This is what I hope to see eventually or beautiful birds just like it. A Painted Bunting

I am sitting at the desk in the RV writing this, gazing out of the window at the many birds that have found the feeders that I have rescued from the “house” and placed on their stands in the ground behind the Eagle. The birds are very busy and provide an endless source of interest. So far, nothing exotic. Just sparrows and finches and such but even they are entertaining as they fight and squabble over the seed. Occasionally, a bigger bird comes along and pushes them out of the way but they return just as soon as the coast is clear. I have a couple more of these pole type hanging feeders back at the house which I will bring along to add to the variety for the birds.

For those of you following my blogs, you have been reading about the activities that have been going on in the garden as I prepared the ponds for the “fish rescues” that have both now happened, leaving the ponds active but lifeless fishwise for want of a better way to put it. Now, with that out of the way and the ponds back up and running, I can concentrate on what remains as I do not plan on doing anything more in the garden.

Living in an RV is very different than living in a “bricks and sticks” house in very many ways. First there are the obvious things like the difference in the square footage of my house at 1800 to my RV at 300. Being a Bachelor for the the past nearly 30 years with only dogs for company and no wife to pick up after me meant that I really didn’t need or use all of the space available. True, it wasn’t empty space and used mainly as a place to “keep” things that were either no longer immediately useful or “just in case” they might get needed in the future. Consequently, my house is filled with junk and the drawers and closets full of clothes that I no longer have a use for. Nowadays and pretty much most of the time, it is shorts and tee shirts although I did put on jeans when the freezing weather was here. Can’t remember the last time that I dressed up for anything and probably most of my “dress up clothes” no longer fit. Hell, as far as I am concerned, they can bury me in the same shorts and tee shirt preferably dirty and well worn from all of my activities along with my oldest and most scuffed up pair of hiking boots.

There are about 200 hundred books for others to enjoy. I wonder if anyone reads anymore?

I did go through all of the nearly 200 books that I have gathered over the years. Unfortunately, I have not cracked one open or read any of them for a long time with the advent of cell phones, computers and TV and so currently, they are all sitting on the bed in the spare room awaiting their fate. Such is the way of this modern world. The same is true of the many LP records and tapes that have not been listened to in years.

The workshop and storage shed are just the same as the house, places to store unwanted and unused “stuff” only of a more practical nature such as tools and spare parts for both ponds and house. As you can imagine, over the 35 years of living in this house and being very much a “do it yourselfer” plus of course the fact that I spent my entire life either in or associated with construction. I am trained as both a bricklayer and carpenter and can even weld a bit plus I used to operate heavy equipment whenever the opportunity arose. Back in the day when I lived in New York State, I drove tractor trailers in the wintertime, hauling a tanker trailer with 6500 gallons of heating oil to schools and such. I had my own construction company for 5 years, so it is no surprise that I have a lot of hand tools. Many are electric but in my later years, I opted to go with the Ryobi line of battery operated tools both for the convenience and also that most of my heavy construction days were over. Nearly all of the Ryobi tools are already in my RV along with many wrenches and such and will be my travelling companions just in case something needs repair. I even have an expandable ladder just so that I can blow off the slides before withdrawing them. The couple of Ryobi’s that I will sell are garden related which I do not see in my future. Oh yes, the other shed contains motorized garden equipment like lawn mowers and weed whackers and such many of which no longer work. The greenhouse come storage shed contains nothing but pond related repair pieces and parts. The Estate Sales people will have a field day as they try to sort through all of that stuff in those buildings as will the prospective buyers as they search for that certain something. One man’s junk and all of that…

Where I would rather be. Out on the trails.

I guess the point is, there is still a lot of work left to do before I can hand it over to my Realtor and spending time in the Eagle does tend to lessen the pain making it easier to transition from big to little. I also get to figure out just what I want to keep in the way of kitchen equipment for example. What pots and pans should I bring, What about the pressure cooker and the crockpot? Can I use them in the future and what about all of those dishes and cutlery? Way too much for just one man and two little dogs even if I could find the storage space. Currently, I am making do with a single piece of everything and it works just fine. One cup, one plate, one set of cutlery and one wine glass and on and on. Incidentally, all of these items are of some lightweight and unbreakable material as opposed to ceramic or china dishes and cups. I was going to bring all of the cutlery from the house with me but when I took a good look, I realized there are at least two full sets of the stuff so I opted for two pieces of each just in case I ever get a guest stop by. I don’t know how many in a setting but probably eight.

RV’ing is all about adaptability. How to make do with less and still have a very nice lifestyle. In a “bricks and sticks” house, generally speaking, space is not an issue or shouldn’t be. Neither are things like electricity, septic systems and water supply. These are all built into the home in a very standard way and all the owner does, at least most of the time, is pay for the cost of the services with the occasional repair thrown in here and there. Life is much different in an RV and the owner has to be very aware of such things as the black tank or the grey tank and when to empty them or even the water tank and when to fill it or what voltage to hook up to, 30 amp or 50 amp and many other things that are used and needed in the day to day working of an RV. Keeping an eye on the propane levels and then reinstalling the heavy tanks is quite a challenge. Not checking on if they are empty as there are electronic gadgets that can do that but lifting the filled tanks which in my case weigh over 40lbs, into their spot which is usually very cramped to begin with, can be frustrating.

Even the comparatively simple process of backing the rig into a narrow site and then levelling the rig can be very daunting especially if one is on their own. Yet, many people choose this way of life for various and different reasons as I have done. I am a newbie at this and the first to admit it. Many things I can do for myself but when I suffered the freeze damage a few weeks ago, I had to call in a specialist to make those repairs as I had no clue and what made things tick. Again, the difference between a regular house and an RV. To work on an RV, one also has to be a bit of a contortionist or at least much more flexible than I am nowadays. Now, back in the day…..

Even with the different challenges that an RV lifestyle presents, more and more people are choosing it as their way of life. If you were to ask them, they would all have many different and yet much of the same reasons for choosing this lifestyle. Circumstances might be different but the end result, still the same and I can’t wait to be a member of this particular tribe or group or is it a clan. Whatever.

Written 04/04/2021

Don’t forget to check out my old blog at https://pondblog2011.com/