Jul31
Posted on Jul 31 by Ruth Davis
It was a hard week last week. The stress of the weekend festival and sitting outside in the blowing winds really knocked me for a loop. Everything settled in my chest, of course, as a deep hacking cough. My body was sore, I had no appetite, my head was stuffy and I really couldn’t think clearly. All I knew was that the vendor’s life was not for me. And yet I felt an obligation to still participate in the Morro Bay Merchants Street Fair in August, since I’d already reserved a booth and told people I’d be there. I felt that I should do it because it’s for a cause bigger than me. And couldn’t I, just once, think beyond my own comfort and needs? I thought of people with jobs that are always this hard. Construction workers who haul heavy things all day long, nurses who work 12 hour shifts, lifting people twice their size, with no breaks for lunch or even the bathroom, and the road crews in Phoenix who stand outside in blazing hell heat,...
Jul24
Posted on Jul 24 by Ruth Davis
Friday evening: The RV is parked and we are settling into our weekend home at the back end of the Vet’s hall parking lot in Cambria for our inaugural Community Prayer Flag festival event. My EZ-UP tent is set up, thanks to the help of one of the event coordinators, and Laddy and I are now relaxing as the sun goes down. Highway 1 is loud behind me, the dinette window faces the parking lot where the fair be. Looking east, past the tents, past Main Street is Happy Hill, a very steep mountain with worn dirt roads that lead up to four story houses built into the side of the hill. Pine trees, thick and tall, tower twice as high as the houses. Right now there are only a handful of booths set up. I can see my booth, the white canopy top flapping a little in the breeze, the concrete-weighted cylinders that are suspended alongside the canopy legs keeping everything stable. My chairs and tables are piled on the ground under the canopy for set up...
Jul17
Posted on Jul 17 by Ruth Davis
I’ve been at the new RV park for two weeks and even I am surprised at how easily I have settled in. I love being in the midst of all of the summer activity of campers coming and going, watching the families, talking with folks, even if it’s just to say good morning. There is more movement around me, a diverse mix of people and demographics, families and seniors and, this weekend, several gay male couples. Last weekend my neighbors were vendors at the Art in the Park festival. I talked with them about their booth, the crowds, and, on Sunday, I even took the summer trolley into town to stroll through the park. Morro Bay is a tourist town and, even though I’m on the north end of town, out of the direct crowds, I still like feeling like a part of the fun. And I love, when we ask each other hold long we’re staying, that I get to say, I’ll be here through Labor Day. Knowing this is my home grounds me. I’m not searching for...
Jul03
Posted on Jul 3 by Ruth Davis
In celebration of FOUR YEARS of writing this weekly blog (!!!) I’m re-posting one of my very first articles, about how our thoughts often hold us back from our dreams. Thank you for your support, your readership and for joining me on this amazing journey! Imagine you are driving down a road, admiring the scenery, going at a steady, comfortable pace. You know you are on your path, headed in the right direction. Suddenly, you have to stop because a giant, thick-trunked tree has fallen across the entire width of the road. You get out of the car and assess the situation. Maybe you’re mad that you’ve been stopped when you were moving so smoothly. Maybe you try to figure out why the tree fell. Maybe you attempt to push it out of the way, see if you can drive over it or around it. Maybe you just stand there, helpless, idealess, stuck. It can be very tempting to get so consumed with what is stopping us, that we forget that there are other options. That we can...
Jun26
Posted on Jun 26 by Ruth Davis
I love where I live. I love my neighbors and the quirky community of retirees and working folks, weekend campers and full-time RVers. I love the laid back pace of the sleepy beach town. And, of course, I love having such easy access to one of the most beautiful beaches on the California coast. When I pulled in last September, I was very aware that, come the summer, I’d probably have to leave to make room for people who have long-standing reservations. So I made my own reservations at the RV Park where I stayed when I first arrived on the coast last August. Still, I was trying to stir up all kinds of mojo magic that there would be a last minute cancellation and I’d get to stay. Several friends reminded me that I would end up exactly where I am meant to be. And I realized they were right. So I stopped hoping to stay and started opening to what I could look forward to at the other RV Park. While the Morro Bay RV Park is...
Jun19
Posted on Jun 19 by Ruth Davis
My father is visiting me in CA this week as part of our Father’s Day celebrating. This is the first time in my life that I’ve lived someplace further than 30 miles from him (not counting crazy summers in my 20’s), so this is a new experience for both of us. My dad loves museums and science, and he wants us to see things that I haven’t yet explored on my own. So yesterday we went on a Sub-Sea boat tour in Morro Bay to learn about the marine life by actually seeing underwater through the big windows in the lower deck of the boat. My dad has always been the fun guy to do things with. Throughout my childhood, we went places together while my mom stayed home. Everywhere from Goony Golf and the Burger Basket, where we always ordered the fried shrimp and french fries and an A&W root beer, to Robert Moses State Beach on the end of Long Island, where he taught me how to fish. We’d walk up and down one pier and...
