In the glass half full or half empty??

My last month in Quartzsite (March) until October or November.  Today I said goodbye to the three closest friends I met here.  Feeling sad.  Lots of thoughts going through my mind.

L-R:  Liz Klein, my new friend, and Laurie and her mom Aleta.  We had a farewell lunch at Silly Al’s.  Liz worked as a Foreman in the Silversmith shop for Laurie who is the Silversmith Shop Supervisor.

Laurie and her Mom heading out, not to return to Quartzsite until November 2012.  I’ll sure miss those two.  They are keepers.

I’ve learned a lot here since arriving in October 2011.  Mostly about rocks, but also about people.  I have learned to trust my instincts more and be tighter with my money.  I have a tendency to do too much for others… because that is my nature and it makes me feel good.  It feels better for me to give than to receive.  Receiving only makes me feel like a “user” or icky some other way????  Don’t really think I can explain it any better than that… or understand it better, it’s just the way things are… the way I am. 

The lesson I learned is that people are in one of two categories, they are positive and see the glass as half full, or negative and see the glass as half empty.  The ones who see if half full have hope about their lives and future, those who see it half empty are feeling pretty hopeless.  That is an even sadder realization than the sadness I feel today, saying goodbye to good friends.

Someone I knew had their “living” cargo trailer stolen recently and all the contents.  It is giving me nightmares.  So this morning I hitched up the trailer and plan to tow it where ever I go.  That will at least give me peace of mind.  I think loosing mine might cause me to loose my mind.  I just can’t let that happen.  A high density BLM  camping area doesn’t give one a sense of security.  Next year I will be camped with friends for the entire season and we can give each other security.  I, no doubt, will have to “escape” to the wilderness every couple of weeks for a few days, just to find myself again.  I tend to “loose” myself when I am with lots of other people.  I tend to stop thinking and taking care of myself, in order to give to or take care of others.  Bad thinking, me thinks.  We were raised to think that was “selfish” but it really isn’t, it’s just self-preservation.

So, if that is a hard lesson well-learned this year… it’s a good thing. But still, I feel sad about it all.  Now, I’ll go play with rocks some more, maybe I can find myself inside one of them? I’ll return later (soon since the wind is too strong to do anything else outside) to add photos to this and write another blog entry on my recent experiences… a donkey and covered wagon I saw going through town, flowers blooming in the desert, etc. Fun, fun, fun.

Howard West, on the Quicksilver Key Book Tour. “Every adventure has to start somewhere; this one begins at my tiny ranch called Pilgrim, 50 miles from the small village called Tonopah, NV.  My traveling companions are a little red covered wagon pulled by one large blue/white donkey name Blue Pegasus, who reminds me she did not fire on to this Dog and Donkey Show to stand still and Ezekiel the Australian Shepard half of the show.”  More about him in the next blog.

Are they kidding, there is nothing to do in Quartzsite????  They must not be looking very hard.  Can’t say they must be blind as a blind man comes to the Rock Club and grinds and polishes his own rocks. Get out there people and live.  What’s stopping you???