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Sunset Joy

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 The life lesson of this week is “Hurry Up - uh no - Wait.” I really want to move into the tent but I need some adaptations. Specifically I need some grab rails around the bed. But one essential part got lost by UPS which meant Kym, the retired master carpenter who agreed to do this project for me, had to find a new day to finish the bed project. The nights are sometimes cold here. So having a working heater is essential. After getting all the parts and testing them out, we discovered holes in the hose and a cracked gasket handle - all were purchased new. So I thought instead of a build update, I would give you some of the joys of my nomad life. I am in the middle (east/west) of the La Paz Valley near Quartzsite, Arizona. The sun rises over the Plomosa Mountains and sets over the Dome Rock Mountains. The valley goes beyond my horizons north and south.  The sun travels across the 20 mile desert valley and often creates spectacular sunsets. These are how the sky changed during last night
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Try It Out FIRST

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 One of my friends says I am like a shark, always making small adjustments to face the constantly changing challenges of life on the road. Before I began nomad life I thought I could figure out all the variables with a good design plan.  I was wrong. My original nomad rig*, a 23’ school bus, worked great for my wheelchair but not great for me. I made the classic mistake of investing heavily in what I thought I would need. When I got my second rig, a Ford 350 Econoline van, I built as little as possible. When I got to Arizona, my first independent trip, a few L Camp women offered to build some basics for me. Together we designed and built a bed, an electrical system with solar power, and a fridge/counter.  A year later in Indiana I added lots of storage space and created a really usable toilet set up. This set up served me well for the past 2 years. But along the way I discovered a few big problems.  There was no place to sit comfortably. The driver’s seat, an expensive 6 way seat (up/d
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Summer Meanderings

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 This is a bit of a travel post that begins and ends in Quartzsite, Arizona April 2022-October 2023   Nomads follow the weather. You’ll find us in temperatures between 70-80 as often as we can. Last April I left Quartzsite. Why? Three reasons. First the weather in Q starts to warm up dramatically. Temps over 100 start in May and continue until late September. Secondly, the LTVA (long term visitor areas) fee covers from Sept 15-April 15. Lastly I need to be around green trees. Three good reasons to skeedadle.  Last winter I learned about the New Mexico State Parks pass. I paid one fee and I stayed in any New Mexico State park ‘primitive’ campsite for free. They define primitive as not having electricity, water or dumping at the campsite. But those are all readily available within the campground as well as toilets and showers. I started at Truth or Consequences, NM which is conveniently located between 2 state parks: Caballo Lake south of town and Elephant Butte Lake on the north. I went
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Building Community

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 Over the summer, I decided to try something new on my winter season in Quartzsite. The ground here is a thin hard top layer covering a deep layer of sand. My wheels sink and I am stuck almost immediately upon leaving my van. Even though I’ve come here for a few months each of the last two winters, I almost never left my van.  I decided this year I wanted to be able to be outside. It’s frequently windy, which means dusty here most of the time. I knew I wanted an indoor enclosed space so I started searching for tents. I finally decided on a Springbar Highline eight. Springbar tents are built for windy desert conditions. Last year I saw one survive 55 mile an hour winds with no problem. It was one of the few tents still standing after that storm.  I also hope to have an outdoor space that was wide open. But the locals here dissuaded me from that. So I’m looking at other options. But that will be another post. This post is about getting the tent set up. There are three big challenges: get
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How to Get Help in Nomad Communities

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 Getting help in nomad communities can be tricky. There’s a strict line between the public nomad face and the nomad realities. Publicly nomads are self-sufficient, independent, financially secure, living in a vehicle by choice, etc. Very reminiscent of my early days as a dyke in my 20s. A lesbian meant Amazon - strong, independent, etc. The private face of nomads is very different. Most nomads are interdependent, financially insecure, living in a vehicle because that is their only home. One of my friends saw this photo of some of the rigs at Q group and said “wow, those are fancy”. But what the exterior belies is that the folks inside are living on government benefits and one is currently being given work on my tent job so he can pay his bills this month. A side note, when people create a “camp” they put  up tall flagpoles and fly flags to indicate the group’s center where there is often a campfire ring (pile of stones in a circle) and a partially enclosed space (it gets very windy her
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First day in Quartzsite, Arizona

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 At this point this is a private blog. When I was in the Bay Area in September 2023 folks asked if I would share information about my travels in the desert this year. So I’m gonna do it here. Today was my first full day in Quartzsite, Arizona. If you saw the movie, Nomadland, you have a taste of what it looks like out here. It’s a very flat valley, maybe 20 miles wide. The mountains on the west are connected to the Sierra Nevadas and the mountains on the east start to climb towards the Rockies. The valley goes north past Las Vegas and south into Mexico. Nearly all of the valley is government land, as is much of the Southwest. Because of the warm temperatures, people from across the United States and Canada congregate here in the winter. Some people go down to Yuma, where there are many fancy RV parks. The folks I hang out with, the nomad land folks, congregate around the government land, called LTVA, which stands for long term visitor areas. These designated areas charge a flat fee of
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Being a Disabled Elder

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 What is a disabled elder? Is it someone who’s just lived enough years?   Is a disabled person named an elder by their disability communities?   Can someone name themself an elder?   Are there responsibilities for taking on the title of elder?   How do we envision disabled eldership when existing models depend on a multigenerational framework – where people are born into community and grow up with elders?   Can we have elders in disability communities with adult onset of disability?   After I turned 50 these questions began to swirl around in my head. I could foresee myself slowing down. At that point my primary focus was active. I organized conferences, gave speeches, gathered folks together. What role would I have in disability communities if I couldn’t be active in the same way?       I am now 70. I moved into my elderhood the way I moved to this age – one day at a time. Each day offering opportunities to examine these questions.   I’m sharing my
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