Aug08
Posted on Aug 8 by Ruth Davis
We are back at Fool Hollow Lake State Park, settled into our new spot, and today was our first day back to work. When we were hosts here in April and May, we were the Rover Hosts, only responsible for cleaning bathrooms and camp sites and helping out the other hosts on their days off. This time we are full-fledged camp hosts in the biggest loop in the campground. Our duties include cleaning 8 bathrooms, taking care of the 30 sites in our loop, and answering camper questions. AND on Wed and Thurs we also sell wood and ice between 9am and 7pm. AND we have to check the cooling fan in the storage room three times a day AND do drive around patrols. And if we leave the park during our scheduled work days, we need to notify the rangers. This is much different than our Rover jobs where we did our work, and then we were done. Marika keeps saying it will be good for us to be so busy. I sure hope she’s right. We’re driving...
Jul11
Posted on Jul 11 by Ruth Davis
We’ve been very restless here at the Hon-Dah RV Park. There’s not a lot to do in this small town, and, even though it’s cooler than Phoenix, the 90° afternoons make it tough to be outside during the majority of the day. We haven’t connected with any of the other 400 campers here, and the forest is very quiet. I worked a shift at the Love Kitchen, but didn’t feel welcomed or needed there, and I wasn’t finding any other interesting volunteer opportunities. I tried to tell myself that all of this free time and space was ideal for writing my next book, but I kept hitting so much resistance. I talked with Marika about getting back on the road, but it’s still pretty darn hot in most of the country. And then I wondered if traveling was just a distraction from something bigger I am supposed to be transforming right here in this quiet uncomfortableness. And we really do have it pretty good here. It’s very affordable, the dogs can run free in the forest, there are no...
Jul04
Posted on Jul 4 by Ruth Davis
For the last two weeks, Marika has been down in the valley helping a friend navigate a new phase of her cancer journey. I stayed up here in the mountains with the dogs, offering long-distance support and compassion during this very difficult situation. I’ve enjoyed the time alone. I’m used to living by myself and I’m capable of all things with the RV. But it’s also been eye-opening to notice how often I’d complain about Marika, when really, they were things about myself that I was not liking. Living so close with another person, you become big mirrors for each other. Without Marika here 24/7, I was forced to look at my own self and claim some of the things that I had been blaming on her. Like my boredom. My weight. My lack of lust for life. I journaled a little and cried a bit, but mostly I distracted myself with the first seven seasons of Top Chef, even though I’d already seen them. I took many walks with the dogs and found a new way to...
Jun21
Posted on Jun 21 by Ruth Davis
It’s been a long, hard, emotional couple of weeks. Two weeks ago I broke a tooth. Instead of driving down to Phoenix to see my regular dentist, I opted to call a recommended dentist up here in the mountains. The price was comparable to my dentist and I wouldn’t have to drive 3 hours down into the hot as hell valley of the summer sun, I could sleep in my own bed, and focus on the actual dental work. And then, two days before the appointment, I cracked a different tooth, one that my dentist and I had been watching. The broken tooth was a no brainer – I needed a crown. But the cracked tooth was another story. After much discussion, instead of doing root canal and a crown, with the understanding that it might eventually need to be pulled anyway, I opted to have the cracked tooth extracted. And get a crown on the broken one. I don’t hate dental work. But lying in that chair, thinking about losing a permanent part of me,...
Jun07
Posted on Jun 7 by Ruth Davis
I am typically not one to procrastinate. If I need to do something, I schedule it into my daily or weekly to-do list and take care of it. Done. So it’s been very curious to me that I’ve been finding all kinds of things to do instead of working on new Mac training videos. My desk is cleared. My monthly receipts are filed. I have the entire morning blocked out for doing the first video and, instead, I am writing this blog post. I looked up the definition of Procrastination: Procrastination refers to the counterproductive deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. There are three criteria for a behavior to be classified as procrastination: it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying. When I think of my behavior in terms of these criteria, I’m NOT procrastinating. I am avoiding. And I know it’s because doing these videos is a HUGE project. It involves changes to my...
May24
Posted on May 24 by Ruth Davis
We’re coming up on our last week of camp hosting here at Fool Hollow Lake. We’ve decided to stay in the mountains for the summer at an RV Park in Pinetop, 20 miles southeast of here, and about 1000 feet higher in elevation. This way, we’re still in the cooler pines, out of the summering campground crowds, and close enough to Phoenix if my dad needs us. Since we won’t be hosting, we’ll have a lot of free time, which can be good if we get out and explore and connect with people. Or it will make us crazy. I’m hoping we’ll do some day trips around the area, maybe even scout out some campsites for some dry forest camping. Marika is thinking about doing some hospice volunteering and I’m excited that I’ll be free to take a morning yoga class. I’ve also been looking at possible art classes, and volunteer opportunities. And I’ve been nudging myself to set up some Heart Sparks workshops. But I wasn’t sure if I still had the passion, or...
