From rags to rags in a new state :)

Well updating this blog has become a necessity. Not because my insides are inflamed with burning emotions that simply must be conveyed lest I burst at the seams (they aren't, it's an icebox in there) but because I have moved away from all my friends but I'd still like for them to be a part of my life and know what and how I'm doing. I guess that I could share that with them one-on-one, but I'd rather do it here and maybe get paid for it with adsense. Let's be real, few things that require effort are worth doing if there is no money being earned, that's just how I feel. Heck, sometimes even the money is not enough motivation.

What can I say about living in the mountains? For the hundredth time, and certainly not the last, my life has changed in many ways; but still the things that have the greatest bearing remain ever the same. Before I was the stay at home parent and Joshua the breadwinner, the reverse is now true. Before we had two cats, now we have one and a dog. Before we lived in the ghetto, now we live in the trailer park. Just as could be said of my life, there are many things that remain constant between the two living situations although they are VASTLY different; either way both are completely unfavorable in the eyes of many and it's not hard to see why.

Our park looks like a hurricane blew through nearly a year ago and no one bothered to pick up the debris. Plastic bits and children's toys are scattered through yards like wildflowers, trailer skirts hang and droop from their sidings, sometimes completely discarded and laid in the yard for an indefinite amount of time. Bubba, who lives everywhere and finds use for everything, leaves his bits and bobs anywhere he pleases. One hundred old tires? check! Rusted truck with no tires? check! Old toilet? super check! Super big gulp cup? Got it bud! Pretty much any sort of thing that is unwanted after a flea market ends up in and around Bubba's house. Bubba is my neighbor. Did I mention he likes dogs? Three dogs in a pen meant for one, right out my backdoor.....fuckin' yikes. Ahhhh but there is an upside to this. Since it's clear that basically anyone can do whatever the hell they want here, that means that I too can do as I please. I use this new power for good.

In our old ghetto apartment we had no land and we were not allowed to have any potted plants in our front area (where all the sun was, go figure), here I have peas growing in cinder blocks, squash in a cooler, radish on a railing planter, and a milk jug bird feeder. It may look a little trashy, but it's high-class compared to the business going on next door. I'm practicing building skills as I remove rotted fragments of baseboard, cutting and applying new quarter-rounds over the bits where the shoddy workmen left a gap between the flooring and the wall. I have also removed panels and flattened unruly nails and staples, spackling and sanding to make a wall flat for wallpaper. I have even built my own load-bearing shelf :D! Almost everyone around has a pitbull, and many folks let their dogs roam about unsupervised. This lax dog policy made it just the right time to get my own "dangerous breed", our chow chow puppy, MeiMei. This may not seem like much to gain in the face of Bubba and his plastic hordes, but to me, this new found freedom is life! I now live somewhere so trashy that I couldn't possibly make it any worse than how I first got it, this  means endless possibility and freedom for exploration! This means everything to me!

The very best part of living here is a secret! If you travel through this tundra of trash and trailers, past the dogs and the trucks you find four-wheeler trails leading deep into the Georgia woods. Hopefully you're clad in shorts and galoshes because the four-wheelers have turned great swaths of the path into muddied puddles laden with tadpoles. You can try to wear tennis-shoes and hop across the dry strips between the tire tracks, but this is ill-advised as the mud is largely composed of clay and a good slip is likely. This trail runs alongside a lovely gully with tumbling grey water. After large storms the water is deep and dangerously swift, but typically you can wade through without even getting water in your boots and explore paths on the other side. The path is not linear, it ends and loops, and forks and makes crossroads but it's easy to navigate thanks to certain obvious landmarkers like a large fallen tree, a small streamlet through a gash of red clay, and the ever-singing creek. I seem to find more trails the more I wander, I still don't think I have explored them all! One way leads to a fine treehouse, another to a pond in a clearing with a spectacular view of the mountain, another to the road and back again. Of course this land is owned by someone, but unlike in Gainesville, he's a really nice guy and gives people free reign to camp and explore as long as they respect the nature. Back in Gainesville you get arrested for even considering exploring a large chunk of uninhabited land. I don't miss it at all, just my friends. Every day I am thankful to be here. Even if I'm still broke and the prospect of a cushy future is as dim as ever, I AM PROUD! I can't be going nowhere at a dead-end job because I have GONE SOMEWHERE! I have accomplished something monumental! I don't need a break or vacation because I'm on a vacation all the time. I have left my hometown!

I MADE IT IN THE MOUNTAINS!



I am thankful for my new job and the good people there.
I'm thankful for MeiMei, the canine best friend to stave off the loneliness of being in a new town.
I'm thankful for the creek and the trails through the woods.
I'm thankful for the kind people who allow others to enjoy their property.
I'm thankful on my morning commute to feel small beneath the mountains.





And hell, I'm even thankful for Bubba.