Humble Beginnings

 Since the last time I posted I pondered on this for a while “ what to post, how to post, and even though I have already initiated my first post, you wouldn't think that I could still feel like the first post. So what better way to start the blog than a small trip into my artistic Journey… or just a quick montage of me growing up.

[Insert pic]

Okay maybe just a tiny bit more info than that.

SO for the majority of my childhood, I was always told I had a talent when it came to drawing. Yay all parents are proud. Even if it wasn’t my most passionate thing to do at the time I had fun doing it none-the less. Every year and semester from Kindergarten to becoming a senior highschool student. I made sure to have a art class. Still dto this day I remember there names, and a quick shout out to them for if not for our Art teachers that were there while were were still being raised, we may not have the passions or skills we have now. To Mr. Fritzler, Ms. Foot, and Ms. NAME..

My memory is vague during my earliest years, my parents could tell you more than I for sure, however my first vivid memory of doing Art for the first time was back in the 90s sitting at my friends house on the weekends. We would draw Dragon Ball Z characters over and over again. We also both came up with our own pencil stick figure battle games were we had entire back stories for those individual creations. From freezing to teleporting and shooting ki blasts we had a plethora of interactivity. Looking back on it now we could have easily turned all of those into sick looking animations but instead we opted for Eraser style ki blasts. My teachers absolutely hate my work sheets because of it. As the doodles of figure fights were never erased well enough for a proper turn in. (Grades paid the price too, Oopsie). This would last well into middle school. I then began spending my artistic focus on fanart of World of Warcraft, DnD, and started doing still lifes. By the looks of things one would expect me to go to college or get a job within a related field immediately. Instead because my focus was more on the fiction and art side of life, I continued to struggle with my grades and was barely passing highschool. During the summer of my Junior and Senior Year I enlisted into the Delayed Entry Program for the United States Marine Corps, and my focus on Art dwindled. I still continue furthering my artistic education throughout my senior year but my passion was clearly changed as I needed to prepare for a level of athleticism I handt cared for prior to the DEP acceptance.

Alas after graduation I wouldn’t pick up a pencil to draw again until a single night at MOS school sketching up our classroom insignia for our flag. THe design was sick with angel wings wrapping around our class # and was instantly chosen by the sergeant in charge of us. Even though I felt like it was a win in recognition. I found myself not doing anything creative or artistic until six years later when entering Full Sail University for game desig. It was a great Schoool and I do recommend to others, however I was now a father, a homeschooling one at that, and even though others with much more difficult lives were able to persevere and push through to get those degrees. My interest and drive, that primordial passion was just not there. My ambitions outside of my family were lost, often drifting and drowning in thoughts of doomsday preparedness and primitive survival.

    One could say it was a toxic mindset that led me to avoid society based responsibilities, but at that time all I could think of was how to survive after [ Insert whatever Apocalyptic Event you can think of, or currently worried about] and that it was the most responsible route in life.

    A couple years later a shift in our family dynamic turned me into the breadwinner position where my dreams of being mobile and offgrid went into full swing. The delivery work was paying the bills but not the savings, and now with my body focused on menial tasks and long distance driving, my mind was left alone to ferment on upcoming disasters.

    To get out of that rut and hope to earn a savings we got up and moved out of the PNW and headed straight ot UTah, where family could help while we save to go mobile. After four and a half months working odd Security Jobs and the love of my life finding her a new company she is proud to be a part of; we finally had enough to get a class A RV and even the Solar panels going. We are able to work on our dreams of boondocking, camping, and going mobile until we could save enough to get land next.

    And then….. The Covid Ninjas Attacked!

The country locked down, limiting boondocking and camping opportunities across the nation, but not completely extinguishing them. You see nomads are resourceful people. So we sent out flyers, made some calls, published some ads, and met networks of people who exchange work for RV Space. We would have continued this path if not for an eye catching opportunity we thought was going to be a long term going in our offgrid Journey.

Land, a place where we can feel safe knowing that whatever happens to us in our future, whether it be personal finances, environmental changes, or a total collapse of a civil society.. we will always have this, our last stand.     A place where my hands and thoughts went right to work cutting down sage, installing the fire stove, insulating the walls, hauling and sanitizing water, cutting down wood, etc.

    As the world’s lockdowns continued to stop families getting together and losses began to follow we secured our land, RV, and bought an 4x4 SUV to set off back on our nomadic trails regardless of the world’s stress. What took us to Colorado landed us right back here in the Pacific Northwest, only this time our and on our terms, the nomadic camping way.

    Now here I am, a month in on this new adventure feeling that chalk between my fingers. Looking at the world completely different, as the woods and roads around me were now my home… and my canvas. The world truly has become my playground of imagination. Something I don’t want to give up.