Idealism vs. Unemployment

I'd like to start with a quote:

"Unemployed workmen in eastern cities were not ordinarily able to go West and succeed as farmers. They seldom had the money needed to transport their families to the free public lands and to feed and shelter them until a crop could be made; and even if such a worker managed to establish himself on a western farm, he was not likely to succeed without skills that could be obtained only through long apprenticeship."

Wow... story of my life right now. The bad part is that was written in 1950... about westward expansion in the 1860s. Apparently I never got that history lesson.

The quote is from Virgin Land:The American West as Symbol and Myth by Henry Nash Smith. It is an excellent book which I have been reading throughout our travels, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the theme of westward expansion. I am just now getting to the part where all the myths of the "Wild West" and the "Garden of the World" and the happy and virtuous "yeoman" are being debunked. But not only am I reading about these things... I am having a hands-on learning experience.

So Oregon may be the land of milk and honey... but only if you have a job. Or land, but preferably both. We have neither of these things, and the savings are quickly running low. Apparently we had the genius idea that we could move to the state with the highest unemployment rate, at the end of the growing season, and instantly find great jobs and/ or be graciously welcomed into a hippie commune where we could start our humble career as homesteaders. We were wrong. And I swear this motel room gets smaller every day.

After seeing a promising job opening in Austin, we started to dig deeper into our options for plan B. After a few hours we still couldn't figure out why we didn't go to Austin in the first place. It had been our plan for a long time, though mysteriously fell to the wayside. Austin's job market is one of the fastest growing in the country, and we have family there. After spending a few weeks in a town where we didn't know a soul, the idea of being closer to family gave us a warm tingly feeling.

Austin also boasts plentiful organic and sustainable agriculture, so our dreams of homesteading will certainly not die at the end of the Oregon Trail. We are still going to try to have our cake and eat it too, it just might take a little longer than we had hoped.

So, with the OK from Rob's uncle that we could crash at his house until we find stable jobs, we decided to quit this rainy little town in Oregon and move to Austin Texas!!! And guess what.... winter, like, doesn't happen there. I am all about season evasion.

So here we go... again. On Tuesday we will be on the road... again. 2400 miles to go, through lovely California, Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas. We still don't have air conditioning.
When we arrive in Texas we will have driven 7,743 miles since we left Greenville, SC.

View Larger Map
Above is a map of our trip.

Over the next few days we will be packing and getting ready for another exciting week of travel. We will of course keep you updated. Over and Out.

Like....Whoa.

Oh man oh man oh man oh man. I went to Burning Man. 50,000 people in the desert making art and music and magic in a temporary city and then burning it all down.
Heck yes.
How do I even begin?
Rob dropped me off at Bruno's Bar and Casino in Gerlach Nevada where I met up with a guy named Paul (who I found on the internet...sketchy, I know) and his family. It took us all night to make it through the gates at sunrise, where the greeters welcomed me home, had me roll in the playa dust and ring the virgin bell. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Well I had ideas but they were mostly wrong. The week was dynamic, beginning with a deep loneliness and utter confusion, and ending with sublime lucidity and a heart bursting with love. Love for the desert, the dust and the wind and fire, and for the people who shared it with me.
I will not pretend to be able to tell you much about it, but I will mention a few highlights (check out the BM website...they do a good job of describing the event in general, and have some amazing photo albums).
#1-The storms. You're riding your bike out into the desert to find a flame throwing hot pink dinosaur when all of the sudden you cannot see three feet in front of you. You quickly put a bandana over your face and turn to face directly into the dust carrying 50mph wind. Your body says "OMG WTF get outta here!!" but you keep riding, barely missing the guy in nothing but a tutu, and then out of the dust comes a giant Pirate ship bumping awesome music and serving ice cold margaritas. Thank you pirates.
#2- The fire. Fire is not just a big part of burning man. It is not simply a theme or even an obsession. It is god. There are hundreds of fire dancers, breathers and tamers. Giant sculptures shooting flames high into the night sky, gentle temples lovingly lit by rings of fire, people parachuting down trailed by fire. The fire gives all and consumes all.
#3- The dancing. By day three I was doing ecstatic dances with the Hare Krishnas, salsa with the neighbors and african with some of the best drummers I have ever encountered. One blissful moment after the man burned I looked around to see who I was dancing with: An african woman painted like the Masai, a Colombian man in a sequined evening gown and arab head wrap, a unicorn and a naked man in a viking helmet. And we were dancing like we had been dancing together for lifetimes. Perhaps we had been.

I fell in love with many and many fell in love with me. We shared everything. We washed each others hair, hand and feet. We cooked for eachother, listened to each others' secrets and stayed up all night staring at the brilliant milky way. It was like the best party ever, summer camp and Christmas had a sinful and solemn threesome. I highly recommend it. Watch this:

Now, in Eugene with Rob and Penny, I am exhausted and relieved. Refreshed and filled with courage and hope.

Now all we have to do is figure out how (and if) we can find a life here. It feels like we can. Today we went to Terwilliger hot springs, aka paradise. In the wet and verdent jungle the hot spring water flowed into a series of natural pools where men, women and children bathed naked and shameless. I spotted the mark of Burning Man on a child's arm and struck up a conversation with his father, a Eugene local called "Cookie Dave" who serves goodies at the Saturday market. I am pretty sure he offered me a job. Things are really looking up.