I park every day next to to the orange VW

 The house is coming along.

Some "upcycled" steps that Justin found at the dump. Our dump is a combo recycling center and a lot of people on the island make their houses and things out of scavenged materials. Our steps needed to be replaced. This was a perfect find.

Justin & Crew are still painting the house, and have been working crazy hard. I'll be in Virginia Beach for another week and then back. Five more days of work, one day of continuing education and one day of rest... Next month I'll work four days in Virginia Beach and that's enough for the rest of the year.

I went to work in Virginia Beach so the boys painted our house

I started working on the outside of our house but ended up getting a fill-in job in Virginia Beach for the month of October so I hung up my painter suit and wasn't sure how we were going to get it all done. I've painted several houses and was really excited to work on this one... ours together! Shortly after I headed north, Justin talked his brother and our neighbor Dave (a fun character) to come over and help get the place in order. All three of them have been working their pants off for at least two weeks. Here are some of the updates:

Backyard construction zone. Well, cleaning up stuff anyway. This is a little old but it's cute.

This here photo is to show you the nasty green that we were getting rid of. There were actually THREE different shades of equally hideous green on the trim of the house. (We postulated they were all "oops" paint- so damn ugly!)

I will tell you the top side of this side of the house did not need any prep-- all the paint had fallen off already. It was previously red.

 

 Makeshift scaffolding. (Justin says "redneck scaffolding".)

 Crazee Dave (that's how he likes to spell it) in flip flops on said scaffolding!

We painted the porch roof a beautiful olive green. Get away nasty green! This is Dave. He said to Justin, "Every board I paint, I just think, 'I hope Sara likes this'" Oh man they are funny!

 More porch.

So the main color-- just a few shades lighter than my mini cooper. Also matches our tea kettle which of course I picked out. However I did not suggest that we paint the house this color, Justin did. But you know that I was in full agreement! It is pretty happy and beautiful. And I think no one will miss seeing our little beach cottage on the side of the back road.

On Materialism

Moonlight & Art (Hampton Roads)

 [these are the streets by my house]

 [i love the muted colors of night]

This month, I've been in Virginia Beach, a self-imposed exile to make some money and have a little alone time before I return home to just the two of us. Our roommate Ed is moving out by November 1st, and we'll have the house to ourselves. This means I'll be getting my own room (aka personal creative space), to keep my sanity, and the two of us can work on our life together. We'll be down to just one dog, Bailey, and zero cats. Amen. Amen. I'm not religious but that makes me feel quite thankful. I'm still a little allergic to cats.

I've been working six day weeks, which is definitely not enough free time to have a life. But this is temporary, so no worries. Late at night, while I talk to Justin or my family, I walk the neighborhood streets. This area is safe, and the dimly-lit streets often shimmer with rain as the cool air beckons me to continue my walk.

I'm really enjoying fall.

Since returning to Hampton Roads, I've started up again temporarily with the community band, explaining my gypsy situation to them. They're so sweet. The first night I returned, the conductor said, "Sara Schultz is back from Carolina!" Very welcoming.

With space and time alone again, I've been dabbling in art, mostly colored pastels but a little oil paints. I've got a couple other creative pursuits in the wings which are not yet to be revealed. Good news abounds, and I look forward to this winter and dark nights under the covers.

[driving around Hampton roads today in my self-repaired hat]

 [a rendition of a farm we drove by in PA at the Mother Earth News Fair]

 [this is the orange VW from the Walmart Parking lot]

The People of Walmart

"You know that orange VW van in the parking lot?" I asked my assistant, Felecia.

"Yeah, is that yours? I saw it and thought maybe it was yours and you were sleeping in the parking lot!" She was laughing.

I'm filling in at Walmart. Every day I park next to the VW van because it makes me happy. She'd seen my actual car too, with the magnets on the side for Justin's advertising business. 

It doesn't take long for the staff to figure out I'm a gypsy.

I dress up like a doctor. In corduroy skirts, sweaters and smart boots. I don't go as far as applying make up. But I wash my face and pull my hair back.

After a month and a half away from the clinic, I'm fresh and unburdened. Patient care comes naturally and I know I'm really making connections because my patients are open with me, and we're all laughing by the end.

The truth is I hate Walmart. I'm morally opposed to the place. When I returned to the states, my sister Molly used to ask me if it was ok if we went there. And it was. After four years overseas, I'd begun to understand why people liked shopping there. Everything under one roof, open 24 hours a day in some locations.

But I've gone back to my old ways, and I've personally banned the place due to their employment practices and their impact on the local community. I'm not sure how I feel about working alongside the optical shop there. But it's on a temporary basis and I need to keep my skills up to successfully pass the NC boards.

I decided that I wouldn't shop in Walmart the entire time I worked there. Then upgraded my challenge to not even set foot inside. And finally encompassed the whole shopping area surrounding the store (which includes any store you could ever dream of within about a ten block radius) to say that I am not going to buy anything except groceries.

Patients want to know what I'm doing there. When I tell them I live in the Outer Banks and just work when I want, it's met with usually acknowledgement of a good choice but sadness that I won't be there next time. The patients of Walmart are actually about half insured. Mostly black. Lots on Medicaid.  Only a few unemployed. Hard-working, basic people.

One woman who was about sixty with grey long hair and a heavily lined narrow face, asked me what I liked to read. I told her, "sustainability stuff, gardening, modern fiction, memoir." She kind of whispered, "Like Mother Earth News?" And when I nodded. "Are you a Hippie?"

I shrugged, "Maybe."

Then, "I took LSD!"

I didn't know what to say to that. Uhh thanks for sharing? I'm not that kind of hippie. But anyway. That's my patients. They spill everything.

Mostly I like the regular people who I see. I've yet to be mistreated by a patient, something which happened regularly by the retired military, ex-officer, NATO crowd.

My assistant is a sweet smart 25 year old from New Jersey. We keep the office peppy and it's actually even fun to be at work. Even if it's a Walmart. And I'm doing six days a week. It's only for a month, and then I'll be back to the Boonies of the Outer Banks for a while.