• clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  sunrises

    …and dream

    Greeting the pre-dawn sunrise and soft pink clouds

    Right now I have three options available in getting into a Class B. Option 1 would be purchasing a new Class B that would run from $150k to $200k with the options I’d like. Option 2 would be buying a used van probably costing from $60k to $100k for one I’d be happy with. Option 3 would be letting go of this dream and not buying a van which would cost me $0.

    My financial history is not something to brag about. I made decent money working as an engineer but had no skills in managing that money. I spent many years spending foolishly while pursuing the pleasures of life. Therefore my retirement years are being spent with minimal cash. For the past 6 years I’ve been living on my social security checks, leaving my retirement funds for when I reach the 72 year marker or for some unforeseen emergency, which I’ve needed to do. My miniscule savings is gone. 😞 

    With that said, options 1 and 2 would be possible only if I sold my condo, bought the van and placed the remaining small (tiny) equity in some fund/investment or I win the lottery. Selling my condo is not the best financial move and for several reasons. 

    I have no idea how long I would I travel in a Class B? Since I’ve never done it before, would I like the lifestyle? I’m also over 70 so I’m unsure how long I will stay healthy. If I knew that living in a Class B was something I would do until I took that last breath then I’d go for it. It’s almost a guarantee that someday I will be needing my home back. So selling my condo is too high a risk for me.

    So, at the present moment owning a Class B is a dream that is almost daily in my mind but at the present time is unattainable. I wish I could let it go and live with what I have, which really is enough. Because the life I live now allows me to rise early and greet the dawn with my camera without the need for a van. From a financial standpoint it’s a dream that is not feasible for me unless a large sum of money fell from the sky. And, that’s why I buy a lottery ticket every so often and dream. 😃

  • bees,  flowers,  insects,  Plants,  poems,  writing/reading

    rebirth

    Another flower and bee from the CSU Trial Gardens.

    there will be moments when
    you will bloom fully and then
    wilt, only to bloom again.
    if we can learn anything from
    flowers it is resilience is born
    even when we feel like we are 
    dying.

    rebirth by Alexandra Elle
  • clouds,  Fujifilm X-T3,  Fujifilm XF16-80mm f4.0,  John O'Donohue,  landscape,  natural areas,  poems,  Self-portraits,  trees

    A New Beginning

    Quiet time for reading among the pines at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

    For a New Beginning

    In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
    Where your thoughts never think to wander,
    This beginning has been quietly forming,
    Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

    For a long time it has watched your desire,
    Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
    Noticing how you willed yourself on,
    Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

    It watched you play with the seduction of safety,
    And, the gray promises that sameness whispered,
    Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
    Wondered would you always live like this.

    Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
    And out you stepped onto new ground,
    Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
    A path of plentitude opening before you.

    Though your destination is not yet clear,
    You can trust the promise of this opening;
    Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
    That is at one with your life’s desire.

    Awaken your spirit to adventure;
    Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
    Soon you will be home in a new rhythm
    For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

    John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us