The Arc has run aground and the bird brought back a branch

It's been a wet and steamy week. We had torrential downpours eight out of the last ten days. The river came up over the lower bank and what used to be the riverfront and canoe launch area became a lagoon.

The carp were loving it. All that fresh grass and drowning insects proved to be irresistible. The herons were loving it too. All those carp fattening up on the fresh pasture and bugs were like cattle fattening up on a feed lot.Unfortunately for the carp, the water was crystal clear and only about six inches deep. Talking about your lambs to the slaughter.

The river is dropping pretty quickly today and by tomorrow, it should be back to jes' rollin' along, singin' its song.

Whoever came up with the idea of spending the first six months of full-timing close to what used to be home should be given an award for the wisdom of that idea. I cannot imagine trying to get rid of the stuff we no longer need and organizing the rest in an unfamiliar territory.

Well back to jes' a-stittin' heeya wid my feets up. God is good. All the time.

Decompression

We've been here for a week and we're just beginning to decompress. It's tough to not rush and try to "get it all in". We'll be sorting through our stuff to decide what we keep and what goes. It's actually pretty liberating to get rid of everything we accumulated living in our sticks and bricks home. I feel like it owns me! Little by little, we'll turn that around.

In the real world, a tom turkey has decided that the campground is his to rule. I, (Paul) on the other hand, have decided that he would look pretty darn good stuffed, roasted and sitting on my supper table.

Other than tom and his hens, we've been visited by deer, hummingbirds, cedar waxwings, bats, coons, barred owls, turkey vultures, and of course, our fellow campers.

So far, all is well with our souls.

What do you want from life?

I don't know about you, but what we want is a simple, free and uncluttered life. To that end, on Friday June 7, 2013, we're retiring from our jobs, and on Thursday June 13, 2013, we're moving into a motorhome, affectionately called The HOW, for House On Wheels.

Our first stop is a seasonal RV site we rent on the Kishwaukee River near Rockford IL. Since the site is paid for until October, we'll stay there as we get used to living life in a really small house with a REALLY BIG YARD. Being a stones throw from the launch on the "Kish", affords us a million dollar view, and access to paddling, fishing, swimming and enjoying the wildlife on one of only two Class-A streams in Illinois.