When I was in the 8th grade, my mom and stepdad decided to move to the mountain and build their own house. This meant we would need to find a place to live during construction. Since we really wanted to be on our new property with the animals, we were left with a few options:
1) A single-wide trailer
2) A small circle of campers (a camper for each bedroom and one for a common space)
3) A renovated school bus
4) A small cluster of teepees.
These are not make-believe options. These were the options discussed at our dinner table for a number of months. My vote was for the trailer. After going in a trailer when I was in the second grade, I was obsessed. I loved the idea and begged that we go with this option, although the second option was actually okay with me too. I kind of liked the idea of having my own camper and getting to decorate the inside (and the outside) however I wanted… The third option was terrifying. It really sounded not good. A bus would be very long, very narrow, and very cramped. I couldn’t imagine how one would even go to the bathroom, and I really didn’t want to tell people I lived in the thing they drove home from school in. The fourth was an option added last second, as we drove through a long stretch of highway in New Mexico. Up until that trip we had only been contemplating the first three, but when we saw a field of teepees with a sign that read “For Sale” my mother zipped off the interstate and within two minutes we were touring some of the nicest teepees I’ve ever seen. I was not too excited with this plan as it would definitely not make me cool with the new kids at school. “See that girl over there with the ponytail? Yeah, she lives in a teepee.” Actually, maybe that would make me cool. Hindsight’s 20-20.
Anyhow, eventually we went with Option #1, the trailer, and I instantly fell in-love. The narrow body made it feel very cozy, the fake wood took me back to an old friend’s house from the 80’s, and the open kitchen / living room combo made it an easy place to grab a meal and watch some t.v. Plus, I had a walk-in closet. What else could a girl ask for? In all honesty, it was one of the best places I’ve ever lived and I have a special place in my heart for single-wide trailers.
Sometimes though, I wonder, “What if?” What if we had lived in a circle of campers? What if we had lived in a couple of old school buses? Or what if I had really lived-out my teenage years in a cluster of teepees… Looking back, I think they were on to something because these people seem to have made those options look pretty inticing:
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| Courtesy of willowroseboutique.blogspot.com |
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Courtesy of http://www.lisaleonardonline.com/blog/ |
Okay so the school bus idea still sucks.
Bottom line, what some might see as a downgrade was a serious upgrade in my book. I've gained a lot of pride, some great stories, and some real down-home life-skills from my years with Old Betsy. (That's what I named the trailer... just now. Never used it before, but I'm going to stick with it.) So next time you face a move, don't be afraid to look at all your options and go with the most absurd... it just might pay off. Although in our case, the trailer was the least absurd... so that metaphor doesn't really work. So maybe you should go with your safest option... or just flip a coin, or see if you make the red-light, or make a pros and cons list, I hear that's a good way to go.
Until next time,
Happy Thursday everybody
