Say Hi to Del

Monday January 19, 2009

Have I introduced you to our best roadie buddy and intrepid travel companion?

The story starts over 45 years ago. Annie's mom had made fast friends with a then RN (later Nurse Practitioner) at Childrens' in San Francisco. Del was a single mom with 2 kids So was Anna's mom. Both shared a common sense of humor born of getting on with it in spite of it all. In short, Annie and I have known Del longer than we've been married!

Del retired from her practice about 20 years ago. She moved to Grass Valley, CA where she was close to her beloved camping and hiking opportunities in the Sierras. She started gardening with all the energy that Del brings to a pastime. Eventually all the gardening started to suppress the explorer in Del. In spite of her back-packing trips, her camping trips, her motorhome trips she was always one trip short and too many weeds from being able to leave with a clear conscience.

Del went “Full-time” as they say, about 9 years ago. She bought her new home – a Lazy Daze coach sized just for her. She put 110,000 miles on it between California, Newfoundland, Mexico, the Arctic Circle. It took her about 5 years!

A new coach was ordered up and customized to suit her needs. Her “New One” only has 60,000 miles on it now! Solar panels and a sophisticated charge controller keep four no-maintenance (AGM) batteries full. Del has all the power she needs to run the microwave if necessary (maybe 10 minutes a day) the coffee pot, the waffle iron, the automatic satellite receiver, the flat panel TV, the Computer, the printer-scanner-copier, etc. etc. Her only outside needs are a Safeway, a dump station, and fresh water. That ties her to the rest of us about once every 2 to 3 weeks for a few hours.

Don't get me wrong; Del is no hermit in any sense of the word! She loves people and lazy chats and hugs and friends and happy-hour and sharing stories and dinner out as much as anyone else. She just isn't tied! The net result is we know we're blessed as she chooses to spend time with us.

Del has a sourdough culture going that has been pleasing people for as long as I can remember. You've all heard of Johnny Appleseed; well the saga of Sourdough Del is as true as it is legend! She started us twice. The second one lasted for about 5 years before I goofed and lost it.
Well - this morning Del had us all over to breakfast. The menu? Sourdough WAFFLES with Pecans! crumbled bacon! cranberries! wild huckleberry! You pick 'em – she cooks 'em, we all visit Heaven!

Life is as sweet as your friends are.