RV | The Organic Sister

Small Gifts of Love

August 9, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 24 Comments

Everyone has their “thing,” right? That one thing they just can’t do.

Mine is dishes.

It’s not that I just hate doing them. It’s that it is that one thing that grosses me out. Give me vomit to clean or a farm animal to slaughter and I’m good to go and probably a little too interested. Show me a sink full of soggy, slimy food particles floating in warm water and I’m going to gag. Heaven forbid one of those food particles actually clings to my hand. I’m getting chills just thinking about it.

This is actually a two-fold issue:

Food particles = indescribable yakking reflexes
I don’t really like the sensation of wet hands…or feeling wet in general. Especially if it’s cold water.

I know this makes me slightly weird (although I’m adamant I’m not alone) and I do manage to take showers. Mostly I think it’s just a sensitivity thing (I don’t like air blowing on me either) and well…a weird thing. Whatever. I can own it.

One of the first things I miss in the RV is the dishwasher. And not just for the washing aspect; having a place to put dirty dishes until you have enough to wash is just as beneficial. As such there is almost always a dirty dish in the sink, taunting me relentlessly.

Thankfully I have a husband who humors me. For the past several months without a dishwasher, Justin has been handwashing like a pro. Occasionally I can overcome the water issue to rinse and dry. It’s hard and it involves a lot of hand-drying (yes, I actually dry my hands between the dishes I rinse – like I said, I can own my weirdness) but I do it.

He loves me (and he knows I have serious issues), so it’s never really mentioned. And I love him to the moon and back for it. But when Justin was taking his blacksmith workshop over the weekend, he’d come home on cloud nine and I knew nothing would ruin that excitement like dishes waiting to be done.

So today when I faced a sink full of dirty dishes, I didn’t think about the particles of stir-fry floating by or the soggy rice cascading between my fingers (oh dear lord). I took a really deep breath and focused on offering this as a gift of love to my husband.

And you know what? With my husband held firmly in my mind, it wasn’t so bad. This was my gift and nothing changes our perspective like wholeheartedly choosing to give from our hearts.

I didn’t clean out the food trap though. I do have issues, after all. Thankfully, he didn’t mind.

Filed Under: Organic Living, People I Love Tagged With: dishes, Justin, love, RV, Tara

Indiana Highlights

August 1, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 9 Comments

On our way from Nashville to Wisconsin, we stopped in Indiana for a bit. We stayed at the Lincoln Boyhood Memorial campground. It was a gorgeous location, full of history.

Our stay was really rather wonderful. We invited several local families up for a potluck and enjoyed a day of hiking through the park, chatting and playing with new friends and dodging the lightening and the rain.

We also went to see the play Lincoln at the park’s amphitheater. It was way too much for us with the insanely loud gunshots going off a mere yards from our ears. And it’s was smoldering. But overall we really loved the strong, emotional performances and it was a nice treat for the three of us.

Walking back to the RV that night and in anticipation of leaving the next morning for Chicago, I mentioned to Justin how I was needing a couple days of downtime with nowhere to go and no one to see – time to just vegetate.

I got my wish the next day. Our engine started having problems. It turned out to be our alternator and if it weren’t for the solar panels keeping our batteries charged, we would have broken down somewhere in southern Indiana. We took this is a most definite sign to hunker down in Indianapolis while we searched out parts and got Benny fixed.

Instead of sightseeing or exploring, we took walks around the pond at night, played on the computer, watched the geese, talked and not much else. We enjoyed “doing nothing” so much we decided to skip the stress Chicago was showing itself to be and head straight for Wisconsin with a small stop in Illinois at a tiny little park: $13 for incredibly fast (cuz no one else was there to use it) wifi, a swimming pool, gorgeous weather. We didn’t even mind the 3am train whistle.

It was an easy and reaffirming kinda week. The kind that remind you that community exists in strange lands, that unprayed prayers are still answered, that life has a funny way of making you laugh and that with a bit of faith our needs are always taken care of.

I can’t help but feel full and thankful and at peace with the simplicity of this crazy life.

Filed Under: Life on the Road, Organic Tribes Tagged With: broken down, community, history, illinois, indiana, indianapolis, RV, thankful

Our Family Tree

July 13, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 27 Comments

Not long before we hit the road I had a vivid dream about a beautiful tree painted on the wall of the RV. It was tall, tendrillar and strong. Just days after the dream I came across Christine Satori’s art and her gorgeous painted family trees. It struck me as so similar to my dream!

Justin and I have had the intention of leaving our walls blank from the beginning, to be filled throughout our travels with art and photos we found along the road. I’m so happy to have started our adornment with our very own family tree from Christine.

Christine made this art custom for our family. I had no idea what to expect but this took my breath.

We’re all three in love with it and amazed at the way she captures our family: The three separate and unique pieces making the whole; the two love birds in the middle; the strong, independent one who’s perched himself on top. The colors, the orientation, the Dickinson quote. Christine could not have made it more perfect for us.

I think Zeb’s reaction was best. He excitedly offered to take down his wolf photos hung over the dinnette (which doubles as his bed) so that we could hang the canvases in their place. And all day he just kept looking at them and saying how awesome they were and how awesome Christine is. And I must say, Justin and I definitely agree.

Thank you so much, Christine, for sharing your beautiful work with our family. We are touched and amazed and so extremely in love with our tree.

Filed Under: Organic Tribes Tagged With: art, community, RV

State Line Shuffle

May 22, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 19 Comments

We seem to have acquired a habit on the road. Every day we’re scheduled to cross a state line we tend to do a deep clean, from top to bottom. We’ve termed it The State Line Shuffle.

Thankfully, this shuffling takes us about 30 minutes. In that time we (and by we I usually mean I) put away toys, books, computers or other things, sort clothes that need to be washed at our next location, and rehang or refold the rest. Then we (I) grab a rag and the spray bottle and wash down the fingerprints that have graced our walls, clean up the sinks, wipe down the shower and clean the toilet. Then I sweep and hand-mop the floor with a second rag. Justin then takes that second rag and the spray bottle to wash the bugs off the windows. We may or may not throw the fridge somewhere in there for good measure.

We don’t always do it at the state line, but Justin is threatening to drive us across the border every week anyway.

My view from Louisiana

We’re now in Louisiana, in a little town called Keatchie (pronounced key-chie), about an hour south of Shreveport. So small in fact, they don’t even have their own grocery store!

It’s beautiful and quiet and the serenity feels so good. But it’s lonely not feeling connected to a tribe. I’m making the most of what it is but I’m looking forward to driving into New Orleans and Baton Rouge and meeting new people and finding friends.

In the meantime we’re hooping, playing games, watching movies, playing online and relaxing. Zeb is hoping to do some fishing in the neighbor’s pond soon and Justin is excited to have found a boatload of free veg oil for the RV. Next weekend we’ll be celebrating with the locals at the annual crawfish festival.

But for now we’re just trying to stay connected to each other as Justin attempts to go back to work and we attempt to find a tribe.

So, tell me tribe, how’s your weekend going?

Filed Under: Life on the Road Tagged With: Connecting, friends, louisiana, RV

The Good, The Bad and The Funny

March 7, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 10 Comments

I have no idea how to start this post, other than to say it’s all catching up to me. I’ve been tired and sluggish since we arrived and am so thankful we’re staying with friends while we all acclimate. No plans, no sightseeing; just hanging out. It’s a nice way to ease ourselves into things. (We’ve all been catching up on sleep and making our way back to eating Real Food; we’ve been eating lots of bad fats and not enough good fats and fresh veggies lately. I think Justin and I will be restarting our cleanse soon and I’m going to assist the process with a green smoothie fast.)

Friday morning Zeb fell asleep before we left, so we moved him to the RV and let him continue sleeping. He woke up around Kingman, immediately went to the map and found our location, as well as our destination and figured out our estimated arrival time. He spent the next couple hours, sitting and watching the scenery out the window, never once feeling bored.

Of any “life learning” moments, those quiet ones feel the biggest. When a person has the time and inclination to just sit and think, amazing things emerge: thoughts and ideas, questions and most importantly, processing. I was happy to see Zeb enjoying the ride and curious what was passing through his mind.

Friday and Saturday were both beautiful and warm. We’ve spent time at the park, splashed in the residual puddles, rode bikes, ate homemade tacos, played Wii and watched the highly-debated Radical Parents on DVR. (I thought the families were great, but the “experts” could have done a bit more research before pushing the same outdated stereotypes and misinformation.)

The rain has been coming down hard since last night; so hard in fact we’ve found two leaking windows. (Ahem. For the record, I had suggested resealing the windows when we did the roof.) On top of that, our water pump stopped working.

But somewhere around the time two people are balancing on a narrow hitch in pouring down rain with a giant umbrella over their heads threatening to blow away, trying to dry a window so that they can duct tape a trash bag to it to give the silicone sealant a chance to dry underneath and they get a whiff of a black water tank that needs emptying, you realize you can do nothing but laugh at yourself. Ah, the joys of vintage wheels.

Thank goodness for neighbors in need of a massage for the exact price of the pump and friends willing to give us a ride to the nearest RV store.

I’m beginning to think I could make some extra money by taking bets on what Benny will do (or not do) next.

We were planning to head out tomorrow, passing through the Petrified Forest and ending up in Albuquerque the day after, but with the rain and snow, we’ll be playing it all by ear.