“Come a little bit closerHear what I have to sayJust like children sleepin’We could dream this night away
~Neil Young
Very little news this week. I’ve settled in, and Cosmo and I are enjoying having Sunny and Matt as neighbors. Matt drives us into town every other day; sometimes just for a ride, sometimes on a specific mission. We get to dump trash on the way out, which is a huge bonus. In other locations, I have to put trash in larger bags and tie the bags high up in trees, so the animals don’t get into it. Being able to toss it a few times a week is such a luxury. We stop at a dollar store and pick up snacks, or something we missed at our weekly shopping adventure, then back to our semi-remote spot in the Magic Circle. It’s the best of both worlds. We get to feel far removed from The Empire and yet we can sneak in and out of it when needed.
Blythe, bordering the Colorado River on the California side, is just about 20 minutes away. They have two grocery stores (Albertson’s and Smart and Final), several dollar stores, Ace Hardware and a good Chinese Take-Out restaurant. We can get free water (and usually do) as we re-enter the LTVA. Life is easy here.
Weather has been mostly warm. The wind picked up mid-week and Matt and I had to put our awnings away. Just a minor inconvenience, and easy to put back after we see how much wind and rain we get over the weekend.
We’ve both spent some time putting out solar lights to light up our nights, and to mark off our site so anyone arriving late at night knows this spot is occupied.
Most people here at The Magic Circle have a wide variety of solar lights. They increase exponentially as we get closer to the winter holidays, and you can see icicle lights hanging from big rigs, and huge Christmas trees in front of people’s sites. It’s sort of fun and quite festive.
Lessons From The Road: With the full moon this week, we spent many evenings outside by the campfire.
Matt and I got some wood early in the week and supplemented it with downed branches we found in the washes. Campfires are good. I learned my first year on the road, they are somehow like truth serum (or tequila); When people are around the fire, they seem focused on the flames, but easily tell life stories, share past experiences, express hopes and dreams for the future. Sometimes Matt and I sit and share; sometimes we just sit. Either way, a fire under a full (or nearly full) moon is quite healing.
And finally, my happy song of the week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfOx4CmQWLs
See you down the road,