The first thing on today’s schedule was opening Ernie’s door to a mobile RV tech and charging him with fixing a persistent leak under the galley sink. This would be the fifth attempt in two years to stop the drip-drip-drip from the hot-water supply line.
Replacing a bad fitting took only a half-hour and cost surprisingly little comparted to the previous (failed) attempt last year. As of this evening, it’s still holding.
It’s been two days since we faced facts, pulled back and changed the way we’re thinking about building on The Mountain. Today we went on the attack — after the RV tech left this morning, we scooped up Smudge, piled into the Silverado and launched an assault on our list of ideas.
Our travels took us from Harrison to the far side of Mountain Home and back. We made a dozen stops, each with a purpose. In the quiet of the cab, with a sparkling spring day unfolding outside the windows, we talked about where we’ve been, where we mean to go and how we’ll get there.
On our westbound drive we swung by the homesite. We walked over ground that’s become familiar, certainly, and yet it felt like we were seeing it for the first time. Fluttering yellow flags we’d left there 18 months ago triggered memories of when it all started.
We hopped up on the tailgate of the truck and talked some more.
Both of us arrived at the same conclusion — we’d lost our way. What had begun as fulfilling a lifelong wish for simplicity had become maddeningly, impossibly complicated.
We allowed ourselves to be seduced every time we heard, “You don’t want that,” or “There’s a better way, just a little more expensive,” or “You’ll be happier if you [whatever].”
We strayed from our own vision, and we ended up with a monstrosity — essentially, Second Chance Ranch in the woods. Neither of us was happy. Nice as it might’ve been, it wasn’t at all what we wanted.
In the end, we couldn’t afford it anyway. And we spent a lot of money to find that out. That’s on us.
Deb and I stood on The Mountain this afternoon and swore an oath to be true to our vision. This is our Home and we’ll do it our way. We’ll continue to solicit advice from smart and experienced folks, and then we’ll make our own decisions. From here on out this is our show.
As we rolled off The Mountain, we felt better than we have in over a year. We’ve gone back to basics.
We took a big step in that direction today — and no, I’m not gonna tell you what it is. Not yet.
That was a tease, by the way. Stay tuned.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB