It is a choice.......

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.

9:06 am - Saturday - August 26th - 51º F, humidity 83%, wind 4 mph out of the east southeast.....sunny with no clouds.  My L.A. Dodgers have reached 91 victories faster than any Dodger team in history, and are now 55 games above .500.....what an amazing season they are having!

Friday was a continuation of the rapid decline in tourist traffic since the eclipse.....we had the one big day on Wednesday, and then the number of customers just dropped off the proverbial table.  In conjunction with that we got a notice from our manager that effective 9/4/2017 when the next work schedule is published, the store hours will be shortened from the current 7:30 am to 9:30 pm to 8 am to 8 pm.  We will also be losing a number of co-workers over the next 2 weeks as their contracts expire and they head back to university, to travel, or on to other seasonal jobs.  This is the part of the nomadic experience to which I do not look forward......saying our 'until next times' especially when we know there are some we may never see again.

Also, just over the horizon of this current weekend will be the celebration by TLE and I of our 46th wedding anniversary on Tuesday..............I have to just sit here a few moments letting that amazing truth sink in to its fullest........46 years together through thick and thin.........ups and downs........through one adventure after another......and now we find ourselves in the midst of the grandest adventure of them all as 'Vagabonders Supreme' (a phrase coined by 'Tioga George' back in the year 2003).  For those who have only begun to read our blog recently we began living fulltime in our 1982 Newell February 1, 2011, and traveling fulltime February 1, 2012.  With each passing month it feels as if this is the way we have always lived.....our former 'sticks and bricks' workaday life seems almost surreal in retrospect.....almost like someone else's life....we are different people than we were then.  We had no idea, really, into what we were getting ourselves, but we went forth anyway.  Our five children, 6 grand children, and one great grand child are mute testimony of that life we once lived, and are, frankly, our greatest accomplishment.  

Liberating ourselves from most of our physical possessions back in 2011, which kept us anchored in one place for so many years, and becoming 'Vagabonders Supreme' is our second greatest accomplishment.  We attempt daily to live what remains of our lives to the fullest extent possible, and cherish every minute, every hour, every day we have left together.  The recent passing of our friend Michael has reaffirmed the importance of living every day, every moment as if it were our last.  Life is fragile enough to begin with, and now in our advanced years has become even more fragile as we see a steady stream of people we have known for decades passing one by one.  We must not allow anger and unforgiveness to steal our peace, contentment and happiness.  The easy path in life is to passively stew in these negative feelings.......it seems odd to say, but I am convinced one must actively, daily choose to be happy......fight for it, if you will.  As Abraham Lincoln famously said...."Folks are usually as happy as they make up their minds to be.....".

Periodically our Mammoth Hot Springs General Store friends Geni and Roscoe have the 'CLOSE' shift with us on Friday nights.....on those occasions we choose to stop off at the 'Rusty Rail' for an after work drink, or two with them.....it makes us happy.  On this particular Friday we were once again paired on the 'CLOSE' shift, and once again we stopped off for a drink.......makes me happy just thinking about it.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.