Weather appears to be cooperating, so we should be set for a cabin visit this weekend, which thrills me to no end. I’ve missed it terribly and am looking forward to having the cabin and the surrounding area back in our lives on a consistent basis. In other news, because my newly-cleared brain has to plan something, I’m plotting a spring break rv trip for next March, hitting some spots still on my list. My notes from our summer trip taught me two things - campervans are not practical unless you don’t plan on ever using the bathroom or shower, and these owner-rental sites, despite having worked out the first time, are not worth using anymore. All you get is misinformation, broken equipment and lack of guidance. I think originally the big rv rental places were more expensive, but this is no longer the case. I looked at one out of curiosity and found we could get a nice new clean rv for less than half what I’ve been paying for these broken down old wrecks that are always delivered with full waste tanks and broken gauges…eff that. I’m going to guess that two things are happening - camping dropping off post-covid has caused the big companies to slash rates, while just like Airbnb, the owner-rental sites have gone up and up and now comprise endless extra fees that make you end up paying more than double the nightly rate you thought you were paying. Since it’ll be March we’ll need a warm, wind proof place to sleep, so regular camping is out. I want to take the week and hit Red Rock Canyon state park (officially the last desert park in CA we haven’t visited), followed by the Trona Pinnacles, then rounding out at the Kelso dunes which we’ve driven by but never stopped at. I doubt the Kelso dunes can compare to the Ibex dunes, but we shall see. As usual, the H is on board. So, hooray for plans (and cheap ones at that).
I did a thing on Saturday that I have been debating for literally 35 years. I got a tattoo. After declaring to the H some months ago that “I guess I’m just not a tattoo person - if I were, I would have gotten one by now,” it dawned on me that the reason I haven’t gotten one is because I just couldn’t figure out what I wanted, nor push past the discomfort of finding an artist, making an appointment, talking to new people, etc etc. But this summer I had a consult with a very talented female artist I know through swing dancing, and this Saturday we spent the entire day fleshing out the design together and then spent three hours on the actual tattoo while I watched the entire 12th season of The Real World. Did it hurt? Yes, but pretty much exactly as I expected - mostly just an annoying scraping feeling with moments of lip-biting pain that passed quickly. Let’s just say I was able to endure three hours of it, and I probably have average pain tolerance. My plan was to have something old school - Sailor Jerry style - and that incorporates elements of my hidden heritage (Brazil) and one of my favorite phrases that sums up my approach to life; A Luta Continua (Portuguese for “the struggle continues” or “the fight continues”). This is a phrase said by Brazilians in response to “how’s it going?” It’s so true, isn’t it?
Right now the tattoo is covered in plastic with a repulsive bubble of trapped ink and blood swooshing around…it’s giving me massive anxiety that it’s going to pop and ruin my clothes/the car/the bed etc, but the artist assured me this is normal and to leave it until Friday when the healing should be complete enough to remove the plastic. Here is what it looked like right after application:
I love it and wish I hadn’t waited so long, but I guess things happen when they happen. I don’t intend to get many in my life - I’d still like to get a NY street sign at some point - but I think that’ll be about it for me. I guess I have to start investing in some muscle tees and thinking about toning up these arms, huh?
No comments:
Post a Comment