If you are just joining us, you can catch up on reading by beginning at the Introduction and continue reading from there.

Congratulations to Liz Butler of Smith Falls, Ontario!! Liz is the lucky winner of this week’s prize draw – a batch of my homemade nanaimo bars!

I’ll be holding another draw this coming  Friday, February 24th for all those who have pre-ordered their copy of Following Daisies. This week’s prize is a few seeds to help sow your own adventures in life. Or, at the very least, sow some wildflowers. The winner of this week’s draw will receive a some beautiful wildflower seeds!

 If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy yet, you can join the fun by clicking on the “Buy Now” button on the right-hand side of this page and get your chance to win this and other fun prizes coming up every week!

Now, let’s continue Following Daisies!

© Copyright by Heather Pardon, 2011. All rights reserved

It may seem strange then that I opted to kick off the start of my soul-searching adventure in Niagara Falls, arguably one of the busiest and most commercialized tourist meccas in Canada. In a town known for quick marriages, wax museums, Guinness World Record stunts and freak shows, Miss Daisy and I seemed incredibly conservative by comparison.

The previous summer I’d met Rob and Sherene while sharing a train ride from Toronto to Ottawa. Ebullient spirits, both of them, we connected instantly, laughing and musing about the peculiarities of life. Both Rob and Sherene had spent a number of years in the local casino in Niagara and enthralled me with some hair-raising stories about life in the gambling world. Let me simply say that I am quite happy that my childhood days spent playing bingo in the local church basement is as far as my gambling life ever went.

Rob, who was in his early 40s, was also in the midst of a major life shift, getting ready to leave his job and head back to university. I admired and also understood his gumption. Life has a curious way of bringing people together who share similar paths. We need that. As we stand at the end of our own limb, there is comfort in looking at those around us who are also standing at the end of theirs. ‘“Keep going” we cheer to each other, encouragingly.

By the end of the train ride, we’d become fast friends and I invited them to cancel their hotel plans and stay at my house while in Ottawa. A few months later they returned the hospitality and I found myself parked in their driveway in Niagara Falls with Miss Daisy.

One of the things you'll find on your tour of Niagara Falls, a chair belonging to the world's tallest man

I had to ask myself why the universe would nudge me to head to Niagara Falls to begin my adventure. While I’d enjoyed my visits there as a young child, if not for my friendship with Rob and Sherene, a return visit as an adult would be nearly as appealing as having a root canal done.

We took the requisite ride on the Maid of the Mist, a small boat that takes tourists to the bottom of the Canadian falls. A trip on the Maid is a wonderful way to marvel at the falls’ grandeur and to simulate the feeling of having a giant water balloon land on your head. I got drenched. Next on the agenda was a trip to the American falls, where we walked up and down a stairway that runs adjacent to the cascading waters. This simulated the feeling of having someone pummel us with spray from a giant water gun. I got drenched again. Soak your guests to their underwear, always a hospitable way to kick off a visit, I say.

Getting drenched at the American falls

We then headed to ‘the brink’ on the top end of the falls where it appeared that unless water fell from the heavens above, I’d be able to stay dry on this part of the tour. The brink is, as its name suggests, the point where the water drops over the falls.

I stood at the brink and watched the water approach, then rapidly disappear over the edge. I’ve never even mastered launching a cannonball off the side of the pool, I marvel at the daredevils with enough gumption (or foolishness) to plunge down the falls in a barrel. I eyed the water as it approached the brink, merrily meandering its way. As it reached the edge, it had no choice, the force of life and gravity sent it rushing headlong over the edge into the swirling waters below. There was some chaos, uncertainty and adventure as the water hurled over the edge, but eventually calm returned as it joined the river below. Its journey continued and there was a palpable peacefulness on the water as it moved on. I understood the journey of this water because it felt like my journey too.

Standing on the brink!

Many days I’d spent meandering through life like water in a river. Sometimes life went smoothly, sometimes I hit rocks, sometimes I was able to avoid them and sometimes I got caught up in the current. More often than not, I felt that things weren’t flowing freely or easily for me.

I eventually reached my own proverbial brink. Just as the waters of Niagara Falls couldn’t fight the momentum that took them over the edge, I couldn’t resist the innate forces of life that pushed me over either. The strong yearning that called me to sell my house, simplify my life and open myself to living differently had brought me to my own brink.

As I looked at the mighty Niagara and watched the waters meander downstream, with peaceful calm, I recognized why life had brought me there. I wish to live in that flow. I wish to live in that calm. First, I needed to understand that I had to launch myself off the brink to get myself there. And then I needed to be reassured that my jump off the brink would work out just fine too.

I’m still not sure why I needed to get drenched though.

See you next Sunday for Chapter Eleven: If You’re Roasting a Pig, You May as Well Get Married Too

In the meantime, Be Wild, Be a Daisy!

If you’d like to pre-order your copy of Following Daisies AND find out how you can win fun prizes AND get a free copy of my ebook I Like My Eggs SunnySide Up – One Dozen Tips for Cooking Up Positivity in the Frying Pan of Life, click here now!

To receive an email notification of new posts, simply enter your email address in the “Join our mailing list” tab on the right hand sidebar.

I  have grown to enjoy you more and more over the years. I remember back to my university days when I would complete my projects and essays weeks before the due date. Once I graduated I also organized my  life in a similarly humdrum fashion.  Weekends were filled with long to-do lists and I  lived a lifestyle that was as spontaneous as a block of cement.

Thankfully as the years passed on, I became either wiser, more easy-going or far less organized. Whatever the case, somewhere along the way, Last Minute, I began to like you.

You  used to intimidate me because I didn’t know much about you. You seemed rather daring and unpredictable thus I avoided you. I thought you were trouble, not in a Charlie Sheen kind of way, but just someone I didn’t want to hang out with.

Well, you found a way to barge into my life anyways. You’re kind of unavoidable, like a rambling dog that jumps up and plants a big, wet lick on your face.

Last Minute, there is simply no getting around you. You are an in-your-face kind of friend.

Yet as I’ve gotten to know you I like you because you’re daring, because you’re unpredictable and because you often swoop onto the scene blazing guns, fireworks and plenty of excitement. There’s never a dull moment when Last Minute is in town. I find your surprise party approach to life rather fun. You’re  certainly a far better party planner than I am, left to my own planning devices. And many times you’ve also saved my a**, it’s almost like you’re a superhero of some sort.

I must thank you, Last Minute, for the fact that my life is no longer cast in cement and that you’ve added some much-needed joie-de-vivre and randomness to my world.

Until we meet again, you know………whenever that is.

If you are just joining us, you can catch up on reading by beginning at the Introduction and continue reading from there.

Congratulations to Lindsay Wickware of Cochrane, Ontario!! Lindsay is the lucky winner of this week’s prize draw – a superfun daisy tote from My Stow-N-Tow!

I’ll be holding another draw this coming  Friday, February 17th for all those who have pre-ordered their copy of Following Daisies. I think it’s time for another nanaimo bar draw, don’t you??!! So, a round of homemade nanaimo bars it will be!

 If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy yet, you can join the fun by clicking on the “Buy Now” button on the right-hand side of this page and get your chance to win this and other fun prizes coming up every week!

Now, let’s continue Following Daisies!

© Copyright by Heather Pardon, 2011. All rights reserved.

If I wanted a different experience in life, I had to start doing things differently. Simple concept, I know, but how often do we overlook it? If I wished to fill my space with wonderful positive and adventurous energy, Miss Daisy would require a slight makeover. She was going to get some feng shui.

With my very limited knowledge of feng shui fundamentals, I sought the help of my friend Tony who coached me on the process and assured me that I could indeed teach an old RV some new feng shui tricks. Segmenting Miss Daisy into the nine areas of life, or modern bagua as it’s referred to in feng shui terms, was my starting point. While I wasn’t able to tell my anyone what all the batteries under the hood were for, I could certainly tell folks where my wealth and prosperity corner was!

Many people would have started off by learning the workings of Miss Daisy first and then focussing on the ‘fluffy’ stuff. I’d tried living life like that before. Being practical and living life from the outside in hadn’t worked, so now I had a chance to do it differently.  It was time to try living from the inside out, creating the life that I truly wanted and living authentically. I started with what matters most to me, which is living from the heart and paying attention to the energy that surrounds me. Heather, fill your life with things you Love. Grace’s words echoed once again. There would be plenty of time to learn the mechanics of Miss Daisy later.

Miss Daisy before her makeover

In the meantime, I filled Miss Daisy with things that left me feeling good, items that had meaning and purpose—photos and cards from friends, a wall hanging with a quote from the Dalai Lama about happiness and life purpose, some Winnie the Pooh trinkets, positive affirmations, and a ‘radar-jamming’ guardian angel who would not only ward off speeding tickets but also protect the inside of Miss Daisy from unwelcome odours. My baguas were looking good.

There was still one small thing missing however. Miss Daisy was still missing some daisies.

*

The thought of leaving town without some daisies adorning the side of my rig just didn’t feel right. It would have been awkward, like walking around wearing an ill-fitting pair of underpants.

With only a few days left to go to my planned departure date, I was nearly ready to give up on the idea. I hadn’t found anyone who could decal my rig to suit my timeline or budget. Somewhat miraculously, a timely and synchronous conversation with my friend Pat once again pointed me in the right direction. She introduced me to a business colleague of hers who was able to complete the makeover in less than four days.

With Vence Bossilkov of Boss Imaging who coordinated Miss Daisy's transfordaisymation

Miss Daisy became a completely transformed RV. Any woman who’s had her hair or makeup done, bought a wonderful new outfit or spent a day at the spa can understand the feeling that takes place when you are transformed. Adorned in her wild daisy attire, Miss Daisy was beaming with newfound energy, from her roof to her tires, from her front end to her rear. I was beaming too. She was gorgeous and everything an adventurous gal could want in her RV.

We were ready to go. And just in case I would ever lose my way on our travels, the mantra on the side of Miss Daisy would be my constant guide: “Follow your heart, wherever it takes you.”

*

With my feng shui in place, I was finally ready to tackle getting to know the operations side of Miss Daisy. The multitasker in me also wanted to know whether I’d be able to bake a batch of muffins and drive at the same time. I had heard of some folks who’d put their RV on cruise control while they headed to the fridge for a cold drink. I think this led to them spilling their drink. And their RV. Down an embankment. At least I knew better than that. I’d be sure to pull off to the side of the road to take my freshly baked goodies out of the oven.

When my RV-savvy friends John and Rose-Anne offered me a private tutoring session, I gladly accepted their generous invitation to spend a Saturday afternoon reviewing RV Boot Camp 101. We powered up the generator, we looked under the hood, we turned on the oven, we opened the awning, we went through all the systems on board Miss Daisy.

I didn’t remember much of the technical jargon for it was our conversation about poop that grabbed my attention. Proper poop management is essential to a good quality of life within your RV living quarters. You’re generally travelling in the hotter summer months, you’re not connected to a city sewer system, you have a holding tank to deal with … I’m sure you’re catching a whiff of what I’m talking about. At some point, you need to head to what is tastefully termed a ‘dumping station’ to empty your precious cargo. This is not the sexy side of RVing and there are no assistants at the dumping station to take care of matters for you. This adventure was going to force me to finally deal with my own poop in life, literally and figuratively.

“Be sure to hold the hose down firmly when you’re emptying your tank otherwise the pressure can send it moving around like a snake….” As John spoke, I imagined the possible ramifications of such a mistake. It would be like the poop hitting the proverbial fan.

“This is good information,” I said as I thanked John. That tip alone was worth the three- hour drive. Feeling as if I was beginning to get my RV poop together, I bid my friends goodbye. It was now time for my inaugural RV campsite experience.

*

I thought I’d reached the pinnacle of excitement when I’d pulled into the truck stop off the highway that day. I’m in the big leagues now. I parked my rig next to the tractor-trailers, feeling an immediate kinship. I’d arrived. I was finally living my truck-driving dream.

It only got more exciting the moment I pulled into my first RV campsite. I even backed Miss Daisy into the camping spot that day, which was no small feat. Hey, try backing up your entire house and you’ll understand why I’d procrastinated on any attempts at reverse engineering.

A few minutes of fidgeting and I was hooked up to water and electricity. I then headed inside to test out a few more of the systems. Even the most mundane of tasks becomes thrilling in an RV so the excitement of vacuuming Miss Daisy held my attention for the next few minutes. This was later followed by the successful acquisition of hot running water and a delicious dinner prepared on the gas stove. Nothing burned. Nothing exploded. And no poop had been sprayed anywhere. So far, so good in my RV world.

*

When it came time to leave the next day, I approached the sewage hose with caution, remembering John’s advice. It was Sunday morning and before breaking camp, I needed to shower and empty my tanks.

They are two tanks and two drain lines in an RV. The ‘grey’ tank holds water drained from the kitchen and shower. The ‘black’ tank holds your other worldly disposables. These need to be drained regularly and with caution as you don’t want to experience the nasty, aforementioned spills in the process.

I successfully hooked up the drainage hose and emptied the black and grey water tanks without a hitch. Whew.

It was the water hook-up and hose that created havoc for me that day. As I inserted the water hose onto the attachment to fill my reserve water tank, the hose kicked back once the tank was full, spraying water everywhere and thoroughly dousing me. Wet but undaunted, I proceeded to rinse out the sewage drainage hose with the water hose. I turned the water on at the tap, completely forgetting John’s advice and committing one of the classic newbie RVer mistakes. The hose moved like a snake under the pressure, dousing me with effluent once again. I would discover in the weeks and months to follow that this would not be the last time that I’d provide some amusement for the people around me.

Fortunately, I had remembered John’s advice to double-check that I’d disconnected all my hook-ups before departing my campsite. I didn’t want to be one of those people who forgot that detail and drove off site, trailing the electrical box behind.

As I performed one last check on my rig, my trailer neighbour greeted me.

“Do you drive that big thing all by yourself?” she asked. The silent voice in my head thought, Yes, I do. Why? Are they supposed to come with a chauffeur?

I shared with my neighbour that I would be driving Miss Daisy by myself, heading out west for the summer.

“Well, you’re a brave woman … to do that all by yourself,” she said with a tone that suggested she thought it was completely crazy of me to do so.

I didn’t think of myself as brave. I was only doing what I felt was essential for me and my life. Her comments seemed to indicate however, that as a single woman driving a giant Daisymobile, I would be a bit of an oddity wherever I went.

Gone were my days of being a passenger in my own life. Gone were my days of needing to live by the rules of others. I was finally happy to be in the driver’s seat. And with Miss Daisy as my steed, this was going to be my own journey.

See you next Sunday for Chapter Ten: On the Brink

In the meantime, Be Wild, Be a Daisy!

If you’d like to pre-order your copy of Following Daisies AND find out how you can enter the “Great Nanaimo Bar Giveaway” AND get a free copy of my ebook I Like My Eggs SunnySide Up – One Dozen Tips for Cooking Up Positivity in the Frying Pan of Life, click here now!

To receive an email notification of new posts, simply enter your email address in the “Join our mailing list” tab on the right hand sidebar.

If you are just joining us, you can catch up on reading by beginning at the Introduction and continue reading from there.

Congratulations to Mary Cameron of Calgary, Alberta!! Mary is the lucky winner of this week’s prize draw – a pair of my Mom’s handknit  dishcloths!

The winning tote will be exactly like this one which is exactly like mine!

I’ll be holding another draw this coming  Friday, February 10th for all those who have pre-ordered their copy of Following Daisies. I am really excited about this week’s prize, a very fun daisy-themed tow from My Stow-n-Tow, makers of wonderfully fun handmade, environmentally-friendly totes for all ages.

 If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy yet, you can join the fun by clicking on the “Buy Now” button on the right-hand side of this page and get your chance to win this and other fun prizes coming up every week!

Now, let’s continue Following Daisies!

© Copyright by Heather Pardon, 2011. All rights reserved.

I had never imagined leaving behind a comfortable life, friends and family to wander off into the sunset in a giant Daisymobile.

The funny thing about embracing our dreams is that we never know how they’re going to unfold. I had no idea that my childhood truck-driving dream would later morph into a cross-Canada, soul-searching journey. I also didn’t know that it would involve letting go of so much of my past and saying some difficult goodbyes.

At times it felt as if I was falling into a void. I was letting go of things even though nothing new had yet entered my life to take its place. It was often similar to that frightening falling sensation you experience at the top of the roller coaster, just as you are about to take a big plunge. You hover and then freefall for a few seconds in that in-between space before you come up the other side, thankfully arriving safely and exhilerated. I yearned for that kind of adventure yet still, it was a big change for me and one that wasn’t always easy.

As my departure date approached, the time also came to say goodbye to friends I wouldn’t be seeing for several months. I am a fairly social person so it was somewhat difficult to look ahead at the unknown solo adventure that lay before me. As much as I was excited about the journey, there is comfort in being surrounded by those you know and love.

But I’d realized that I’d reached a time in my life when I needed to walk by myself and just see what would happen. I’d spent so much of my life walking with or for others. Learning to walk comfortably in my own shoes was long overdue.

With each step out of my comfort zone, a few small twinges of fear still crept into my brain.

Will I get lonely? Will I miss home? What will I do if I get a flat tire or if my RV breaks down? Will I begin to talk to myself? What if I don’t like RVing?  I knew with certainty that I needn’t worry about locating the nearest Tim Horton’s coffee outlet as they seem to be spaced at 2.3 km intervals along every major route in the country.

My biggest underlying fear was that I’d be getting to know myself in an intimate one-on-one manner that I’d never experienced before. I was shifting from a busy, action-packed, city lifestyle to a much slower pace of spending day after day on my own. It is easy not to examine yourself too deeply when other things in life can easily distract your attention.

What will I discover? What if I find out that I don’t even like myself? What will I look like yanked from the usual confines of life? What will I create? These are frightening questions to consider when you’ve just pulled your entire life up by its roots.

I also had to begin to say goodbye to these fears however. I used think of my fears as cautionary allies, but I began to recognize instead that they’d been holding me back for so many years. I was looking forward to getting to know some new friends along the way, like faith, trust and hope.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Such is the yin and yang of life, the forces that align to balance things. With every goodbye I said, somewhere down the road I knew there’d be a hello waiting to take its place.

See you next Sunday for Chapter Nine: Miss Daisy Gets Some Feng Shui

In the meantime, Be Wild. Be a Daisy!

If you’d like to pre-order your copy of Following Daisies AND get a free copy of my ebook I Like My Eggs SunnySide Up – One Dozen Tips for Cooking Up Positivity in the Frying Pan of Life, click here now! Don’t forget that this week you could win an awesome daisy-themed tote from My Stow-n-Tow!

To receive the Wild Daisy newsletter and receive a weekly update of new chapters, blog posts and other news, simply enter your email address in the subscription tab on the right hand sidebar.

If you are just joining us, you can catch up on reading by beginning at the Introduction and continue reading from there.

Congratulations to Kelly Atkins of Nanaimo, BC!! Kelly is the lucky winner of this week’s prize draw – a hippie starter kit that includes a VW camper van and one bag of homemade granola.

A few lucky winners of one of the nanaimo bar draws about to hit the bars!

I’ll be holding another draw this coming  Friday, February 3rd for all those who have pre-ordered their copy of Following Daisies. In keeping with the theme of this week’s chapter, this week’s prize is a sample of my Mom’s infamous knitting…..the winner will receive two of her handmade dishcloths!!

 If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy yet, you can join the fun by clicking on the “Buy Now” button on the right-hand side of this page.

Now, let’s continue Following Daisies!

© Copyright by Heather Pardon, 2011. All rights reserved.

She was sitting in the living room knitting when I walked in the front door that day. I’d just made the four-hour journey to my Mom’s house to show her my new rig. Miss Daisy was parked just out of sight of the front window for full surprise effect.

This wouldn’t be the first time that I’d surprised my Mom with a significant shift in my life. There was the time that I dyed my hair bleach blonde days before my cousin’s wedding, or the time I quit my job unexpectedly, or when I surprised her with the purchase of my new SUV or the time I suddenly informed her, “Hey, I’m moving to Ottawa.” As the person who birthed me into the world, I reasoned that it simply came with the territory for her to be able to flow with my moments of randomness.

“Hi Mom, I just bought a new house!”

Her face lit up with pride and excitement as she asked, “where?”

This week's draw prize, a pair of my Mom's fun handknit dishcloths! She makes about a million of these every year.

“It’s parked outside,” I replied. Her knitting came to a complete halt, which I knew was a bad sign. Mom would continue to knit while a tornado passed through town if it meant she’d get to finish another pair of mittens.

In recent weeks, conversations with my Mom often went like this:

Mom: “So where are you looking for a new house?”

Me: “I’m not looking.”

Mom: “So where are you going to live?”

Me: “Don’t worry Mom, I’ll be just fine.”

Mom: “Gosh, you need a house!”

Me: “Did I mention that I’d be just fine?”

I could sense that Mom didn’t really like my answers. And although she never specified so, I think she meant that she wanted me to have a ‘traditional’ house, as in one that wasn’t on wheels.

*

I took her outside and introduced her to Miss Daisy. There were long pauses of silence in those first few minutes as she pondered the thought of her youngest daughter driving across Canada in an RV. For a few minutes I wondered whether she was going to try to ground me at the age of 46. No doubt she likely spent those minutes also wondering where the daisy she’d gone wrong that I ended up without the familial lawyer or accountant gene.

As she looked over Miss Daisy, thoughts of her wandering gypsy daughter’s lifestyle dancing through her head, she uttered her first words, “But you’re going to buy a house at some point, aren’t you?”

“Yes Mom, I’ll buy a house … someday.”

And with those words, I knew that I wouldn’t be grounded.

*

“Mom, put down your knitting. We’re going for a ride in Miss Daisy,” I said to her the next morning. At 79, Mom had never been in an RV before. It’s nice to know that even as we grow older we can still have some ‘firsts’ to look forward to.

My Mom after her inaugural RV ride. If you look closely, you can see that she's giving Miss Daisy a "thumbs up".

Mom rode shotgun in the passenger seat and as we toured the neighbourhood, she proclaimed the ride to be very comfortable. From my vantage point on the driver’s side, she seemed to enjoy riding up so high, enjoying the open view and feeling the power of being in such a big rig.

While my Mom didn’t say much I saw a smile flash across her lips as she disembarked from Miss Daisy. It was the first smile I’d seen on her face since she’d met Miss Daisy. I think it was the smile of someone who’d just tasted adventure.

Maybe we weren’t that different after all. Perhaps beneath all that knitting was a woman who understood my yearning and my need to wander. Maybe there was even a part of her that enjoyed adventure too. And who knows, maybe there’d be a part of me that would want a traditional house again someday. Just not yet.

See you next Sunday for Chapter Eight: Saying My Goodbyes

In the meantime, Be Wild. Be a Daisy!

If you’d like to pre-order your copy of Following Daisies AND get a free copy of my ebook I Like My Eggs SunnySide Up – One Dozen Tips for Cooking Up Positivity in the Frying Pan of Life, click here now! Don’t forget that you could win some of my Mom’s knitting, guaranteed durable enough to withstand the force of a tornado!

To receive the Wild Daisy newsletter and receive a weekly update of new chapters, blog posts and other news, simply enter your email address in the subscription tab on the right hand sidebar.

Oh, and kayaks. Can’t forget the kayaks.

]]> http://www.wilddaisy.ca/en/sht-wild-daisies-say-11/feed/ 0 http://www.wilddaisy.ca/en/sht-wild-daisies-say-10/ http://www.wilddaisy.ca/en/sht-wild-daisies-say-10/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:02:54 +0000 admin http://www.wilddaisy.ca/en/?p=2244  Daisy Bob to Daisy Bill after Daisy Bob’s recent job interview:

“Then they asked me if I had a five-year plan!! And I’m like, Dude, I’m a wild daisy. I don’t make plans. I just dig the vibe and go with the flow.”

If you are just joining us, you can catch up on reading by beginning at the Introduction and continue reading from there.

Congratulations to Susann Lavendar of Nanaimo, BC!! Susanne is the lucky winner of this week’s prize draw – four 30 minute coaching sessions!

This VW camper could be YOURS!! Okay, it's a toy van but it's a good place to start the dream

I’ll be holding another draw this coming  Friday, January 27th for all those who have pre-ordered their copy of Following Daisies. In keeping with the theme of this week’s chapter, this week’s prize is intended to help launch you on your own wild daisy journey – a one pound bag of homemade granola PLUS your very own VW camper van. It’s basically a hippie starter kit! So, good luck everyone!

 If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy yet, you can join the fun by clicking on the “Buy Now” button on the right-hand side of this page.

Now, let’s continue Following Daisies!

© Copyright by Heather Pardon, 2011. All rights reserved.

When you’re about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime, then a traditional motor home will simply not do. Thus, I’d begun my search for a camper by looking for a Volkswagen Westphalia, the much-revered hippie camper of the ′60s and ′70s.

The Westphalia subculture is unique and even as a Birkenstock-wearing, environmentally conscious, peace-minded daisy lover, I quickly learned that I would not be granted immediate access.

“What would you be doing with the camper?” asked one owner, as I examined his used Westphalia. I suspected that he did not want to hear that I’d be heading to the nearest provincial park every weekend to bask in a comfortable camping experience.

“I’ve recently sold my house and got rid of my worldly possessions as I no longer wish to feed the capitalist machine. I intend to spend the rest of my days countering traditional cultural norms, fighting the establishment and eating a completely organic, granola-based diet. There is also a good chance I’ll be putting some daisy decals on the camper.”

He smiled, apparently pleased with my answer.

After a few weeks of searching, I never had any luck finding a Westphalia, however. It seems that life decided that it just wasn’t enough “truck” for me and my lifelong truck-driving dream.

The day was June 25. Only  a few nights earlier I’d been enjoying dinner with my friend Reta when I mentioned I’d be leaving on my trip mid-July, even though I’d not yet procured a suitable RV. I had somehow figured that life would handle that small detail for me. Call it synchronicity or call it the side effects of a delicious pasta primavera, but Reta suddenly recalled that she knew of a friend who was selling her RV. Four days later I found myself standing in front of the future Miss Daisy.

Getting ready to take Miss Daisy "home" for the first time

She wasn’t glamorous at first sight yet she had an allure about her that intrigued me. Perhaps it was our commonalities that appealed to me. She was an “older model” and had clearly been around the block a few times. Like myself, she came with a few wrinkles and scratches, signs of a life well lived, yet she seemed comfortable in her own skin. From her parking spot in the driveway she seemed as discontent with her stationary existence as I had been with mine. “I’m ready for an adventure, I’m ready to hit the open highway,” she seemed to be saying. I had found a kindred RV spirit.

Her inner beauty revealed even more of her character. From the off-pink decor to the 1980s velour sofa, she’d kept her original parts, never having changed a thing about herself. Here was a woman who knew who she was and was confident sharing her true self with the world. She had much to offer—a vast living space, kitchen, stove, refrigerator, bathroom, shower and a double bed—all the comforts of home. In my eyes, she was as complete as an RV could be, the perfect role model and ally for my trip.

Next came time to sit in the cockpit of her mightiness and admire the view. It was like sitting in a comfortable living room recliner on the top of the world. I felt as commanding as Captain Kirk at the helm of the Star ship Enterprise. I felt exhilarated, in control of my galaxy and completely empowered as I took her for a drive. Be damned any Klingon or pesky mosquito who would dare try to overthrow my vessel!

I was in love. She was ‘The One’ and I agreed to return a few days later to pay for the RV and whisk her away to a new life.

There was only one small glitch. I still needed the money to pay for her.

*

By this point, I’d begun to take note of a recurring pattern in my life, which I called, ‘The 11th Hour Bailout’. The 11th Hour Bailout occurred on a fairly frequent basis, generally as I stepped out onto new limbs in life. There’d I’d be, inching further and further along the limb, feeling some trepidation and uncertainty as to how the story may end, when life would suddenly swoop in like a Superhero and provide The 11th Hour Bailout, that safety net that would allow me to continue to move outward along the limb.

The purchase of my RV would be another one of those Bailout situations. I did not have a large, well-padded, offshore bank account to finance my trip. The proceeds from the sale of my house would be my modus financus operandi to pay for my new rig, settle some debts and take care of the rest of my adventure. You may then wonder why I’d agreed to purchase an RV before I actually had the cheque from my lawyer. Things out on this new limb just seemed to be working so I had to trust that this piece of the puzzle would drop into place somehow as well.

At noon on the agreed-upon pickup date, I headed to my lawyer’s office to enquire about my funds.

“Funny to see you here,” she greeted me, “I was just about to give you a call. Your cheque is ready.” I simply smiled at the 11th hour manner in which my life Superheroes had brought this all together. Whew.  I’d even been left enough time to get a bank draft and arrive on schedule at 2 p.m. to pick up my rig. Thanks guys. Perhaps with a few more lessons in faith I could graduate to the 10th Hour Bailout Program someday?

*

As we enjoyed a cold beer together, Sue, the former RV owner, gave me a quick overview as to the inner and outer workings of my new rig. I nodded, pretending to understand, as she spoke about generators, various batteries and charging systems, holding tanks, propane things, and waste and water management. Did Captain Kirk have to concern himself with these kinds of details?

I was far too excited to worry about learning about the mechanical intricacies of my rig. There would be plenty of time for that later. All I could think about was the sense of freedom that I enjoyed as I gazed at the road ahead of me and dreamed of the many adventures that awaited.

As Sue handed me the keys and I prepared to drive away in my new dream home, I glanced to the side of the driveway where I noticed a lovely patch of wild daisies growing next to my rig. I smiled at the auspicious send off to my journey and the message they seemed to say. Go Heather. Be free. Be a wild daisy. Enjoy. And don’t worry, this isn’t the last you’ll see of us. We’ll be with you all the way.

See you next Sunday for Chapter Seven: Look Mom, I Bought an RV!

In the meantime, Be Wild. Be a Daisy!

p.s. If you’re enjoying reading Following Daisies, please share it with your friends who may enjoy it too! One of the major reasons that I wrote this book is that soon after I’d made the decision to sell my house and adventure off in an RV, I began to hear the comments from many friends and others, “Heather, I LOVE what you’re doing and think it’s fabulous. But I could never do it…..”

This book is for those folks and anyone else who wants to follow their heart, fulfill their dreams and live a life they truly love. I hope that those who may think “but I could never do it….” will read Following Daisies and find the inspiration to think of the possibilities and begin to say “but yes, maybe I could…..”

If you’d like to pre-order your copy of Following Daisies AND get a free copy of my ebook I Like My Eggs SunnySide Up – One Dozen Tips for Cooking Up Positivity in the Frying Pan of Life, click here now! Don’t forget that you could win your very own hippie starter kit in this week’s draw too – a one-pound bag of granola and your own VW camper van!

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Daisy Mae: “Did you hear that Fred and Crazy Daisy are having a baby?”

Daisy Jo: “No, I didn’t.”

Daisy Mae: “Yes, it started popping out of the ground last week and they hadn’t even planned on it. They were completely caught off guard.”

Daisy Jo: “Really!?”

Daisy Mae: “Yes, and they already have a name for it. They’re going to call it Whoopsie Daisy.”

]]> http://www.wilddaisy.ca/en/sht-wild-daisies-say-9/feed/ 0 http://www.wilddaisy.ca/en/sht-wild-daisies-say-8/ http://www.wilddaisy.ca/en/sht-wild-daisies-say-8/#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:23:53 +0000 admin http://www.wilddaisy.ca/en/?p=2236 Overhead in the meadow, from Daisy Mae to Daisy Jo:

“Things are getting quite serious between Bill and I. We’re both thinking about putting down some roots.”

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