Buzz Aldrin: American Hero, Grand Marshal

Since we’re hanging out in Myrtle Beach (the draw of the ocean is powerful), we celebrated our freedom with others at the inaugural Memorial Day weekend parade in Myrtle Beach. For some, the highlight was seeing Buzz Aldrin lead the parade. No question, it was great to be close to an American hero. But the highlight for me (and I think for others in my family) came later in the parade.

As parades go, this one went well. We had plenty of room, the crowd was friendly and the balloons, bands, floats and other elements were spaced out in a way that it felt easy, entertaining and fun. And it had firetrucks.

The two highlights focused on the purpose of the weekend. The first was the sheer number of veterans marching in the parade. It was enough to bring a tear to my eye – especially thinking of what they must have seen and experienced. But the tears really came when I watched a woman leap from the side of the road and walk up to each man and shake their hand. In fairness, I wish I did, too. But my eyes were swelling with tears and I was holding my children. I guess we all have lessons to learn and people to thank.

The second moment was watching mothers of soldiers walk – some with pictures. As a parent now, I understand their sacrifice — and their pride. We clapped loudly and long for both groups of people.

The parade got us thinking and talking about freedom, our country and our service men and women fighting for our freedoms. We took time to remember, to thank and to reflect. It was a great parade, and a great day.

Myrtle Beach Sand Sculpture (May 15, 2010)

This sand sculpture was created for television’s “The Early Show” and the live shot held on Friday morning (we opted not to go, despite the fact that Dave Price also graduated Cornell). It was neatly cordoned off  (and protected by a police officer) and clearly a showpiece for the grand opening of the boardwalk. I was impressed not only with the sculpture, but with the respect people showed and the ease of stepping in to get a picture.

But the beauty of the sculpture came on the walk down the boardwalk.

My son and I lead the way, and talked the entire walk. Eventually, the topic turned back to the sculpture and we discussed the sand, the process of creating it and how much time and effort it took. One of the things important to our family is to celebrate a job well done (which includes roadwork, paving driveways and other tasks sometimes overlooked). My son asked me how long the sculpture would last and I replied that I suspected it would be destroyed by the following day.

“By the people who made it?” my son asked. I went on to explain that when the crowd left, and police went home, some kids would probably smash it. It wasn’t about being negative, but calling it based on experience. His response, however, was priceless.

He launched into an animated statement about how much effort was put into the creation and why it should be celebrated and not destroyed by someone who doesn’t appreciate it. I don’t recall his exact words, but I recall thinking to myself that he really understands. He gets the concept of working hard and doing the right thing.

Talk about teachable moment… for us both. We went on with a discussion that lasted a few minutes about right from wrong, working hard, protecting creations and the ability to embrace creating with the understanding it may not be appreciated and might be destroyed. I’m not sure how much of the deeper meaning he got, but it was a good lesson for me.

Our Friend, The Frog

We found this little guy waiting at the door to the condo when we got home. We walked carefully so we didn’t spook him. After all, we’re good neighbors, and he clearly had the wrong house. He decided to move to the side and stick around — long enough for me to grab the camera, take his picture and bid him a good evening.

We think he stuck around for a while, but he was fairly quiet. We have a lizard hanging out on the deck and we’ll see if he’s up for a picture soon, too.

A perfect end to a Tuesday

At the end of a long Tuesday (good, but busy), I saw the other end of this rainbow on the way to return a movie to Redbox. Then I followed it home. Alas, no gold at the end of this rainbow. Instead, I got a perfectly timed reminder that life is good, and sometimes we need to take a moment to stop and celebrate the rainbows in life.

So we did.

The Barefoot (Landing) Turtle

Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach has a large lake filled with fish (huge fish, the size of our kids!), ducks, turtles and even an alligator (unless it’s a crocodile). Away from the big pond is a small sculpted garden area with a nice water feature (I’ve watched enough HGTV to know what it’s called; I probably would have called it a small pond before).

We walked around and found all sorts of fun things — including this turtle. He clearly (thinks he) owns the place and when I stopped to snap his picture, let me know this was his pond. No snapping on his part; the look was enough. Seriously though, he didn’t seem to care I was only a few feet away. I guess life in the small pond is good.

The Ultimate Sand Toy

New to Myrtle Beach this year is the addition of a boardwalk. In April, it was exciting to watch the pace of development — and the heavy machinery on the beach, including this digger. We’re fans of building sand castles and know it’s the tools that make the difference. So imagine the excitement (and pure lust) at the thought using this as our “sand toy.” Of course, it was only a thought.

If you happen to have a digger near the ocean and are looking for someone to, um, test it out…

I know, as an open, that was lacking. To be fair, I had worked on a few opens, including a poetic reference to campfires to contrast electronic fires. I considered an analogy to Apocalypse Now (“I love the smell of Naplam in the morning…”). Then I decided the direct approach made the most sense. So there you have it.

The good news is everyone is safe and we contained the damage to the inverter/charger. The less good news is that all power to the “house” part of our RV runs through that device. Without it, we’re literally dead in the water. We plan to address that this week.

smoked... meat good, inverters bad

Thursday Morning Fire

Thursday morning (a few days ago) was full of sunshine and started much like other days. As we set about our morning routine, we were alerted by a warning of the electrical system overheat. When I stepped outside to investigate, I was met with the distinct smell of electronics burning and a billowing cloud of smoke escaping from a rear compartment bay.

I opened the bay and heard — but didn’t see — the fire. The sound of crackling electronics was different than campfires and less relaxing.

So I emptied the contents of the bay (hey, my tools are important to me), got everyone out of the coach and grabbed one of our many fire extinguishers. I believe in being prepared, and I found that while I realized it was important to put the fire out (no kidding), no one in the family panicked. I walked back to the inverter/charger to see visible flames (still inside the housing), pulled the safety pin and put the fire out. I had to shoot through the vents to put the fire out, but it went down without a fight.

I turned off power at the main pedestal/breaker and then assessed the damage. With the coating from the fire extinguisher fresh in the bay, I noticed a lot of spider webs and wonder if one happened to build a web inside the housing (it was warm) of the unit — causing a possible short. We hope to do some analysis this week to see if we can figure it out.

The Amazing RV Community

Within five minutes we had a handful of concerned and helpful neighbors at our coach checking on us. I cannot stress how amazing the RV community is, and Thursday simply proved it again. From others who have been through similar events, we talked about potential causes, solutions, costs, repair centers and the like. And we quickly confirmed we were all okay, will be okay and in the scheme of life, this was no big deal.

And it’s not a big deal. It simply is. No one was hurt, the fire was contained and now we have to engage in a straightforward (for someone else) repair before heading back on our way.

What it means now

We’re lucky that we are still in Myrtle Beach; we have use of a family-owned condo that makes it easy for me to work, the kids to school and life to go on. We expect to be here a few weeks to get it diagnosed, repaired and have a few other repairs completed, too. Meantime, we’re relaxing in the condo and looking forward to an opportunity to catch up with a dear family friend this week. In fact, we wouldn’t have that welcomed opportunity without the fire.

We seek to live simply and collect experiences instead of things. Now we have a new experience.

Once the repairs are made, we’re back on the road. In the meantime, we’re going to enjoy life at the beach.

Best Friends... at the beach

Early March and the kids couldn’t wait to dip their toes in the ocean. Together. They are the best of friends…

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference

– Robert Frost

The “American Dream” is to own a house with a white picket fence and maybe a dog. While we started down that road, we ultimately decided to take the road “less traveled by.”

What started with a question of “why not?” has turned into the decision to forgo a traditional stick house (we’re renting ours for now) to live and travel by RV. For us, the road less traveled is not just about driving our RV to the places we need to be, but also about consciously living with less stuff.

Preparing for the Road

We are not pack rats.  Our house didn’t have lots of accessories or nick knacks.  And yet, we were surprised and a bit scared by all the “stuff” we accumulated in our 6+ years in the house.

We began the process of de-cluttering to only realize it would take several passes to get down to the “necessities” and once we thought we were at the necessities it took another two to three passes to get our belongings into the storage facility and RV. We used Craig’s list to sell a lot of the big items, we made numerous trips to Good Will and the local clothing drop box, and our family and friends became the new owners of many of our belongings.

I joke that if the RV had a back window we would not have been able to see out of it when we left. In the end as the time was quickly running out we packed anything we thought we might need on our journey into the RV.

TOO MUCH STUFF!

Needless to say we arrived in Myrtle Beach with TOO MUCH STUFF.

So we began the process of once again paring down. Some has just gone in the trash, some has been shipped back to the storage facility, Good Will is a short drive and Michael’s aunt and uncle’s condo has some new items as well.

So after almost seven weeks on the road, I love living with less. In fact as we continue to streamline the RV I’m more and more willing to get rid of stuff.

I hear talk about emotional baggage and how it weighs you down but I have yet to hear about our belongings and how they weigh us down. When you get done with your day and try to figure out how to spend you evening you can choose from your TV, your computer, your WII, your Nintendo DS, your iPod, your Nook, and the list just goes on.

What happened to conversations at the dinner table,  board games,  reading a book, or just sitting quietly by your self?

Our quest to have the latest and greatest has lead to an increase in self-storage facilities (at home I had three facilities with climate controlled units to choose from and seven if we didn’t desire climate controlled). I feel confident that we all know someone who has a basement, attic, or spare room that is so cluttered they can’t even find the special items they just had to save.

I’m not claiming to be cured yet of my desire for stuff but I am seeing how it holds me back.

It’s a lot easier to get things done when I don’t have to hunt for the necessary supplies, or spend time cleaning, or moving stuff so I have a clean and clutter free place to work. However of all the things I have learned so far on our adventure the most surprising is how much I don’t miss stuff and how much I want to get rid of more so we continue our adventure on the road less traveled.