Saturday, August 6, 2016

Open Spaces

I have been longing for wide open spaces.  For the better part of a year I have longed for a piece of land where I can live that I can throw a rock, or a coconut, in any direction and not hit any neighbors.  In my current space if I threw a rock I would hit about three neighbors spaces.  It has been quieter this year than it has been in the past several years, and for that I am grateful.  I still joke that my neighbors know when I fart. 


Tonight on my way in I thought, "This is the kind of weather where I want to come home and sit on the porch."  I want to eat dinner on the patio and not have to entertain all of the neighbors.  I want to watch the storm roll in.  I want to be able to eat or drink without a clear view of my neighbor's septic system. 

This is something I have spoken about often here. 
Catching some sun
Walls Caving in
Stretching Out

In looking back at some of the previous posts I am reminded I used to have an awning.  I would roll out the awning to create some shade so I could sit outside and read, or relax.  Earlier this year I was rolling the awning out.  It got stuck and then tore to an extent I can no longer use it.  One of my neighbor's said no amount of duct tape could fix it.  Snap!!!  The amount of money I would spend on a new awning would be better set aside for a new RV. 

In looking back there's a common theme, did you catch it?  Most of the time when I talk about spreading out, or wanting more space, I go outside to nature.  I absolutely love being outdoors.  My current position has me working inside for most of the day.  I make an effort to walk across campus to get outside and to help get my daily steps in.  A friend and I recently got together and caught up.  We both preferred to sit outside, even though the temperature was well above 90 degrees. 

There are only a few things I can do to create more space inside the RV.  I can't build a wall to make the kitchen, or any other room, bigger. I have been in RV's that had a bedroom "upstairs" and those trailers seemed to have a lot more room.  I have been in trailers where I could reach my hands up and not touch the ceiling, but this is not the case in my trailer.  My trailer does not have a slide out, that can make one room wider than the whole trailer. 

For the past several years I have found at least one house in my daily commute that I think about.  The houses are currently uninhabitable.  They don't have windows or doors and are in disrepair.  I have been considering why these small houses have caught my attention.  I often think about what the house was like in it's "prime", when it was not in such disrepair.  The houses are larger than my RV and would allow me more space, but the house itself has a small footprint. 




This is one of those houses along my current commute.  This is not a house I would consider inhabiting in it's current state, but what was it like 60 years ago?  There's a fireplace to keep you warm in the winter.  There's open land.  Currently this house is right off a highway, so that may be unappealing, but so is it's current condition. 

I still enjoy looking at large houses, don't get me wrong.  I think about how many times my RV would fit in that house, but then I am reminded of how much it may cost.  I started living in the RV because it's affordable.  Previous neighbors have talked about moving out of their house because they did not want to be a "slave to the house".  In a house there's always a lawn to be mowed, a leak to fix or a roof to replace.