It took so long to get the materials on Saturday (I blame my husband’s ADHD) that by the time we got to work we were just minutes from the now early sunset and resultant cold; woke up to an immense wind storm Sunday, but he insisted on continuing to work (he is an intense physical laborer - I would have said “fuck this” and enjoyed a nice cup of tea in the shelter after like five minutes). Still, of the four posts we were trying to install for our hammock/fire pit set up, we only got one placed. We borrowed a scary mechanical auger from the neighbor that didn’t work most of the time, which ended up involving the neighbor coming over and bringing another guy to try to fix it…it was a bit of a big mess. DIY is no joke. If we had paid the contractor neighbor to do it he probably could have knocked it out in a couple of hours for a couple hundred bucks. Instead I spent $450 on supplies and we spent all weekend on it and didn’t get anything done. Sigh.
The good news is my little heater worked out great - the cabin was chilly but not freezing (it would have been unbearable without that heater) and we’re all alive so it didn’t poison us. I cracked a window and we set up a co2 alarm, but I was still a little freaked out. At least now I know we can hack winters out there even with no real heat or insulation. Hopefully those issues will be rectified before our next visit, however.
The family time was invaluable - we played Sorry and Uno with hot cocoa, things we haven’t done in far too long because normally we’re too busy running around doing things and too tired at night. Since we haven’t played games together in so long, it was fascinating to see what a better player Theo has become - the difference between being six, seven, and then eight, has been immense. He used to “rage quit” a lot, especially when he knew he was losing. I think that’s pretty common for littler kids who are working out how to deal with the reality of not getting to win all the time. Bobby was the same. But now that we’re all on the same page, playing games is fun again.
I enjoyed my cabin kitchen, such as it is, and got good use out of the little 1930s female urinal I bought (because of course I did). We all decided an outhouse has to be our priority for the contractor. Having a toilet there will do wonders for our quality of life, for sure. So that happens first. Since I’m tied up at Knott’s singing every weekend in December, and then Jan is also full of travel and gigs, we probably won’t return for about two months. It’s possible we could have a toilet built by then.
The neighbors who built the little place to the west of us have not done any more work on it - it’s still there just open to the elements. However they did manage to place a 40’ shipping container next to it which is hidden from our cameras, so quite a shock to drive up to. I’m so worried this place is going to be a constantly rockin’ Airbnb and we’ll have no privacy. But there’s no way of knowing. Worse comes to worst we can install some privacy fencing. I still want to be able to run around naked.
This week at school is teacher conferences so the kids are off by 1 each day. I’m not sure how to navigate pick ups. Hard to believe we leave on our Death Valley trip in just one week. I’ve called around and all the places that were closed last year are now open (restaurants, that is), just showing more covid recovery.
And the midterms-! We were driving to our favorite sushi place in 29 Palms when we got the news that we officially got the Senate with the NV win - so awesome! I got that one wrong, but in the best way. We were celebrating all through dinner. As the election night progressed I had allowed myself some optimism - enough smart, informed people around me were telling me we were going to do well - but the H hadn’t, to bolster himself against disappointment. Facebook is showing me memories of angry protests after Trump’s grotesque win six years ago; what a nightmare that was, and yet how vindicated we are now. That yes, that was just an ugly blip on our timeline, that it wasn’t necessarily the end of the American Experiment, that young people would, in fact, get out and vote and save our lame asses. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but these results this week just show me that the MAGA idiots are not the majority and will not win everything and that sanity will prevail. Personally, I’m jubilant.
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