• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Connect
  • Donate
  • Join
  • Login
Story Circle Network Logo

Story Circle

by, for, and about women

  • Home
  • Events
    • Spain Writing Trip
    • Members in the News
    • Opportunities
  • Classes
    • Online Classes
    • Webinars
    • Enroll
    • Propose a Class
    • Propose a Webinar
  • Book Reviews
    • Story Circle Book Reviews
    • For Authors & Publishers
    • Author Interviews
    • For Reviewers
    • Review Team
  • Publications
    • SCN Journal
    • Our Substack
      • True Words from Real Women
      • StoryCraft: Writers Write About Writing
      • Submit a post
    • Real Women Write anthology
      • 2024 Anthology
    • Member Library
    • Story Circle Books
    • Flash newsletter
  • Book Awards
    • Sarton & Gilda
    • Guidelines
    • Sarton Application
    • Gilda Application
    • Past SCN Book Award Winners
  • Contests
    • The Story Circle LifeWriting Competition
    • The Story CIrcle Poetry Competition
    • The Story Circle Online Writing Competition
  • Growing Together
    • Circles Program
    • Roundtables
    • Opportunities
    • Member Library
    • Media
  • About
    • About SCN
    • Member Benefits

January 5 – Travelling As Is

January 5, 2020 by Linda Hoye 7 Comments

by V. J. Knutson

5

“My husband wants to put wheels on the bedroom and drive me cross-country.”

Three years ago, the doctor warned us against travelling six hours by car, stating that my health was too fragile. Now, she pauses in her note taking and ruminates for a moment before declaring the idea: “creative”.

“Well, it’s certainly taking charge of your life, instead of giving into the disease,” my psychologist adds when I disclose the plan to her. “I admire your attitude.”

Originally, we planned to take two years: I’d focus on recovery; he’d concentrate on winding down the business, and we’d sell everything off in stages. A boom in real estate helped push our dream forward, and here we are, on the road in half the time.

Mornings are the worst. Sleep, when it does come, encases my body in lead, reluctantly giving up her grasp when consciousness calls. Since the mind stirs long before the limbs, I have learned to use this time to write. Writing is one of the luxuries illness has afforded me.

Inspiration is never far away when the view from my window is ever-changing. Today, I am greeted by a cloudless blue Texan sky, anchored by the beauty of palms waving gently in the breeze.

Later, we’ll drive to one of the World Birding Centers nearby, where I’ll search for the green jay, native to this area, hoping to snap a picture. Or, if strength fails me, I’ll prop myself up in bed and try to sketch the pintail duck I photographed on my last visit. He’s such an elegant creature, his head a black hood atop a snowy neck and breast, balanced serenely on one leg. I admire his ease and grace; maybe even envy him a little more--my gait is so lumbered and slow.  Self-pity is a flitting sentiment these days though, now that I have time to admire the delights of nature.

Life is simple now. We gave up most of our worldly goods--passed what we could to the children, sold the rest. We are nomads, escapees from the stress of debt, cold weather, and the mundane.

Our home, complete with a washer/dryer, dishwasher, and walk-in closet, offers all that we need. He has his desk; I have my king-sized bed.  Shoeboxes, we’ve discovered, can be efficient and comfortable. Our yard, however, is incomparable, priceless.

In a week or so, we’ll pack up and head further west.

Illness, we’ve discovered, does not take a vacation, but this alternative sure beats the years of isolation and immobility that preceded it.

Life is a grand as it can be.

V.J.Knutson is a former educator, avid blogger, and grandmother. She and her husband are currently travelling cross-country in a 40 foot motor home. Originally from Ontario, Canada, V.J. hopes this journey will provide healing for her ME/CFS, or at the very least, inspire further creativity. Find her online at https://onewomansquest.org/.

Linda Hoye lives in her hometown in Saskatchewan, Canada, with her husband and their doted-upon Yorkshire Terrier. She is the author of The Presence of Absence: A Story About Busyness, Brokenness, and Being Beloved and Two Hearts: An Adoptee’s Journey Through Grief to Gratitude and Living Liminal: A Slice of Pandemic Life. Find her online at www.lindahoye.com where she ponders ordinary days and the thin places where faith intersects.

Filed Under: True Words from Real Women, V. J. Knutson

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Linda A Marshall says

    January 5, 2018 at 6:46 am

    I admire your creativity and your courage. Looks to me like you are committed to thriving despite whatever challenges you face. Admirable.

    Reply
  2. Letty Watt says

    January 5, 2018 at 7:31 am

    I am sure that your travels will reap many rewards that you cannot even imagine. Hope you find the green jay, if not drive through Oklahoma and meet our boisterous blue jays.

    Reply
  3. arielazucker says

    January 5, 2018 at 8:03 am

    Hi, thanks for sharing your life. This was really inspirational and I was captured by your positive attitude.

    Reply
  4. V.J. Knutson says

    January 5, 2018 at 11:54 am

    Thank you all for your encouraging replies. It’s just one more challenge, Linda, and as you know, life hands them out readily. We have many blue jays in Ontario, Letty. Have seen the green, but haven’t captured his image yet. Thanks, Arie, for your kind words. If we can inspire another then our life has purpose.

    Reply
  5. Debra Dolan says

    January 5, 2018 at 3:53 pm

    I find this post quite inspirational. It reminds me of what Louise Hay once wrote, “I love myself unconditionally right now.” There are many-many ways to experience our lives and I salute you that pain does not define yours although acknowledging that you must live in harmony side-by-side.

    Reply
  6. V.J. Knutson says

    January 6, 2018 at 11:51 am

    Thanks Debra. Losing so much makes the gains even more spectacular.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

hoye-orig

This blog is coordinated by author, photographer, and gardener Linda Hoye. Find her at A Slice of Life.

Subscribe

Get new posts in your inbox!
Loading

Archives

2009-2019 Archives

This blog is written by Story Circle members.


Not a member? Go here to join.

Contributors

  • Amber Lea Starfire
    • February 1 - What Happens When You Write 20 Minutes a Day?
  • Ariela Zucker - View Blog
    • To Walk With Stability
    • Not Doing is a Form of Doing
  • Carol Newman
    • June 26 - Cascade
    • June 5 - Trains, Planes, and Automobiles
  • blatter.carol
    • I Met Nurse Ratched
    • November 8 - My Mother
  • Barbara Scott - View Blog
    • February 12 - LOL Before Divorce
  • christinamwells - View Blog
    • May 31 - The Hairbrush
  • Christine Hassing - View Blog
    • December 20 - Opening
  • Carrie Steckl - View Blog
    • April 4 - Let’s Love the Good in Others
    • Five Minutes on Sundays
  • debradolan1958
    • Wedding Dress Whim
    • March 13 - Museum of Broken Relationships
  • Diane
    • Walking Through Fear
  • Doris Clark - View Blog
    • May 24 - Dad's Home Again
  • Dorothy Preston - View Blog
    • December 6 - The Rutted Path
    • August 23 - Ghosts of Rejection
  • Lisa Droz - View Blog
    • July 27 - The Seat Next to Me
    • June 29 - Pay Dirt
  • Girly
    • November 2 - A Morning
  • Heidi Schwab-Wilhelmi
    • November 22 - Piano Days
  • Judy - View Blog
    • December 12 - Numb and Puzzling Grief
  • Jeanne Guy - View Blog
    • July 20 - Under Water
  • Jeanette
    • A Clouded Mind
  • Janice Airhart - View Blog
    • October 19 - The Broadmoor
  • Joanne Martin
    • April 12 - The Last Time
    • November 2 - Helping Hands
  • JSchecterZeeb
    • D-Day June 6, 1944
  • Kali - View Blog
    • March 29 - When Life Hands You . . .
    • May 10 - A Newfound Friend
  • B. Lynn Goodwin - View Blog
    • August 3 - Notes From an Exceptional Terrier
  • Linda Hoye - View Blog
    • We've Moved
    • September 12 - Just Lily and Me
  • Len Leatherwood
    • July 6 - Love, Color, and a Bit of Surprise
  • LWatt - View Blog
    • October 18 - In-Between
    • January 31 - Hail Oh, Hail
  • Marian Beaman - View Blog
    • You Found Your Glasses Where?
    • June 14 - Right Thing Too Late
  • Marilea Rabasa - View Blog
    • Walking Through Cancer - Part 13
    • Walking Through Cancer - Part 12
  • marthaslavin - View Blog
    • December 30 - Unfinished Year 2020
  • Michele Kwasniewski
    • November 29 - Hanging With The Big Dogs
    • May 6 - Happy Birthday, Mom
  • Melanie
    • May 18 - Infusing Hope
  • Monique - View Blog
    • February 7 - The Answer
  • Nancy Oelklaus - View Blog
    • September 6 - Life Goes On
  • Lisa Hacker
    • August 30 -The Great Book Purge
  • repak.t
    • Switching Creative Gears
  • Sara Etgen-Baker
    • Talking Aprons
    • You Had Me At Pumpkin Spice
  • simonandrea - View Blog
    • February 22 - Words Are My Life
  • srick18153 - View Blog
    • April 2 - Sarah and Wally Go to Space Camp
  • Story Circle Network - View Blog
    • April 19 - My Mother's Kitchen
  • Suzanne Adam - View Blog
    • July 13 - COVID Roller Coaster
  • suzy beal
    • April 26 - The Culling Year
    • January 18 - Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
  • Wentlin
    • August 24 - Uncommon
    • July 6 - An Exercise in Being Human

Footer

Footer Example
Story Circle Network Logo
  • Home
  • About
  • Classes
  • Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • Growing Together
  • Connect
  • Donate
  • Join
  • Login

Copyright 1997 - 2025  Story Circle Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy