow their peaceful ways.

3. fresh eggs, please (late Aug 2020)

I get giddy about farm fresh eggs, any chicken owner would understand. So when I passed a sign that said “farm fresh eggs” on our way to our campsite in the Piget Sound, I got excited. I was determined to get some farm fresh eggs. The problem: Ruby didn’t stop and wasn’t stopping. So I declared that evening that I was going to go on a bike adventure in the AM and get some dang eggs. Jake told me one thing before we left: make sure you take a left onto "Mountain road”. But I got to the stop sign, and swore I remembered the way I came in, so I followed my directionless instinct, and proceeded. Not even joking, it was some of the most SERIOUS hills I have ever climbed on a bicycle. My body hurt, I think I even ended up walking my bike at some point. When I started to see the ocean, I realized I made it to the other side of the island…without having seen an egg stand. It was at this point that I started wondering if I took a wrong turn, as I should never trust my directionless instinct. So I pulled up my phone and confirmed my thinking - wrong turn indeed, about 4 miles back! ALL of those hills for nothing!! Luckily, I had passed a shotty gas station on the way that also had eggs, just not farm fresh. :)

LESSON: you may desire farm fresh eggs, but they may not desire you.

4. bike flips, helmet required (mid-Sept 2020)

I was psyched for the day! I found a new favorite coffee shop / yoga studio (yes, the best combination) and was getting on my bike to go grab my fav Pumpkin cream cold press & get a good hot yoga sweat sesh in (something I have missed dearly since COVID came along!). As I was packing up, distraction after distraction kept appearing. First, I decided to bike instead of lug Ruby along. Then, once I got my bike out, I realized my seat was lose. Then, once I tightened my seat, I realized I forgot a change of clothes. Then, once I got a change of clothes, I started biking & realized I left my mat back in the bus. Then, I biked back to get my mat and FINALLY started biking towards my destination. My yoga mat has a single strap and as much as I would try to keep it on my shoulder, it would slip down every now and again. In my head, I thought, if this gets up in my wheels, that would probably be really bad. And then, the next moment came and it fell off my shoulder and got lodged in my front wheel. The front wheel came to a hault, and I went super-manning over the handlebars. I can picture it happening perfectly - my face of shock after feeling the mat get lodged, my gaping mouth as I flipped over the handlebars, and my face of fear after realizing I was no longer on my bike, but on the tar road, face in the pavement. Another fat lip later… (I look similar to my May 2018 incident when I was doing med ball throws at a hotel gym, not realizing it was NOT the sand-filled med balls) All my proudest moments ended in fat lips <3

LESSON: always wear your bike helmet, even when it’s only 2 miles.

5. distress @ home depot (mid Sept 2020)

We recently stayed in a Home Depot parking lot. It literally looked like more of a RV park in the evenings than a Home Deport. The entire perimeter of the parking lot was lined with motorhomes. it was very bizarre, but we joined in because Ruby had an appt in the AM with the shop in town. We woke up the next morning and noticed a scene - 2 people were fighting in a car, about 30 ft away, a lady ended up getting out with boxes & a suitcase & a dog and was left there on the curb. She looked quite distressed, naturally, so I asked her if there was anything we could do to help. We gave her and the pooch some water and she started explaining to me her story. We had at least 45 minutes of conversation that morning - about loss, grief, shame, anger, sadness, and more. As much as I couldn’t relate to 95% of the content, I felt for her. It made me think about the people that are begging on the corners - I pass them and always wonder, what is their story? What did it take for them to get to this point in life? Having had this bizarre encounter this morning, it put me face-to-face with someone who has experienced the lowest of lows, who doesn’t know where she’ll sleep tonight, who got kicked out of the shelter in town, who is being held together by a tiny dog that was gifted to her. I got to have a real conversation and feel that empathy, that heartache, and although riddled with decisions I don’t understand, we are all humans. We all deserve connection. We all deserve to have SOMEONE that will answer the phone when we are left on a curb at a Home Depot parking lot. And for those who don’t, may we come together to help lift you up. Struggle is real, but struggle does not have to be forever. Although I don’t know if I handled the situation right or if I did enough, it was something I know I learned a great deal from & hopefully offered some comfort, food, and water.