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not good, but…..good

20240522_164616

leaving the Hill.    it takes a certain amount of determination.   I only do it maybe at most,  once a week.   Often less.     It has to do with being   "presentable"  to the world….as in what to wear,   ie: not the same Garden clothes of days on end……and    Hair.  My hair is an issue.   it's impossible straightness,  spindliness….especially since the hot water heater broke…so washing it has become a Trip.     

But i was ready.  did all the things i feel compelled to do and was ready and got in the vehicle,  turning the key and

nothing

it's an odd ignition….when turning off needs to be specifically and consciously aligned with the little off mark.     I didn't.   and the battery was dead.  Whaa.      so…..not remembering exactly how to jump it,   i waited for Alyssia to come.   We ran through the protocol and in fact,  i did remember,  ….eeeeeee……but the result was having to DRIVE it to juice up battery again.   We,  me and Minnow went.   First up to Lost Horizon,   the road on over above us here and slowly cruised ….all the houses there being so individual  and some peculiar  and how it is around here….there's NO shoulder to the road…you can't pull over…so pretty much no pics of anything.   But that's not far enough  so we came back down and set out up Olive Highway toward that finger of Lake Oroville  and i thought of Nancy's Bridge….this one so devoid of all her Bridge IS……and the world up and behind it,   burned by one of the fires…maybe 2 fires ago?….still…so stark  and we cruised a while then back down and pulled into Loafer Creek  but it turns out you need to get a day pass,  so we just turned around and

 


20240522_165532

came home.

all along Carefree,   along the Rooster Swamp ,   the blackberries are  blooming. 

    

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11 responses to “not good, but…..good”

  1. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    Oooh…your bridge! And an adventure! I love it. It is a different kind of bridge, but is Useful and there’s a turnout, so you can pause and look and feel the air, smell the scents. Love that.
    It is also not the same kind of bridge as this one, but it reminded me of it. Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge, on highway 154
    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cold-spring-canyon-arch-bridge
    I love blackberries 🙂

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  2. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    I had to smile when you wrote of the need to be presentable. Like all those who live in nature, on a hill , I also give consideration on my appearance before stepping out into the world. 😉. A.though I try not to care I do and do make an effort. In my youth, my odd apparel was a badge of joy. My hair wild. Now I am more calm and move quietly in the world. I now find the wildness in the life of the changes on the hill enough. The apple trees broke out in blossoms overnight. In their chaotic beauty.

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  3. dee Avatar
    dee

    “Two fires ago” — how revealing! The vehicle challenges sound like a pain. I remember needing to roll start a car and pop the clutch. Also having cables at all times. I doubt I’d remember how to use them too but maybe. Do you wash your hair in freezing water?

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  4. Peggy McG Avatar
    Peggy McG

    Yes..the Prep to be presentable… a chore! But Driving keeps me sane and I love my feeling of Independence!
    For hair… I boil 2 cups water.. add another two cups to lukewarm.. I have a routine with two dishtubs.. one for the clean water poured over my head from a plastic cup.. before shampoo is added to my head I use that same first pour again.. then the soap, then all rinsed into the dirty tub… I can wash hair with less than half a gallon of water. I just had my hair cut off a bit… less to rinse! Then my fingernails get attention..
    I tell people… remember.. I chose this lifestyle! And it is Great!!

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  5. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    You never said if you got to where you were going in the first place. That feeling when you turn the key and nothing .. it’s awful. Glad Alyissa was able to help.

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  6. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    the turnout looks out over Lake Oroville.
    as i stood there, i had images of your Bridge in my mind’s eye, the river i closed my eyes and watched a slide show of so many of your photograph images that you have shared that have over time become a part of
    me

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  7. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    for me, it’s a very basic thing of being….clean. How we have come, as a society, to need to change our clothes every day. Shower ourselves every day. When i no longer worked, i began no longer buying into that. Here on
    the Hill, it means nothing. No one comes here but
    family and they don’t notice. it’s just me. I don’t notice. i am just me. But when i go out i want to be seen as clean….and that’s pretty much…my hair which can get Very straight and spindly….

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  8. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    this vehicle is the first automatic i’ve ever had. poping the clutch is so so great and WOULD be so Way great on this Hill….but with this thing that i drive now……….
    but there’s also nothing to it really…it’s amazing, that the same batteries i use for this phone and lap top have a jump button that works almost immediately and i have the little cables for it in the compartment under the passenger seat….it’s really nothing at all
    i heat water on the stove and hang my head in the kitchen sink. once it gets just some hotter, the sun heats the water in the pvc pipe that delivers it up the Hill to here and there’s an outdoor handheld shower type nozzle. I can
    do it outside which is Very Easy.
    however
    the “plan” is to figure out how to repair the water heater or create a different way before next winterRainseason. it’s a bummer when it’s cold. there’s a guy that’s recommended that knows how to do these things in travel trailers. We’re trying to find him

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  9. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    my smile is wide as the Horizon at your routine and i
    often
    think of you when i’m crabby about the need
    remind self that STILL…when i think of possible OPTIONS
    for how it is now….it’s still Home on Wheels….it’s
    why i bought the “mini van” that i have. if i wanted to
    make that choice.
    You remain for me the Emblem of what i always thought i
    would do until circumstance stepped in. I’d be on the Road with you…my two dishtubs
    as always…THANK YOU for doing it. It has such great meaning for me….LOVE and LOVE

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  10. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    That’s so beautiful Grace. Thank you for the image of you, standing there…sharing my images…
    It’s a circle

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  11. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    it’s Friday now…you are on your way to Alaska!

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