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Small WondersDec 10, 2006
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Rocky and Irene enjoying a moment of closeness at the dinner table
| People have repeatedly asked about our transition from a very large house to a very small RV. And I have answered that, for the most part, it doesn't bother me, I'm attracted to the simplicity and the handiness of everything, I (being a guy) wear the same clothes days in a row anyway, and so on. And I'm not saying any of that's wrong but there is the other side of the story, both good and bad. One thing is that in order to enjoy the efficiency and simplicity of a small space, the space needs to be neat, and to accomplish that one must constantly be picking up after oneself. There really is NO room to let stuff sit around without infringing on my own peace of mind or Irene's natural inclination to order. This is a habit that's hard for me to adopt; I'm normally inclined to clutter. Even now, for instance, as I sit here on the dining room table typing, I am surrounded by the Juice Plus supplement bottles, a Christmas tree candle, a wrought-iron napking holder, my cell phone, note book, a layout of the RV park, some trust documents that need to be mailed, my glasses, two rolled up bamboo place mats, Irene's cell phone, a few misc. wadded up paper towels, two coffee mugs, a used plastic sandwich bag and the salt and pepper shakers. This is a table that (a) is about 3' by 4' and (b) was close to empty twenty minutes ago when Irene left to take Jake and Spyro for a walk. (And it better be empty again before she gets back, if I know what's good for me.) Even if everything IS picked up, of course sometimes it just gets crowded anyway. The picture above was taken just as Irene sat down to dinner. Rocky the moose-dog had picked a moment shortly before that to shoehorn her way into the corner which tiny Jake usually occupies, thereby creating an interesting photo opportunity as well as allowing Irene the chance to work on her flexibility. This kind of thing goes on constantly with the six of us (three dogs, two humans, one cat). When one entity shifts it normally means another one or two need to shift as well, sorta like living dominoes.There are other environmental things about this small space that actually are very nice and couldn't be experienced any other way. Take rain, for example. The last two days and nites here at Pismo Beach it's been raining hard. When we go to bed, then, we're basically surrounded by rain noise all around the slide-out. Those of you who don't know about slide-outs can simply imagine a casket large enough for two sliding into the crematorium, except instead of being surrounded by flames we're surrounded by the surround-sound clatter of rain on fiberglass. It's amazingly cozy and comforting, as long as you don't reflect on the analogy I used earlier. I could talk more about the bad and good of smallness...what disasters can befall those who get up three times a night to go to the bathroom, the time one saves not walking back and forth across a house when you forget something, etc. But you get the idea. |
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