The Big Bus Adventure
I began putting this together shortly after moving into our new house. The first few paragraphs were written then and the last few in February 2005:
We celebrated our 5th year on the road by purchasing a house here in Corpus Christi. We had come to the realization that travel was getting more restricted because of my allergies, so here we are, homeowners. We moved in with just clothing and groceries but we purchased a bed and dresser from a friend and are setting up housekeeping. We are going to fix the bus up and sell it.
We dashed to Kansas City for just long enough to pick up some of the stuff we left behind and suffer an allergy attack. We fled south as the first chance. We have a few more decorating pieces now, but still live in a big echo chamber. The house has tile floors throughout, and with no furniture, sound travels. The transition from life on the road to homesteading has been interesting.
Our bed was against the back wall of the bus, so I slept against the wall. I did not realize that I had been leaning against that wall as I slept. I first discovered this when we were doing a show in Austin and stayed at a motel. It was a tall bed, one you have to hop up into. Sometime in the middle of the night I must have been searching for the wall to lean against. I fell out of bed and knocked myself out. Susie thought I had killed myself.
Two nights ago I did it again. Like a cowboy leaping from the balcony to get in on a old west bar brawl and smashing a poker table, I launch myself onto a lamp we had placed on the floor next to the bed. It was one of those lamps with a glass chimney, which supports a tin shade. The chimney shatters and the shade bounces around on the tile floor. The racket wakes Susie for hours. I ended up with a bump on the noggin and a hip pointer, but it could have been a lot worse. I could have ended up in the hospital having some lamp part removed from my backside. "It was a million to one shot, Doc"
This goes with a pulled back muscle and a broken toe; both obtained in the last two weeks. I stepped into a small pool of water, just spilled onto our tile floor. Something had to give. I was in the process of pulling off what would have been a varsity cheerleader, full splits. The 54-year-old body sacrificed a small back muscle to prevent a bigger disaster.
There are a few things we are changing about the house. We painted the living room and kitchen and are making other small changes, but the toilet in the guest bath is definitely a keeper. It is one of those 5-gallon flush jobs that give you the big Bah-Whoosh. I also imagine that the toilet salesman said something to the effect, "With all tile floors, you are going to want the Sousaphone 5000." I was alone when I first discovered the melodious qualities of this beast. With a straight line from bathroom, through the hall, living room and into the kitchen, with just one carom off of the open bathroom door, I let it rip. It was absolutely amazing. I hit a note somewhere between "Old Man River" and the Oak Ridge Boys. The neighbor's dog barked. It was not an angry bark, like he saw a cat, but just one approving Woof.
I bet I can tune this thing. By loosening or tightening the anchoring bolts I suspect I can get a range of notes. I'm going to get a couple of Hershey bars, a wrench and a six-pack of Falstaff and test this out. Did I mention that my feet barely reach the ground while on this thing?
Feb, 2005
We have the house furnished and are enjoying our new home.
I've quit falling out of bed; that got old pretty quick. We are planting a garden this year. The soil here is solid clay and barely supports St. Augistine grass so we are trying something new. We built a 6' by 12' frame of 2x12s and filled it with 15 bales of hay. We have been watering and adding fertilizer to the hay to start it composting. We will add about 3 inches of soil to the top of the bales and plant our garden in that. Each bale is supposed to support two tomato plants or four peppers. We have started some heirloom tomatoes and plan on adding herbs, peppers, cucumbers and melons. The bales are supposed to provide two years of hay bale gardening, then break down into 12 inches of compost to use as a garden after that. We plan on putting a big planter/bench in the center of the back yard and adding a fig tree.
Scruffy, our dog, is about to turn one year old:
We rescued him from a pound. The people that turned him in had been trying to catch him for a few weeks, as they had seen him running wild in the Flour Bluff area of Corpus. From an exam of his teeth, he was about 4-5 months old when we got him. He had no idea of how to play, so we got him a plastic water bottle and drilled small holes in it and filled it with puppy chow. He would chase that around for hours, making a terrible racket on the tile floors. It quickly became a patio toy. He has learned how to unscrew the lid, so we refill it and he kicks it around then chases down the ejected treats. He still has no idea with what to do with a ball. He likes to chew, so we have been through a few different chew options. His favorites are cow hoofs. They are the tips of cow hooves cut down to 2 inch by 4-inch pieces. He will spend hours gnawing on those things. When stepped upon in the middle of the night, they are just like stepping on a pair of roller skates.
I'd say that this puts the Big Bus Adventure to bed.
Steve
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