Simplicity

Today I defrosted the freezer in my new pad. While doing this I had lots of time to think about how simple life can, and should, be. Lots of time because defrosting this freezer required my leaving it open so the bergs of ice would melt enough for me to chop them out with a butter knife. It took awhile. But it was time well spent.

When you're chopping ice out of a 40 year old freezer with a butter knife, you have lots of time to think about life. Maybe too much time, but I kept coming back to the idea of Simplicity.

A few years ago, my friend Deb, invited me to attend weekly meetings at a church members house where we would all discuss our busy lives and ways we could practice Simplicity. I went every week; I was faithful. I made my vision board, listened to each lady tell their story of how they were seeking a simpler life, I practiced living simply...more like I pretended to practice simplicity in my life. 

I had no idea exactly how simple life can be.  Even without my intentionally making it so. 

Years ago I read Joan Anderson's book, "A Year by the Sea" and have been inspired by her courage since. I doubt that she saw her retreat from life as being courageous, but to me, it was. She felt 'unfinished' and in a stagnant relationship. So she abandoned her typical, suburban, obedient life and retreated to a cottage by the sea for a year, alone. Boggles the mind of most women to think about doing such a thing! Now, I find myself living my own version of 'by the sea' and wondering just exactly how I got here.

My motivations for living in a 24' camper with no plumbing, parked next to a creek, cooking over a one burner camp stove, my only companion my deaf, but extremely loyal, 15 year old dog, must be different than Joan's. They are different, aren't they, I ask myself. Maybe they're not so different.

I tell myself I am here living simply, because I am the project manager of the renovation of our farmhouse; our 'forever' house, we like to call it. Someone has to be close by to make sure the contractor is doing his job, right? Who else knows where to put the sinks in the bathroom or which direction to place the tub so that I can look out the window at the field when I'm soaking after a long day? Who else, indeed? In a day of such advanced technology where a phone can give me instant contact with my contractor, and with photos no less, why is it so important for me to have given up my regular life to be here?

I honestly cannot answer my own questions at this time. What I do know is that the house is coming along, whether I do anything or not.  It will be finished one day.  I also know that when I'm walking down the dusty country road that leads me to the house I will start my live over in, once again, I am awed by something as simple as the sunset. By how many butterflies there can be in one square yard of a hay field, and how quiet it can be out here deep in the countryside. 

Whatever motivated my coming here is irrelevant, at this time. What is relevant is that I am finally and authentically living simply. Simply living. It doesn't take much to appreciate what you have when you don't have too much. Turns out practicing effort without effort is simple when you have the perfect location to practice.

Not that anybody cares, but...

It is Saturday night, and I ain't got nobody. Twenty years ago, I would have been bugging the hubby to take me out dancing, which I love to do, but these nights, not so much.
Not so much dancing, or partying, or staying up too late, or much of anything else I was so intent on doing twenty years ago. These days, its all about starting over; doing things differently. As Bob Dylan said, "the times they are a changing". 
What's changed is that I have given up my job, left my husband in TX, moved to KS, and started the renovation of a 100+ year old farmhouse on his family farm. For some reason, I decided that I couldn't get this renovation done while living there in TX and trying to continue having a "normal" life. No, I had to pack up most of my things, get in a truck, move to KS, move in with my daughter, and start the renovation process. Oh the things I didn't know that I didn't know!! I'll be writing a book later about how to renovate an older home, but until then, I'll attempt to bring you along on this journey with me. What a journey it has been already. I only wish I had started writing about it the first week I arrived in KS. That would be the week of the worst blizzard here anyone could remember!
I arrived with a truck of furniture, a dog, and a cat and two days later, wound up shoveling snow away from the door just the dog could go outside. Thanks for the great welcome, Kansas! I quickly learned how to use a snow shovel. There's no trick to it really, just lots of elbow grease. Funny how you can't remember how cold it was or how miserable you were when its 100 degrees outside. From a blizzard to a heat wave. I have experienced it all since I've been here.
To digress just a bit, I survived the blizzard of 2011. Learned to enjoy riding my bike around town to the farmer's market, shopping, & trying new restaurants.  Welcomed spring with wide open arms. Watched gardens sprout from seeds to fruit and learned to not wear anything that will elevate the body temperature. Spring is beautiful in Kansas. It brings not only showers and flowers, but bugs by the millions. Ok, maybe not millions, but definitely two that inflict so much torment on you that it seems like millions. Chiggers and ticks. I despise them SO much. I will learn the secret to keeping them from devouring my flesh!
I wish I could say that chiggers and ticks have been the worst of my problems here. Oh, how I wish that were true. I did mention that I'm here to renovate an old farmhouse, didn't I? And that I'm living here until said farmhouse is liveable? I did, huh? Good. Because this is where my story really begins...