A friend of mine, who is 5 feet nothing, drives a very small car. Her arms are short, so when she sits behind the wheel she 4 inches away. Driving, she looks like she wears the car. Wouldn't it be cool to wear your car? I mean really wear it? "Honey, I'm looking my Maserati pants, they aren't in the wash again are they?" Hey my Volvo shirt needs an oil change, can you take it in
tomorrow?"
So I was thinking the other day about my Dad. He died in 2003, at the ripe young age of nearly 74. He was looking
healthy, having started taking better care of himself over the last year of his life. Prior to that, it was Diabetes, brought on by probably too much beer in too many hours in local saloons. He had looked gray, ashen, and he was shrinking. I often wonder what kind of pain he was trying to kill all those years in the bars. What words were never spoken, and missing fixes for what was broken? I think he realized late that THIS was it, and waiting was a kind of death of its own. He died while walking, the loudest whisper in his chest, his heart literally exploding.
I bought a tent before I went to Arizona in January. Its a nice tent, and just the right size. But there is a problem with it. It wasn't the tent I wanted; its 2 pounds heavier than the one I thought I was getting. I was in a rush, and should have checked the specs a little closer. Don't get me wrong, I like it, its great.
and worked well on my trip. But I find myself filling hours looking at deals on tents, lighter ones. You wouldn't think 2 pound would make all that much difference, but I've been obsessed with trying to find ways of lightening my pack. Its amazing how much time is spent on doing with less.
The AZ trip I was at around 25 pounds, so 2 pounds to drop is a big deal. But is it really? I mean, that 2 pounds is probably going to cost me over 200 bucks. Is it really worth it? More interesting to me right now, is to watch myself do these things: Search, compare, look for a deal.... etc. I believe I will have a big let down when / if I ever do actually buy another tent. The hunt will be over. I have a WANT, and maybe I don't want the WANT to go away? I mean, isn't the minimalist stance not just getting rid of the 'stuff' but getting rid of the want?
Right now I don't have a sofa and chair in my living room. I loaned it to a friend, who moved and had to order new furniture. It won't be in for 12 weeks, so I thought it would be a good test to see how I can live without it. How little can we live with? What divides our wants from our needs? And is 'need' an escalating thing? A domino effect to bigger and better?
My tally so far. TV? Gone. Furniture? Gone. Dishes, plates glasses: cut back to no more than 4 of anything. Shoes? OK, got work to do there. Kayaks? Two up for sale, keeping just one, maybe.
I am headed to Clinton Lake this weekend for a 30 mile race; hopefully we won't rained on. I don't mind the rain so much, but early spring rain can be c-c-cold.
That's enough random bits for today.
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