72 bar rises 29.73 0mph WNW dew-point 62 Summer, pleasant
Waxing Crescent of the Thunder Moon
“It is not how old you are, but how you are old.” – Jules Renard
Elizabeth Odegard has West Nile virus. She’s lethargic, stays in bed. Not much to do, but support your body and wait it out. Mark thinks she may have gotten it in Thailand when they stayed on a houseboat. Mark has the most unusual current lifestyle among the Woollies. He and Elizabeth, then real estate agents, sold his house in Marine of St. Croix, pooled their retirement funds and began living a houseless life.
He often refers to himself as homeless, but what he actually is houseless. His home is the Twin Cities and he’s rooted here. He and Elizabeth went to Hawai’i three years ago and got the Cambridge certification in teaching English as a second language. With that credential and a cash flow generated from investments (managed by Scott Simpson) they have moved from spot to spot: Buenos Aires, Peru, Shanghai, Bangkok sprinkled with returns home. Here they housesit for folks they know.
They leave for France later on this summer, where they will spend time with Mark’s brother and his family before heading off Morocco or Turkey or Chile. Sometimes they work, sometimes one does and the other doesn’t. It’s been all ESL. Mark worked on a healthy sexuality exhibit in Thailand, for example. They ponder a commitment in Japan, where the English language jobs require a year contract. Most of their stints have been four months or less.
We talk about travel often at the Woollies. We are a well-traveled group. Paul and Sarah made a round the world trip early in their marriage. Paul jets off to Africa, Syria and Cuba now and then. Frank is in Ireland right now for the eight or ninth time. Bill spent over a year in Japan building a nuclear power plant. Tom travels the US every week. Charlie Haislet and Barbara cruise in Europe, go to Africa now and again. Stefan has been many places.
Last night Stefan talked about a childhood trip to Egypt. “It made me want to be an architect. Karnak. With those great pillars shaved back and sloping upward. And the details on the gate.”
We are atypical as a group in so many ways: level of education, diversity of employment, life paths dominated by values, intimacy among men that has lasted over two decades. Our level of income is high. We lead lives of privilege in the most powerful country the world has ever seen.
