When it rains, it pours.

Or, when God gives you lemons, make lemonade.
And, since it is raining, you can make it with pure rain water.

My degree is in psychology, but I did take a philosophy class, so I know that any situation can be looked at from any perspective and be interpreted accordingly. See the previous "Glass half full" entry.

On Thursday, two significant, but seemingly unrelated things happened.
First, as you read, the truck ceased being a functioning contributor to our vagabond lifestyle. Our plans for spending weeks in the cool environs of high altitude forests, listening to the wind in the trees, watching whatever wildlife wandered our way, and doing as much nothing as we could cram in, were dashed. A HOT! summer in Tucson loomed.

Second, I got a telephone call from ...(drum roll, please)...Skagway, Alaska.

Now, you may have heard of Skagway from us. We went up there when we were younger, like last year. And the year before. And the year before that. We did not plan to go there this year. (see above paragraph for our plans this year) I should mention that this is the fourth call inviting us to return.

         One spring day a truck came out to Old Man O'Hara's farm, and the driver warned
         Old Man O'Hara to evacuate the farm because the river was going to rise and flood the farm.
         "I'll be fine," says O'Hara, "God will take care of me." And he refused to leave the farm.
         Later that day, as O'Hara stood on his porch as the waters swirled around his house, a man
         in a motor boat pulled up to the house and offered to take Old Man O'Hara to dry land.
         "I'll be fine," replied the old man, "God will take care of me." And he refused to leave the farm.
         Later that night, as O'Hara sat on the peak of his roof, watching the waters eddying around the
         eaves of his house, a helicopter hovered overhead and dropped a rope ladder. A loud speaker
         encouraged Old Man O'Hara to climb on up, as the water was about to rise even more.
        "I'll be fine, God will take care of me," O'Hara shouted back.
         Old Man O'Hara drowned in the flood. As he stood before St. Peter he was angry. "I trusted
         in the Lord to save me," he said. "Why didn't He take care of me?"
         St. Peter patiently nodded his head. "Who do you think sent the truck, the boat, and the
         helicopter?"

So, we decided to heed all of the messages we have received. We leave for Skagway next week. The earnings put us closer to that new truck we need if we ever want to pull our trailer to the mountains again. It's a no brainer and part of the glass being half full (a solution).

Having done this before, I don't find it necessary to tape off a corner of the living room to allot space for all the junk we will take. We are taking a lot less junk. The ferry is full, so we will get in a 3000 mile road trip. We will see high altitude forests, and there is a chance that we will see wildlife. Who knows, we might see a bear!