Monday 25 July 2016
Everett, Washington

Sir Thomas Leaf, Lady Etain, and Prince Cian awoke this morning refreshed and rested after a nice adventure merchanting the E.S.P. (Earth Sky Pagan Campout) at the Longhouse in Redmond this last weekend. The tolls of nomadic travel and adventuring has been taking its effect on them. It has been a long path for the crew on this journey. Last night after the event they decided to spontaneously hop over to Everett to see their extended family and brother, Sir Gregory. Long discussions through the night about the state of affairs around the world, places safe and not safe to live, magical realms and self defense enchanted as topics. Realization the bonding and visits between them has been a couple of years so the trip was well worth it. This morning, Sir Thomas Leaf plagued with cat allergies as the house cat chose to sleep at his feet this morning, left him with swelling eyes and a tad bit of allergies. He cliffnoted “trip to pharmacy today at some point to grab some allergy tablets”. He also realized he was so close to Vancouver BC, but unable to visit as Lady Etain’s passport needs renewal before international travels again. Some cereal and tea, good morning chats, fresh berries and a sunny day welcomed the weary adventurers to a start of a good day.

Sir Thomas Leaf journaled the following thoughts and notes:

“It has been a whirlwind of a few weeks as once again interruptions in work came about unexpectedly. The research company he’s been working with, trying to cut corners has been getting their teams to camp out more and more in the recent months. However the last project was pushing for camping out in the lava fields with high winds, frequent dust storms, over 100 degree temperatures and freezing nights, with numerous rattlesnake encounters, no shade/water sources, and no services nearby. Given our tent nearly blew away even cabled to a tree at a full-service campground in the nearby city, going out in the extremes was concerning for me and my family. I could not fathom leaving my wife and son in such environment while being out in the field for a 10 hour work day. So I turned down the next session with the mis-informed belief I had another camping and survey session back in my home state with a loss of 1 week’s worth of work to change rotations. Turns out that once arriving back in the home state after a 12 hour drive, that the session i though I was scheduled to be on, was already booked up with archaeologists, leaving me without work for another 2-3 weeks before another session would be scheduled that I could be placed on. Fingers crossed, no snags with that. Unfortunately with pre-booked merchanting events it threw in some snags. So we scrambled for last minute events to schedule in vending bringing us up to my old home state of Washington for some events. Ponderings about career choices has led me to start applying for tech jobs again and other archaeological companies who can provide more stability that I need for work to provide for my family. Finding events to merchant to fill in the gaps has become the priority, and ones with little to no merchant fees and last minute entry are hard to find. Taking advantage of the down time is refreshing to catch up with old friends, do taxes, job hunt, and get some writing accomplished. But the concerns of a dwindling bank account looms over me. I’ve come to realize the nomadic lifestyle’s up and downs are finally getting to me and its time to settle down again soon. Albeit, other plans of heading to Arizona or Florida for the winter doing archaeology and or Pirate festivals there is exciting all on its own. Becoming refreshed at the Longhouse this last weekend camping with like minded people in peace, love, harmony, and naked simplicity renewed my faith and dreams in what led me along the nomadic path has experienced some rejuvenation though. So the future is unwritten. Western Washington has been beautiful with truly wonderful temperatures, sunny skies, and great weather. We’ve realized 80% of the events this year has taken place in Washington, not Oregon so thoughts of moving back up here is getting stronger by the minute. It would be great to be living near family and friends again. But the Californians have invaded here too and destroying it, escalating cost of living higher and higher, and bringing in crime and drugs just like they’ve done to Oregon. So where one can live safely and simply is diminishing all over the place. The coast lures us again with thoughts of Port Townsend, Sequim, and Port Angeles as home bases after conversations last night. :: sigh :: It is time to figure out where we want to be settling for the winter. Of course all of our house furnishings and belongings exist in storage down towards Ashland and in Hood River, so that’s another whole conundrum in of itself.

The world itself has been weighing down on me stronger and stronger with all this hate, shootings, crime, high costs of living, and just how to survive. Presidential candidates are concerning and life next year a great unknown. We can only pledge to following our dreams and continuing on with the vision merging the magical realms back to the everyday existence – pursuing love, hope, and passions. There is so much to think about. ~ to be continued …” ~ Sir Thomas Leaf