Review of 2021 - so far

7/23/2021

July 23, 2021
Since the start of the year, in concert with my team mate, partner, love of my life, husband, I have packed up my entire house into three storage units, moved to a bedroom in my daughter's house from where I launched 6 weeks of the worst camping in my life, and discovered that camping under these circumstances is just a nice name for being homeless. I had a van crammed full of everything that would fit but rarely found the energy to use any of the work, art, and magic tools that I brought.
It was a soul sucking experience with ticks.

Then I started searching for a place to live full time, while camping. It is very difficult to find a new home when you are not able to GO to the places to meet with tentative landlords or property managers. And when we did go to look at a place, we had to leave all kinds of valuable things unsupervised in our campsite for hours. We did our best to secure the most precious things (Mike's computer and other work tools being foremost) but it would have been a devastating blow if someone had looted our campsite.

Then I started mooching off my brother and his wife - it took three weeks to find and lease our new home here in Baltimore, 20 minutes from where my brother and his wonderful wife live.

Now I'm unpacking three storage units worth of stuff from a large home with a shed into a two bedroom basement apartment. Many things must go. I need to stop paying to store things that don't fit in my home.

So I've been busy non-stop since the start of 2021, except for that wonderful brief hiatus for my 70th birthday - when my eldest daughter took me to The Magic Kingdom in Disney World.

I love mail delivery.
I love being housed.
I love air conditioning.
I love having hot running water.
I love having ice that doesn't melt.
I love having electricity whenever I want it.
I love having a full sized refrigerator with a big freezer.
I love never having rain water seep into my kitchen and form large pools of water that I must stand in to cook.
I love that Mike doesn't have to haul in water, wash dishes in the rain, go out on ice and potty disposal chores.
I love being able to use my computer whenever I want, without feeling guilty about stealing the electricity that Mike needs to do his job.
I love that I can have a house plant. I hope to get the house plants my daughter is caring for soon. I wonder how Violet is doing with her new mother.
I love a hot shower with strong water pressure with no strangers nearby, no mosquito attacks, no calibration of how to get dressed without getting my clothes wet on an unclean floor. I love that my shampoo just sits on a shelf in the shower and does not need to hauled to and from the shower every time I want to wash my hair. It's just THERE!
I still like my camping dishes and continue to use them but I love having access to all my best utensils that didn't make the cut, that didn't get to come camping with me. I never planned to have boiled pasta while camping . . . so I didn't need the pasta serving tool. Garlic press. Pizza wheel. Knives in a wooden block holder (a lovely gift from my brother) instead of in a bag in a tub, confusing to locate amongst the other bags in the tub.
I love being housed.

Life is good.
Dr. P-J

9 Comments

Jean Cory

7/24/2021 01:32:00 pm

I love hearing about the things you love. I love that you are happier now. I love you!

Shelley Pineo-Jensen link

7/25/2021 04:48:15 pm

Thank you. I love you too!

Diane Charles

7/27/2021 05:27:52 pm

I thought you were incredibly organized and brave. My memories of camping (with small kids) are almost gone with only the strong emotional scar of negativity remaining. But the camping table and bunkbeds lasted in storage until the kids rediscovered them mid teens. In the back yard with mom asleep..it took on another life.

7/28/2021 10:19:55 am

Why a scar of negativity around camping with your kids when they were little? Those are some of my fondest memories.

7/31/2021 03:45:37 am

We were camping in Georga, Hot and Muggy even along the coast. I was pregnant the kids were 4 and 2, the toilets were abominable and Ron broke his wrist right before we left..

7/27/2021 07:20:33 pm

What i want to know is.. is that beautiful glass brick(?) wall in your kitchen? A really unique architectural design for essentially low housing. What is the story? Was this a selling feature when the project was finished?

7/28/2021 10:16:44 am

The house was built around 1896. The basement was remodeled at some point to become an apartment. There are four apartments in the building.
The ice box glass was installed at some point later than 1896. While there was some use of a type of "block glass" (as it is correctly termed) in the 1800s, "Production of glass block began in the country around 1932, and the material was featured at the 1933-1934 Chicago Century of Progress International Exhibition, and later at the 1939 New York World's Fair." (file:///C:/Users/Desktop/Downloads/FaganElizabeth_GSAPPHP_2015_Thesis.pdf)
The building is a mash-up of Victorian era features and various elements added ever since. The kitchen is modern, some parts of the closets look like they date back to the days when Eve tempted Adam with an apple - or was it a pink Cadillac?

"Jimbo "

8/1/2021 08:52:59 am

There really is no difference between being homeless , and being a campground tent camper . Unlike wilderness camping in remote sections of the southwest were it is common to not see anyone for weeks on end , campgrounds can attach some folks who harbor ill intent . Without a good camper or motor home , tent camping in any campground is the
" worst of all worlds " . I gave up all campgrounds about 40 years ago . There are people who live in trailers and motor homes with a fair degree of comfort . In southern Arizona around Quartzite , there are about 1 million people who live on public lands during the winter months . But even under the best of conditions ,
" wilderness camping " can get tiresome . I am really glad you two are in Maryland . The drought west of the Rockies could go on for decades ; ( which , it has done in the past ) . There are a cornucopia of cultural opportunities as well as the proximity to family , in the Baltimore area. Like any other urban area , there are intrinsic dangers that require a large degree of caution and due diligence . Keep your head on a swivel , and be proactive in protecting yourselves . Remember , walking sticks are mult - functional ; my spouse is known to use her walking stick in a " Biff " / Back to the Future like manner to remind me to behave myself . I look forward to more post from the " dynamic duo " , from their new digs .

" Jimbo "

8/1/2021 09:29:30 am

You comments are spot-on.

I never felt comfortable leaving the campsite unsupervised. My biggest concern is unmanaged/angry teenagers who have not yet enough seasoning on them to be able comprehend the harm they do to others with careless/selfish actions. They destroy to express their angst or nihilism and only regret the actions years later.

The regular campers are all good-willed - but closer to populated areas drive-by thieves cruise campgrounds looking for goods of some value that are easy to dispose of.

Nothing like that has ever happened to me while camping . . . but I remained vigilant.

I have no desire to ever go camping again.

You can't go back in time, even if Marty did, allowing Biff access to that magazine . . . Anyway - my future is as bright as a shiny new penny.

Wishing you great luck staying out of the reach of your spouse's Biff-Stick.

GCO Blog
by Dr. P-J