WALTZING ACROSS IDAHO

"JUST LOOKING FOR A HOME" My passenger/friend and fellow traveler for this segment of my journey, Nicole, wants to live in the west----specifically Idaho, since her first choice, Jackson, Wy is just too pricey. She has zeroed in on several other possibilities we will go check out. Our first possibility is in the small town of St. Anthony---northof Idaho Falls.

This marvelous little cabin, under forclosure, is up for auction in just a few days.

Minimum bid is $1000. She is excited--willing to pay the full forclosure price, $34,000 to get it, if necessary. Or to buy it outright.

It is perfect for her---a few problems--but fixable.

So we camp in a "seam" just 2 blocks away to wait for the realtor in charge tomorrow. ( remember that a seam is an "iffy zone where ownership or jurisdiction is unclear--a place to be without offending anybody--in this case , a roadside area along a dead end street) So much simpler than driving 20 miles to a campground and back tomorrow morning. Solar panels make this kind of flexibility possible.

Nicole makes us a meal of buffalo and veggies. So rare for me that I photograph it.

Next day we learn the hard truth about Bank Forclosure strategy. The auction offer is a pressure tactic on the borrower to force him to get serious about repaying the loan. It worked--and he rescued his property. Nicole absorbed the truth with astonishing aplomb----focused her attention on another option---a trailer--situated in some nice place would do nicely. This one for $10,000 seems a good buy.

She photographed it for careful consideration while we move on to look at her next option--The Coeur d'alene area She loves this beautiful lake---will consider a lot just 10 minutes away from right here.

We make our way to the area--look around--decide to stay the night in this driveway--looks unused --so we just chance it. If by some remote chance the owner should show up--I have invented a good cover story--the truck died right here--we're waiting to be rescued--Note the explanatory note stuck in the window and the hood raised. Nobody troubled us and we saved ourselves a lot of hassle-

the salesperson came next morning.

Would you pay $12,000 for this lot? That's the asking price. Another without electricity is $6,000.

With all her options in mind--we moved on to Spokane, Wa to amuse ourselves and wait for her train. I loved riding the carousel and so did she----Interestingly she collected 7 rings as we whirled and me 4--one of which was the brass ring---and damn! I dropped it.
After midnight, she boarded Amtrack for the trip back to Chicago. I was sorry to see her go--she was good company---and has a head full of interesting ideas. Here's my interpretation of a few of them:

1. RAW MILK ---taste better and is much healthier for us than pasteurized. Big damage is done to it by that process.
(The Untold story of milk by Schmid and wikipedia raw milk) She brought a 4 day supply with her and tried in vain to find a source for more.

2. ENJOYING THE NOW--she says we can train ourselves to live mostly in the now---by consciously snapping our attention back the reality in front of us--- to now, now, now---we will slowly create neural grooves in our brain--slowly conditioning ourselves to live in the now.

3. CLARITY OF COMMUNICATION ABOUT SEX ---She favors courageous, straightforward sexual communication; bypassing awkward subderfuge and misunderstandings.

4. CONSIDER THAT YOU CHOSE YOUR PARENTS----Taking responsibility for your body, mind and environment, whatever it is. (diminishes the agonies of victimhood)

5. CONSIDER THAT YOU CAME INTO THE WORLD WITH AN AGENDA---things to do--lessons to learn to make progress toward wholeness. (true or not--this attitude will stimulate one to look carefully at ones unique "set of fascinations"---the starting point for personal meaning)

6. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY QUESTIONS----this was a personal lesson for me---making me participate in my questioning by giving the reasons for my asking. What have I noticed that provokes me to ask. I've been getting off too easy in my many interviews. I actually found it more refreshing to participate ---to have a dog in the fight. (so to speak)

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES: This lady supports my suspicion that FREE LANCE LIFESTYLES generate more well-rounded personalities that CAREERISM. LIVING WITHOUT CREDENTIALS allows no automatic status --respect and authority are earned one person at a time. It's worth remembering that the most influential people in history were the free lance types---like Jesus, Buddha and Benjamin Franklin.