Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
~Howard Thurman
Monday morning I decided I was done with The Magic Circle. I definitely enjoyed my stay there, but after starting to map out my next moves, I realized I was getting itchy feet again. My friends David, Patrick, and Gary had moved out for Skoolie and never returned. Leo went back to Phoenix and Greg moved on as well. As crowded as Quartzsite was in general and The Magic Circle in particular, it suddenly felt sort of empty to me.
Part of me felt like I should stay put. It’s only February and spring seems a long way off. Another part of me thought of the old Woody Allen joke… This guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, ‘Doc, my brother’s crazy! He thinks he’s a chicken!’ And the doctor says, ‘Well, why don’t you turn him in?’ And the guy says, ‘I would, but—I need the eggs.’ Suddenly I realized I was staying at The Magic Circle because “I need the eggs.” I packed up and left Tuesday morning.
I drove to Ehrenberg. No old naked people wandering the trails. No “Trump 2024” flags. Just me, Cosmo and wide-open space.
The weather turned cold and rainy. Wednesday and Thursday were “inside days” so I had lots of time to do some brainstorming and planning and to decide what I really wanted. I had already formed a tentative map of places I would go over the next 6 weeks. Then Kitty invited me to meet her in Joshua Tree the following week and I was torn. I finally decided that Joshua Tree was one of my last stops before I headed to the California coast for the spring/summer, and it would be quite easy to just reverse my route, start in JT and then head east to visit all the places in southern California and Arizona that I wanted to see this winter and then making a beeline to the coast before the weather turns too hot. It’s still a half-baked plan, but I think it will work out just fine.
Friday was a warm, sunny day in Ehrenberg. My friend Kent who came to visit me in August called and we got caught up. I made breakfast and Bonnie texted me that the “visitor’s chair was out and available.” Cosmo and I went over, sat in the sun and chatted for about an hour before other residents came over and visited. Cosmo played with Midnight, the nomadic dog who lives here on his own all year round. I think several of the residents feed him and I often see him walking with Stanley—an old man who lives down in the wash. Midnight and Cosmo get along well, but I have to keep a close eye on Cosmo as Midnight is feral and wanders from Ehrenberg BLM land over to the Colorado River. I don’t want Cosmo wandering off for any unsupervised adventures.
After everyone left, I drove into town (if I’ve not mentioned it before “town” is a bit of an exaggeration) to the dollar store to pick up a few things and to the post office to pick up a tax form that was forwarded to me. I came back and Cosmo and I played ball in our wide open space before we both decided to take a nap.
It rained overnight and when I woke up Friday, the sky was dark with ominous-looking clouds. When I took Cosmo out, the sun peeked out for a minute and created a beautiful rainbow.
Lessons From The Road: I’ve been feeling unsettled this week. Part of it is feeling the need for a new adventure, and part of it is feeling a bit apprehensive of a new adventure. I’ve gotten very comfortable with my routine of moving to Quartzsite to get fresh water and dump garbage and hang out in the circle, and then moving back to Ehrenberg where it’s much quieter, and close to Blythe, CA where they have real grocery stores and an Ace hardware store and a couple of restaurants. (Bonnie and I have been out to lunch twice in the past several months, which is a rare treat for both of us.) Life is easy here. I know my way around, always get my preferred spots to camp. But I’m ready to give up some of the routine to go back to having some adventures. My new route will take me to Joshua Tree, then “on vacation” at Fountain of Youth spa for a couple of days, and onto a new hot springs, and to Imperial Dam which I’ve been told is a beautiful spot to stay near the water. After that I’ll visit Ajo (which I did the first year out on the road, and I loved it), Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (which I also visited my first year out) and on to Green Valley to see friends and if the weather cooperates, I’ll head to Bisbee, AZ which has been on my radar for three years, but I’ve never made it that far. I’m simultaneously excited, anxious, and a bit unsettled. I started to make plans on how long to stay at each place, and when I wanted to arrive. It got way too messy and if I’ve learned anything on the road, it is that those sorts of plans hardly ever work out. So I’ll leave Ehrenberg with an idea of what places I’d like to visit, go to the next one when I’m ready to, and mostly play it by ear. It worries me that I’ll get into southeastern Arizona and want to head to the California coast when the weather has already gotten unbearably hot. If that happens, I’ll figure it out, take a detour if necessary, or drive much more each day than I like to. I think it will be worth it in order to enjoy some new places and have some new experiences.