Yes I’m still alive
So where have I been? Here mostly getting the house ready for sale, sorting through all my junk treasures and trying to decide what moves with me to Hawaii and what does not. I’m being pretty vicious when it comes to deciding on what goes and what does not, and I want a pretty streamlined, simple life over there. Schedule now is that I’ll be on the island in November sometime.
I still haven’t bought property on the Big Island so when I land I’ll effectively be homeless. That is an interesting feeling; exciting and a little scary at the same time. I’ll look for a place I can rent month to month while I am looking for a place to buy.
I’ve also been working on web stuff for others in and around the prep work for the move. I like doing that sort of stuff and it come easy to me for the most part, and I can do it from anywhere I have internet access. Maximum flexibility and I don’t have to wear a dress shirt and tie. I’m going to like that about Hawai’i. Formal attire means you wear sandals or flipflops instead of going barefoot.
The world and the economy of course keep coughing and wheezing, but if you believe the hype, there are green shoots!! Problem is it is entirely too early to tell if they are flowers or noxious weeds. At the risk of being a pessimist/doom and gloomer, I don’t think we have seen the bottom of this hole. I could of course be wrong. I’ve been wrong before and I’ll probably be wrong again.
I have more subjects for posts rattling around in my head (either that or it’s rocks – hard to tell the difference sometimes) and will be posting again soon. No, really I will. Seriously I will.
Hi Richard
So lovely to see you back – I’ve missed you!
Irene
Hi Irene, yes I’m back I think. Life has been really full and the blog has suffered. I’m surprised it is still talking to me.
Good to see an entry here! I knew you were alive, but thought maybe blogging had fallen off your to-do list.
interesting what you said about being homeless. i thought, “well, when we went off to college we were all homeless for a while” — and then remembered that of course “home” was still the home we had grown up in, which was still there. But then second thought was, “remember the freedom of being merely a renter, rather than an owner?” That’s nice too. I’ve been a renter for eleven years now, after two dozen years as a home-owner, and the day-to-day difference isn’t much, except that someone else has to pay for major repairs. Of course, it means i missed out on the housing boom
who knows, maybe you’ll never want to own again.
The thing that has been a recurring theme in journeys and such for me is to have a place that is paid for and free and clear so that all I have to worry about is the property taxes. No one can (supposedly) come in and say, we’re selling this house and you have to move, or our [fill in family member here] has lost their job and their house and will be moving in so you need to find another place to live. The freedom of renting is always a consideration, but with renting you cannot make changes to the property. You cannot add onto the house, or build a storage building (well in theory you could with the homeowner’s permission) but then while you might have the use of those improvements, you have basically gifted the homeowner.
“and will be posting again soon. No, really I will. Seriously I will.”
I’ve missed you a lot, but I’m glad you are going to the wonderful islands. I will look forward to reading the rocks, um, I mean, ideas rattling around as you find your new place in the world.
Oh, SURE you will, Rich! I believe you!
Many blessings to you!
This is my very first time to visit your site and I find it very inspiring. I just hope that you will post more articles soon as I read the comments, they all missed you.
Hawaii is one of my favorite spots on Earth, we’ve been there five times, and I never get tired of it.
I guess we are not that different from 99% of the folks who go there: we dream of retiring to a place at the North Shore of Oahu, or maybe some other island we have not been yet.
I wish you all the best, and will be looking forward to your “reports from paradise”
Well, Rich, you’re going to do it! Many happy returns.
But….I can’t remember your cat’s name; I assume you are taking him? Isn’t there some huge quarantine thing with companion animals?
I’m going to get back to Hawaii one of these days….I actually got married there, on Maui, the second time around. But I think I’ll be looking at it differently next time, with my new background in shamanism and knowing about Pele. I was such a tourist then; I’ll plan to be more of a spiritual visitor next time.
Do keep up with your blog….we all want to know how things are going, what you decide, where you end up, all the haps!
MA
I just stopped by hoping there would be a new post. Hope all is well with you.
Richard,
You are an important person as is and as you do.
What you share touches people.
Good to see you finding time, words and feelings.
Exuvia