Hectic July

You’re in the right place

for a mix of stories you just won’t find anywhere else…

“Here’s to the allure of the obscure!”

Dateline July 31, 2021
Location: Rural Annapolis, Maryland

From “First-and-Only-Draft Bill” himself…

 "So we'll live, and pray and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies ...
And take upon us the mystery of things
As if we were Gods' spies."

-  Wm. Shakespeare, King Lear, V 3

In this issue:

1. Rally Up & Ante Up!
2. Mastery of Life
3. Cycle of Life
4. Hate the Gorilla?
5. Featured Guest

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1. Rally Up & Ante Up!

Miss Kay and I attended two week-long back-to-back RV rallies in July (whew!). Those of us who live and travel most of the time in our RVs call ourselves full-timers or itinerant vagabonds. We particularly enjoy a special camaraderie and product understanding with other full-timers who live and travel in the same brand of motorhome as ours–Newmar. Fifty-plus coaches gathered in historic Wytheville, Virginia.

Since it can be community-lonely living on the road, these rallies are a great opportunity for fun and friendship. We also collectively contributed over $14,000 to a charity that feeds hungry children, the homeless and shut-in seniors in Wytheville County and environs, the Hope Foundation. That amount included a generous matching donation from our host campground, the Wytheville KOA.

HOPE feeds anyone who is hungry, whether they can pay or not. H.O.P.E. is their acronym for “Helping Overcome Poverty’s Existence.” Please consider offering them a donation here.

The following week, almost five hundred motorhomes gathered on the West Virginia State Fairgrounds in Lewisburg for the Newmar-sponsored International Rally, their main annual event. Factory service reps worked on coaches for free or at a reduced rate. Vendors offered products and seminars. I offered a couple of my own seminars on “Writing and Selling Your Novel.” I also signed and sold a couple cartons of my own books (that’s about all I have room for in the bus).

The entire two-week flurry exhilarated and exhausted us.

Oh, and once again, we shared our bounty with the less fortunate children of West Virginia by collectively raising another $12,000 for the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia.

2. Mastery of Life

That is an illusion, of course. But now and then, moments of brilliant clarity blind the mind’s eye. Maybe they are microscopic moments; nevertheless, they remain moments to remember. These cursory moments offer me a perfect sense of tranquility–an emotional fullness that displaces everything else, an afterglow where time and place and space seem irrelevant, lost in the embrace of a glorious and profound silence. I briefly experience that sometimes when I meditate.

Kay and I practice Transcendental Meditation (TM) twice daily where we revel in such moments. Our nervous systems shed deep-rooted stress at such times. I feel a certain mastery, not of life, but of such quiet moments, of a great weight lifted from deep within. I taste a state of consciousness different from waking, dreaming or sleeping. There is nothing like it. And words fail to describe the experience of this simple but transformative practice. I thought you should know, though. So simple anyone can do it, but so profound I feel fortunate to have discovered and been formally taught TM in 1972. I practice it to this day.

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3. Cycle of Life

It is said the only constant in life is change, so why not embrace it?

You already know Kay and I live and travel in a motorhome much of the time. Nowhere more than in our transient lifestyle do we witness bold banners of impermanence. What a great reminder to cherish each moment of every day!

Kay’s brother died in her arms this month in the Chicago area. We happened to be passing through on our way to the rallies. Kay arrived at his hospice facility in time to hold his hand for less than thirty minutes before the end. Some would say, a new beginning. It was nothing short of serendipity she was there when he passed.

Yup, I’m waxing philosophical this pre-dawn morning parked outside of Annapolis, Maryland. Our bus is buried in the woods–a reflective setting made more so by the absence of satellite TV. We’re staying put for a couple of weeks in a place we had never heard of before we reserved this spot at the KOA in Millersville, Maryland.

We venture out today to forage for provisions in stores and farmer’s markets, all of which we’ll visit for the first time. Tomorrow I attack another set of perennial repairs, this time fixing an errant drawer slide, with a little help from my friends at Lowe’s, and with Kay handing me tools.

We also hope to check out an interesting vegan restaurant our favorite search engine (DuckDuckGo) located for us. Everything is strange and new again in the 140th campground we’ve visited within the last six years (if my count is accurate). We’ll also venture into DC for a day or two as it has been decades since either of us has visited our nation’s capital.

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4. Hate the Gorilla?

Say what? Look, most folks will admit to appreciating the painless customer experience of “the big gorilla” of online retailers. You know–Amazon.

They have elevated their online shopping experience to an art form. Having admitted that out loud, many authors I know begrudgingly make their titles available as Kindle and/or paperback editions on “the big gorilla.” Others go wide, that is, they offer their books in as many different places as possible.

Many local bookstores adamantly refuse to buy from Amazon or their distributors, preferring to “buy local.” So what does all this mean?

I want to provide you with a “buy local” option for your books from a network of independent bookstores–small businesses–you can and should patronize. Try it! Feels great.

An organization called the American Bookseller’s Association sponsors IndieBound.org where you can find and patronize your new favorite independent bookseller.

As an author, I am an affiliate of IndieBound, and receive a small commission each time you buy any books from their stores. Just tell them, “GK Jurrens sent me!” And if you are an author, consider signing up as an IndieBound affiliate. It is a useful membership when approaching bookstores to sponsor your signings and sales.

Look, I still use Amazon, but also feel compelled to do my part to aid local small businesses wherever we travel. One such example is the Old Fox Bookstore in Annapolis, Maryland. And what a find on IndieBound.org! Kay and I incorporated a visit into our walking tour of historic downtown Annapolis.

I was particularly drawn to OFB’s lower level (basement) where at the bottom of a tight-radius spiral staircase they feature obscure artifacts and volumes (medieval, apothecary, mysticism, magic, alchemy, history…)i, some in multiple languages. Its ambiance felt a bit like a literary dungeon! Delightfully obscure.

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5. Featured Guest

Sometimes we meet people who are larger than life. Sometimes, this means they possess a fullness of contagious spirit that seems to define them.

Allow me to introduce Dave Burton. He owns a company called Every Detail. He and his crew came to us. In addition to performing mobile oil changes, they wash, wax and detail… anything. This is Dave’s passion. While they cleaned our bus and toad, I struck up a conversation with Dave. I sensed a kindred spirit.

The steamy SW Virginia afternoon raised a sheen on both our foreheads. He worked, I supervised. Dave said, “Do you know humans are the only species on Earth that drinks the milk of a different species?” Yup, we vegans can sense another vegan from subtle declaratives like that!

Even though a young man, Dave has already lived in Michigan, California, Florida, Tennessee, and now Virginia. He’s worked retail in the food and travel industries, trained as a police officer, and in medical emergency response before creating and growing Every Detail into a successful small business with four employees who seem happily dedicated to their mission.

Dave is blooming where he is planted. I respect that.

I thank you for your infectious enthusiasm, Dave, for your stories of how you seek delightful and healthy alternatives to dairy and meat products, and how doing so has changed your life, as they also have changed mine.

If you support enthusiastic small businessmen like Dave, stop on over to his Facebook Home Page to say “howdy.” And if you ever find yourself in the Wytheville area…

Dave, may continued success be yours as you enjoy life’s bounty as it was meant to be, my new friend.

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With pen in hand,

Gene