Back in Ithaca, NY

Wednesday, July 15 2009

Although the stock market was up 256 points, I was off to a bad start. During the decamping process I inexplicably moved the van forward after attaching the trailer. Normally this is a good thing but when one forgets to retract the awning first, it's bad. All things considered, it could’ve been worse. One of the poles bent and its telescopic holding device broke in half. Naturally, I was beside myself. If there is anything that bothers me it is unforced errors. I could think of little else on the ride back to Ithaca. Pulling into Lowe's, I conceived of a bold plan to rectify the situation. Using the smallest C clamp I could find I was able to fasten a working solution. Whenever we get back to Arizona I will have it repaired properly, but for the time being it works well enough.

Meanwhile, like regular a local, Carol strolled over to the Ithaca Bakery and purchased their last four tickets to the Grassroots Festival. It's nice to be back in a town where everything is familiar rather than constantly wondering where things are and making wrong turns.

Anyway, we are now back at Tracy's. We had a short visit before she and the girls left for Cincinnati. They're very disappointed to miss the festival but realize a family wedding must come first.

Our awning is up, it's raining, and we're enjoying cups of tea in our little kitchen, overlooking a vast expanse of verdant green lawn. My present concern is the solar panel. Lacking a 100 foot extension cord, we must rely on the trailer's deep cycle battery to power the interior lights and water pump; both essential for our creature comforts. Therefore I need the sun to shine on the portable solar panel that connects to the trailer's battery, but today is not the day. These are the ever-widening fields of concern for a man living in the material world. Is it true that for every convenience there is an equal and opposite inconvenience? Maybe.