Dave Hit a Deer!

On our way home from Bible study Wednesday night, Dave hit a buck...on his motorcycle! He was following behind Elias and I. I usually take the van and meet him at the church since I am usually in town on that day anyway. That also saves him from having to come all the way home first after work.

When it came time to turn off the highway, I noticed that he was no longer behind me. I slowed down a bit while looking for his headlight, but did not see it. I thought about turning around, but I figured he was probably just enjoying a slower ride home. Still, I was a bit nervous, so I kept listening for him when we got home.

Well, he showed up shortly afterward and told me he had hit a deer. The deer ran right out in front of him. He knew better than to try and swerve since that is usually what causes accidents. So, he just hit the brakes and kept it going straight. His tire hit the deer in the back leg and broke it pretty badly.

The only damage it did to the motorcycle was to bend the fender slightly into the tire. He bent it back out and says that you cannot even tell it was bent.

There was a couple behind him who saw the whole thing. They stopped to see if he was OK. Both of them said they thought for sure he was going to go down and get hurt really badly. Dave is fine, though. He says he must have had some burly angels riding with him that helped to deflect the deer.

He called 911 to let them know about it and went back to meet with them and try and find the deer. It had managed to wander off, though, into some heavy brush. Poor thing. It would have been better if they could have found it and put it out of its misery.

Repairs, Make-Do's, Gas & Transcriptions!

Well, Dave's bike is up and running again! Yay!! He has been taking it to work all week...which really helps with these awful gas prices! If it were not for that, we are not sure he could actually afford to go to work. The gas prices are driving up the price of everything, including food. I know a lot of people who are getting hit really hard by that. I wish I could somehow help them.

It sure is noisy around here. We don't know if maybe there are some cicadas, or if it is all just other insects. I love hearing it, though. I really like the sounds of nature. If/when we ever move back toward city life, I will really miss it.

I was blessed with two transcription jobs. They were both audios of business talk radio interviews. It was very interesting. Having never done transcribing before, the learning curve was huge, in spite of my ability to type fairly fast. Of course, it did not help that I had to use my laptop keyboard for the first one.

Typically, I use an external keyboard, but the PS2 port my keyboard plugs into got pulled on and it does not work right any more. By the time I started the second job, I was so frustrated that I figured I just had to find a way to get it to work. So, right now I have the keyboard cord taped to the top of my laptop in just such a way as to hold it in the right position for the port to work.

I know the problem is the port because I can plug my keyboard into my PS2 to USB adapter and it works just fine. However, I cannot use the adapter because I need it for my mouse. Laptop mice drive me nuts! My mouse does not work in that port, either. I tried another adapter, but it did not work. Dave tells me that a lot of them don't. So, my setup looks a bit wierd, but hey, it works for me right now!

I am praying that, someday, I will be able to replace the laptop. There are too many things going wrong with it. Amazingly, it is cheaper to replace it than to fix it. I was floored to find that out. We can do neither, at this point; but so long as it keeps working, I will keep writing! *smile*

From our little RV on the hillside, I hope this finds all of you finding ways to work around the gas prices. I also hope that all of your technical marvels, whatever you may have, are working correctly!

Quick Update!

I am giving a quick update because I am sick, sick, sick! Ick!

I don't often get bed sick, but I have been in and out of bed for three days now, or has it been four? It felt like I was getting better, but I am not sure. Today I feel pretty poorly.

One thing about being sick in a tiny environment is that it helps bring out the "closeness" of the space we live in. This is especially true if I am too sick to make the bed into a couch.

If one being sick is hard in this tiny space...two is worse. Now, our son is also complaining about being sick. Yet, we will get by. We always do! I am washing our sheets today and will lay on the couch. He can lay in his sleep area above.

On the upside, Dave got the wheel back from the motorcycle shop. They replaced the inner tube and balanced the wheel for him. The tire is good and the rotor is good. He is going to pick up brake pads after work today and, hopefully, get the wheel back on this weekend.

Our son is signed up for the homeschool co-op. One of the leaders very graciously got us signed up since I had no van to get there with. Woohoo! We signed him up in faith that Yahweh God will make a way for us to get down there once a week when it starts. I do have an idea on how I might be able to do that, but I am not sure if it will work out, yet.

Fom us "sickies" in our little RV on the hillside to all of you in your homes, I hope you are all very healthy!!

Motorcycle Flat!

Well, Dave got a flat on his way home from work on Friday. Thankfully, it was pretty close to home. His rear tire went flat. He had to sort of "power walk" it the rest of the way home.

He picked up a screw. Why there was a screw on the road, who knows? We have had van flats, too, from screws.

Over the weekend, he got the back tire off. His back brake had started to scrape a bit, too, so this provided an opportunity to look at that, too. It is way too early for his brake to be so worn, so we don't know what would make it wear so fast. The pads are pretty much gone and even the rotor may need to be replaced. We hope not.



His motorcycle is so low that Elias had to get big rocks to put under it to get it high enough to get the jack under it.










The front wheel is braced with rocks to keep the front tire from turning.




The poor guys were working in the sun. He did not think about moving it into the shade first! So, I took pity on them. While Dave went up to the RV for a minute, I had Elias help me rig something up to provide shade. Dave helped us finish it up when he came back down.

There was actually a bit of a breeze, but you couldn't appreciate it when in the direct sun.



He is taking the wheel into a local shop so that it can be balanced. The tire is not that worn, so we are hoping the bead was not damaged and that we can save it. We are also hoping that the rotor is OK. He is not so sure.

With gas prices, we are dependent upon his taking his bike to work. Yet, if we need a new tire and rotor, this is going to wipe us out. Actually, I don't know how much a rotor is. I am hoping we have enough to get another one, if it is needed. Any way you look at it, Yahweh God will provide.

Of course, right now, it would sure be nice if He provided for me to get MY bike fixed. I miss riding, plus the three of us can take two bikes cheaper than we can take the van anywhere. Besides, the bikes are a whole lot more FUN!!!

It also would not hurt to have a back up bike when things like this happen. Although, Dave on a Virago 535 looks a bit odd. He really needs a bigger bike than that!

Another Beautiful Day & Trusting Yahweh!

It rained last night and today is dawning cooler than the last couple of days. We awoke to hear the sounds of so many different kinds of birds. It is amazing! We are surrounded by so much life!

We have been talking about what we need to try to accomplish today. There are so many things that it becomes hard to know how to prioritize. Since gas is a huge issue right now, Dave is going to check out his motorcycle and see if it is ready to start riding. Then he needs to build something to get it across the creek since the creek crossing is not done yet.

We have a meadow that was bush-hogged for us a while back, but it is almost getting too high to mow now. So, he also needs to get our mower going so he can at least do the section where we have some things.

I tend to doubt that we will get much more done outside since it may take a while for him to build something strong enough to ride the motorcycle across. He is thinking that, if he can finish one side of the creek crossing today, he will only have to build something to go across the other side. Right now, there are two trenches going through the creek.

I am going to work on getting the blue insulation sheets out of the rv. We had put them down on some of the floor area to help keep the heat in. They are now thoroughly torn up from walking on them and it is time to rip them out and vacuum really good so we can spray for ants and other bugs inside. Dave also needs to spray outside. We have seen ticks up close to the RV, even though we don't have any brush close by. I wonder if they are living in the bales. Which is another thing we need to do...sort the bad bales out and get rid of them. Then we need to make sure the good bales are neatly restacked. They got a bit scattered with the digging for the leaks. But that will have to be for another day.

And the list goes on. An unfinished laundry room. A hill that is sliding. A space that needs to be cleared out for a garage type tent to be put up. Mildewing stuff under tarps that need to be sorted out in that tent so we can get rid of the bad stuff and store the good stuff in the upper floor of the laundry room. A leaky RV roof and a need to have a regular roof built over it. And on it goes.

When I opened my email this morning I found this quote:

Everything does not depend upon us nor on man. We do what God requires of us and leave the outcome to Him. We live by this faith. The more faithfully we live by this faith, the less our anxiety.
-- Romans and Galatians by R.J. Rushdoony

It was followed by the following scripture:

Matthew 6:25-26
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

As usual, Yahweh sends me just what I need to be reminded of. The tendency to look to man or to ourselves for our provision is a very human one. However, that is not what Yahweh wants. He wants us to look to Him and to trust Him for whatever we need.

In our situation, it is something we need to keep addressing. There is always that balance of making sure we are doing what God requires of us and then trusting Him for the outcome. This life is a passing thing...so quickly gone in the light of eternity. Are we trying to build a kingdom here in this life? Or are we learning to be content with what God has provided?

That is not saying that we should not have goals and work for things. However, are the goals we set the right ones? How do we know? I need to be diligent about training my heart to hear His voice...to listen to what He is saying is for ME to do. Then I must be diligent to do it.

It is wise to recognize needs and then to work for them...as best we can. I think that is the key..."as best we can". We must do what we can and trust God for the outcome. We must do what we can to take care of the things of life and then let it go. There are times when we simply cannot do what needs to be done...we need help. Again, we must trust Yahweh that He will bring the ones alongside of us that we need to have. If He is not bringing anyone, then we must learn to be content with that. It is about trusting Him and His love for us.

That is huge. It is much easier said than done. I am not going to pretend that I have it down. This I know...none of us could have lived in our tiny space this long without His grace working through us. It is just not in us to do this. Yahweh is providing us the ability to keep our "sanity"!

We must live one day at a time. We cannot look too far ahead or we will be overwhelmed. On the other hand, we NEED to look ahead. We are hoping that our setup will be better for winter by the time winter comes. That means we must start on it now. We must always be working on it in one way or another. One of the hard things about that is that it means we don't have much of a social life. We need to take advantage of every opportunity to get those minimal things done to help us make it in this living environment.

This scripture is one we really need to focus on.

Back "Home"?

There are times when I miss the things of back "home". I put the word in quotes because I don't really have a home town. I moved throughout most of my growing up years and so I don't really "feel" as if I have a real hometown. But I have family where we used to live...and if home really is where the heart is...well, I guess my heart is in the broad area over which my family is scattered.

Would I like to move back? My heart is torn over that. It would definitely be nice to live closer to family. My fifth grandchild is on his/her way. I have a new future daughter in law. I have inlaws in different areas. But I could live with all of them any place. If I ask about going back and leave the family out of the question...it is very different.

There are two main areas where we used to live...where my children are living and where we used to live over the mountain from them. I would not want to move where they are...traffic, heat, etc. But where we used to live...it would be nice. There are a lot of things I do miss about that area, including a fantastic therapist and some friends.

I miss having more motorcycle riding weather. Although, since mine is not running, I guess that is a moot issue. We only had two seasons where we were living...warm, dry summers and wet, chilly winters. I was so looking forward to four seasons here. Well...we seem to kinda have three and a half. I miss the real snow of winter.

So, I am kind of torn on the weather. I also like the thunderstorms, something I really missed when we moved to CA. On the other hand...there are enough of them here to make motorcycle riding a bit of a challenge.

I hate tornado warnings. They make the gusty winds very unnerving for me. I would rather have an earthquake anyday. It happens and, except for a few aftershocks...it is pretty much over. And they rarely happen. I cannot count how many tornado warnings we have had since moving here. I find that to be rather stressful. It would not be nearly so if we were actually set up for them...like in a real house...with a basement!

What other differences? Oh yes! Health food stores. I had several I could go to and in the last place we lived I could even walk to one if I needed to. I could also walk to my therapist's office if I wanted. Church was fairly close by. There were all different kinds of stores. And there was Marie Callendar's restaurant, along with a couple of other favorite places. Within one county we had almost all that we really needed.

It was almost like a mix of semi-rural and towns. We had the ocean and the mountains. You could drive to the snow. We used to go to Lake Tahoe. That was so beautiful...both in the summer and the winter.

There were also quite a few retreat places around...Christian camps. We even lived at one for a while. There are definitely things I miss about that area. But I would also miss this place if we left...like the Autumn. I love the Autumn. It is my favorite season and it was not a very strong season at all where we used to live. I missed Autumn and Winter both when we moved to CA.

I miss the beach, too. It was not that I went a lot...but it was nice to drive along the coast...and nice to visit the beach when it was a little bit cool. I loved the waves. I loved the mountains. It was really pretty in the county where we lived the last 11 years I was there. The previous 30 were on the other side of the mountains...where my children live now. 40 years ago...it was OK. But now it is very crowded...highly congested.

It is easy to think of there when I run into difficulties here. But truthfully, we would have had difficulties there, too. It is a very expensive place to live. In fact, it was the rising property values that allowed to refinance our house more than once to live off of while Dave was out of work. Housing costs there are insane.

So, here I sit, in my little RV on the hillside, thankful for what I have. I heard the other day that if we have a house, a car and clothing, we have more than 98(?) percent of people in the world. Well, I am not sure if you count a tiny RV as a house...but we do have a shelter plus the other two. *smile*

I am thankful most of all...to be wherever Yahweh wants us to be. There are good things about being here. I love the view. I love the animals. I love the butterflies in summer. I love the creek...even when it is high...just wish we did not have to drive through it. Life is hard here. I won't deny that. But it also has a beauty of its own. And we are growing as a result of living here. We are having to trust our Abba/Father in so many ways...and that is good. Life is an adventure! But the greatest adventure of all is yet to come!