Hello from the mountainside,
For the last 10 days, and foreseeable future, with a required trip to Pennsylvania sandwiched in, and before another wedding in Georgia, I am at a bus building camp in somewhat North Central Tennessee. The address is technically Spencer, but I am seven miles away or so, on Baker Mountain. The camp I am at is certainly rustic, but I have running water, a bathroom, and laundry, so that makes things manageable. I am sleeping on an air mattress and in a sleeping bag, but again, this is not the worst thing for me. The most fortunate thing is the group of people currently here. There are four (both a couple and a son and mother) who make it all enjoyable. There are a couple of permanent people (ironically, both Andrews) who are also very helpful, but have other jobs, so access to them is limited. The son, a young man, Brent, with unlimited skill and knowledge it seems, had been a guardian angel. This has made my experience here move to the positive side in ways unanticipated. Thank God for huge favors. The couple, Chris and Stephanie, are lovely people, and Chris, Brent, and I have developed a mutual working relationship that I believe helps all involved.
Certainly, there is so much I understand conceptually, but knowing how to do it is well outside my comfort zone. However, each day I find myself taking more chances to figure it out. Sometimes I feel I am inept, but other times I surprise myself. What I realizing is the cliche of slow-and- steady is not just a saying but a philosophy. It will maybe be a slower, but a more successful process. My bus building guru’s admonishment is “do not build yourself into a corner.” That is wise for two reasons. First, it wastes time and creates frustration, and second, it is expensive in terms of cost. The amount of money on little things previously mentions adds up more quickly than one thinks. The newest piece today, and fortunately because of help minimal expense will be installing new brake pads. I did some helping on the bug recently, and now I can add the bus. While I do have some important tools, I think I need to invest in a couple of additional things to make sure I have what I need if I have even basic issues.
As indicated in my title, this is an entirely new learning process, but also a useful one. I have often said some of the smartest people I know did not attend college, and that is proving true on an hourly basis at the moment. The basic skills of carpentry, electrical, metal work and welding are all essential to me through each day. Learning by doing (what I have referred to as experiential during my previous life) is what many people do every day. Even as I wrote this, I watched one of the Andrew’s strip wires with an attachment on his drill. It is so much quicker. I wish I would have spent more time with my father helping with projects. While he was a journeyman electrician, and he was an expert in that field he know other things, epitomizing the jack-of-many-things and a master-of-one (my paraphrase of the classic. As I write, the wind is coming up, the thunder is present, and in the span of three minutes I have ducked into the bus and it is pouring again. I am fortunate the “clubhouse” as it is called (where the bathroom, shower, and laundry are located), is 30 feet away. The group is bringing food back, and that should arrive soon, but I think they will be shocked by the downpour. It does seem that the weather changes in a relatively short distance here, and the changes can be quite dramatic.
As the back of the bus is still a shell (hopefully the solar, framing, wiring, and insulation will be in within the month), the rain on the roof is incredibly loud. I imagine that will change (hopefully significantly) when the solar is on the roof and the wiring insulation and wood ceiling are in place. it was typical when I was teaching I would wake up around 2:00 a.m. and ponder possible assignments. I am still waking up in the every early morning, but now I am pondering bus-building logistics, design possibilities, and things I hope to incorporate into my 105 sqft. of living space. In spite of my getting rid of so much, I think I still kept too much, in spite of the question I asked myself (not do I want or need it, but will I use it?). I suspect when I go back to Mallard to outfit the bus with the living essentials, even more things will be discarded or thrifted away. We think we need so many things. I am amazed how few things I find myself using daily. And I am not feeling unnecessarily shortchanged or deprived. My jeans get dirty and keeping my hands and fingernails clean are a lost cause. The other day at Walmart I purchased a fingernail brush, but I think it will take more than that. Soaking my fingers in soapy water for 20 minutes might help, but within an hour or two it will appear I did nothing to ever clean them. It is one of other learning elements of the nomadic life. While hygiene is still essential, what I am willing to manage from hour to hour is much different than my last year in the townhouse. There is an interesting dilemma at the moment. I am imagining how I can get some of those interior design elements into my tiny space. These are the elements of the bus that some inspiration comes from my friend, Hayley (look up dayzea on Instagram) and her shuttle bus. I must give her a shoutout for providing significant inspiration for my vision. Second, a shoutout to Rebecca (look up Eden.thebus on Instagram also). She provided the logo by way of a tattoo for my bus adventure to accompany my name of the YouTube channel I am documenting all of this on.
While there are numerous lessons ahead, of that I am sure, process, camaraderie, and progress are the hallmarks of daily life. Ironically, there are a couple people I know in the area (one from college and one from my days at Stout) I plan to catch up with also. Thanks to the people here, each of you, sharing this journey and making the days of trial and error, trial and success, and somewhere in between manageable. I imagine some days will seem like this classic tune, but for now, I am grateful for the new experiential education.
Thanks as always for reading.
Michael
thewritingprofessor55 