Eddie and Gwen

Eddie and Gwen
Standing Tall Among the Saguaros

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Beware You Have Entered the Twilight Zone

I’ve shed many tears lately…..tears of temporary sorrow from missing my wife, my granddaughter, my family as a whole, and my home town of Pagosa Springs.   If I am being truthful, however, the majority of tears stem from joy as I contemplate all the people who visit my food trailer, and share how they’ve read my blog;  or when I consider the fact that my wife is so very patient as I work through this freakin’ mission;  or when I consider how the locals recommend Eddie B Cookin and just keep sending more people my way.  Most people that know me on an intimate level,  tell me that I’m a metro sexual male.  I suppose that’s true, as I wear my emotions on my sleeve, plus the fact that I really do enjoy foo foo cosmopolitan martini’s.  So here it is….Eddie comes out!!!!  I have to admit that I have shed tears for all the reasons I listed above, and since I’m in a confessin’ mood, I might as well tell you this:  At the end of the day when I’m exhausted and I collapse in my tent for a bit of relaxation and a nice glass of chardonnay (It’s that metro sexual me coming out) I find myself contemplating the magnificent blessings of my life and I well up with tears.  Okay, so I’m a crier…what about it?    Since I’ve plunged into this world of minimalism and surrounded myself with people who choose to live on society’s fringe, I’ve developed a greater appreciation for the simple blessings we usually take for granted.   For example:  The other day a gentleman came out of the desert riding his quad, he had a purpose in mind, he wanted to share with me the fact that he enjoys reading my blog.  I am taken aback by the number of people who show genuine concern as to whether or not I am making it.  I am touched by the person who left a fifty dollar bill in my tip jar, and the person that posted a comment on my blog asking, “hey where you at man,  when is the next update coming?” One thing I’ve discovered about being in the throes of a midlife crises is that emotions become extreme……uhhhh, am I experiencing Man-a-pause??  Woe unto me, so there you have it, my new found sensitivity of life’s simple pleasure of feeling appreciated.
Talk about feeling appreciated, it recently occurred to me that I am probably the only food vendor in this temporary geriatric metropolis doing it all solo, as in no helpers, yet still I am full of Joy.  That’s not to say that all other food vendors aren’t grinding away at trying to make a buck.  It’s just a statement relating to the fact that the mass crowd numbers never really materialized to justify a helper in my world.  By all accounts this is the worst year in memory for Quartzsite, yet I refuse to allow that to bring me down.