Two Steps Forward ...

And one step back ... it is the way.

Seven days left. Let me first say that I have never sweated so much in my life!! Each day the heat is completely overwhelming!! It's been a roller coaster of a time. I'm still super happy with my decision and feel the bliss of being back on the road drawing closer but DAMN ... it's just a HUGE project.

So yesterday I tackled (and thought I conquered) the task of installing my 3 solar panels. I was happily relaying to my sister that I "finally figured out the wiring!!" at about 1pm and had tucked all the wires neatly with wee zip-ties under the panels. Each panel was then super glued with special tape strips to the roof, screwed in and siliconed. By 3pm I was at the hardware store buying the other part to the hole saw that would allow me to actually attach it to the drill .... a $18 something I will use just once! At about 4pm I began feeling a little nervous ... the thought crept in "what IF I messed up the wires?!?!?" My niece's hubby, Caleb, arrived home from work (next house over) at 5 and I asked him to look things over .... then we checked out the energy flow with a meter ... zip, nada, 0, zilch.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO" I melted. (It was still 85 at 5:30pm and the shade moved away from us as the earth swung around the sun)

Yup, I had totally messed up the wires! And worse still, we could NOT get them out from under the panels. Caleb was so kind and tried to console me as we both formed little sweat puddles on the silver roof... and I started to a. peel the silicon off the screws and brackets, then b. unscrew the screws then c. putty knife and pry the brackets super tape off so we could get under the first back panel. All the while trying unsuccessfully to NOT rest my bruised knees on the edges of the metal ridges beneath me. LUCKILY that was all we needed for him to set things straight. But when we screwed the two brackets back in, the screws stripped! NOOOOOOO ... how bout screwing them into a piece of wood under the thin metal roof? Yes, that felt much better. I applied more silicone and prayed that my trip to the Cape in 12 hours (to start the cabinetry) would not blow the panels off.

This morning, of course, I was very nervous when I got onto 495 ... I thought about all the things that could go wrong ... the solar panels could fly off, the van could break down, maybe no one would be there when I got to the Cape. Then I wondered why could I not embrace all the joy and beauty of my adventuring more fully. Why can't I have more faith?!?!? Instead, I was worrying about the minor mishaps, as if they were some precursor to an impending doom. I thought back to my previous trips and lo and behold, I remembered all the chaos I had gone through before each departure ... and then I remembered the miraculous ways in which I was always supported on my Selenite Journeys. This time will be no different, I concluded ... and the clouds began to lift.

And, yes, today was a great day! Perhaps the hottest yet, but the greatest as well. My daughters' Dad, my ex-husband John, is helping me with the cabinets ... well, everything really. He is a general contractor, has an amazing cabinet shop in Sandwich and wants to help me "be less stressed" in life. "YAY!!" So we went over the plans and set things in order ... I got to choose from some beautiful leftovers of prime materials and he started cutting the ceiling and wall boards as I spent the day rough wiring and finishing up the insulation etc. His two helpers became my helpers as well, cutting tricky pieces and installing a little bumper around the solar wires coming through the ceiling.

Basically, the wiring and insulation and hole cutting all needs to be done before we start covering up the walls ... and that needs to be done before we can start building the cabinetry. I will get up early and head back to the Cape to continue with all that tomorrow.

Feeling MUCH better!!! AND So Grateful!!!