One Long Shortcut

Chapter 149: Groceries and Great Expectations This was one of those “nothing is happening but everything is happening” weeks. We were in a holding pattern, counting down to a 4-day long weekend like kids before summer break, except instead of packing swimsuits I was doing advanced-level grocery math. Enough food to survive the weekend, not so much that the food turns into 'The Last of Us' in the fridge while we’re gone.  Meanwhile, “our land” has officially graduated to “our construction site,” because it no longer resembles land. It’s now a maze of trenches, rebar cages, and things that look important enough that I nod seriously when I see them. Footings, apparently. Structural. Foundational. Very adult. There’s even a water meter now, which feels like progress, although I still don’t know where the actual water part is. The rest of the week was a mix of small wins and mild chaos. I made Taiwanese pork chop using a crab hammer because my actual meat tenderizer is buried some...

Chapter 147: False Spring, Real Delusion Northwest Arkansas decided to play a joke on everyone: give us a few perfect spring days, then slam us right back into a freeze like “just kidding.” Even the plants at Tractor Supply looked offended. Rows of sad, wilted “spring herbs” sat there looking betrayed. (I feel you brothers and sisters) But right next to them? Chicks. Ducklings. Actual tiny, fluffy, peeping distractions. I spent an unreasonable amount of time staring into those metal tubs, trying to figure out who was a chick and who was a duckling like I was being tested. Then I wandered over to the seed section and immediately became a different person. Suddenly I was a future gardener with a straw hat, gently harvesting tomatoes and herbs like I have my life together. Never mind that I currently live in a van and don't always know where my tomatoes are.   It’s a weird in-between phase... half nomad, half “can’t wait for my house to exist so I can buy throw pillows without...

  Chapter 145: Re-Entry, Cats, and Other Distractions Coming back to Northwest Arkansas after weeks of go-go-go felt… nice? And also like someone slammed the brakes on my personality. One minute I’m in cities, airports, eating my way through life, the next I’m grocery shopping and doing laundry in a campground like a hippie. Who is she? I set up at Blowing Springs for a proper reset: unpack suitcases, wash everything, clean the van. Naturally, productivity lasted about five minutes because the neighbors had two free-roaming, model-level gorgeous cats . Kaya and Tigger. They live in a bus-sized Class A RV, casually hop off like they own the place, and just vibe. Kaya came over for pets like we were long-lost friends. I, of course, abandoned all chores immediately. Kaya coming for a visit <3 And this is Tigger! Turns out their humans are from Leavenworth,  which I had literally just visited. They sold their house, bought the RV, and now live with the kind of calm energy I ...