a Thought for the day
Patience is the best remedy for every trouble.
Titus Maccius Plautus, Rudens
Roman comic dramatist (254 BC - 184 BC)
Note nothing is new; Patience has been an issue through the ages
Source: http://www.quotationspage.com/
Patience is a virtue; Overcoming feelings of anger, anxiety and frustration is a big step toward solving problems when faced with circumstances beyond control, leading to acceptable outcomes and solutions. With that said, those who know us well as travelers and RVers realize that we are both antsy. We can't sit still for long, or stay in one place for long either. 3-5 days and we are ready to move on. I admit, at times we do long to put down the jacks and stay awhile, perhaps to get to know an area well, to sign up as volunteers to work camp or just visit long term with family or friends. But we tend to move on--until time stops and is out of our control.
Our current "residency" is Red Bay, Alabama located in the NW corner of Alabama. It is the birthplace of our Tiffin motor home and we have come to Red Bay for service work and repairs. Our plan was 2-3 weeks at most to get through the to do list. Tomorrow it will be one month and the situation is still out of hand. Parts are promised to be en route, so we sit and wait, working at being patient, calm, cool and (mostly) collected. That's our current state of mind, knowing we can't change the situation, knowing we will move on eventually and surviving on the humor of it all, practicing acceptance and sharing feelings with other folks in the same situation.
Patience is learned and we have had a lifetime for those lessons. In the scheme of things, this is very minor and I accept that. It is not health related, we are not in danger and all of our needs are met, even beyond any expectations. The current "camp site" is a bit out of the ordinary. On the coldest days of the year to date, our rig is inside a huge building and is hooked up to electric and water. The temperature is in the mid 50's in our place of refuge, the outdoors will go into the lower 20's. Lo and behold we save on propane for heat, we are hooked up to electricity and city water that won't freeze overnight. This is the home of McKinney RV Sales and Service and for us, a warehouse with a view.
The view is not an eye popping lakeside, or vivid blue ocean with a sandy beach, nor a glorious mountain caked in snow, or a forest in full fall color. The view is indeed quite funky.
In a building seemingly as long as a football field, it is 1/3 repair bay and 2/3's inventory and storage. The inventory includes anything and everything that make up parts of a motor home, the ancient, the old, and the new. Could so vast a collection of stuff be entered on a data base or are the parts located only through the memory of the older members of the McKinney family? More stuff is stored outside the building as well. What stories must lurk in the history of this place. There is hope and promise that we will only be here 2 more days. Our patience, hard at times, pays off, avoiding displays of anger, abusiveness or giving up hope. It has been a good few weeks in a corner of the country we have not experienced. We visited several museums, galleries, toured the Coon Dog Cemetery, The Helen Keller birthplace, hiked in Dismals Canyons and met more wonderful folks. What a life style we lead. More surprises lay ahead. We are ready.
In a building seemingly as long as a football field, it is 1/3 repair bay and 2/3's inventory and storage. The inventory includes anything and everything that make up parts of a motor home, the ancient, the old, and the new. Could so vast a collection of stuff be entered on a data base or are the parts located only through the memory of the older members of the McKinney family? More stuff is stored outside the building as well. What stories must lurk in the history of this place. There is hope and promise that we will only be here 2 more days. Our patience, hard at times, pays off, avoiding displays of anger, abusiveness or giving up hope. It has been a good few weeks in a corner of the country we have not experienced. We visited several museums, galleries, toured the Coon Dog Cemetery, The Helen Keller birthplace, hiked in Dismals Canyons and met more wonderful folks. What a life style we lead. More surprises lay ahead. We are ready.
1 comment:
It's so good that it's you and not me waiting for repairs, parts, and work to be performed in a small Alabama village. I would be clawing the ceilings at this point; howling at the moon if not at the owner of the factory. Maybe that's why the idea of touring with a motor home has never been anywhere on my wish list.
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