Journal Entry Update
Written on Tuesday June 14th, 2022
It’s 40-something degrees outside. I’ve got on my winter cap and cashmere sweater. I’m in the front seat of the van typing and Mike’s in the back reading about cordwood building. Our Mr. Heater Buddy is on to take the cold off. Outside the sky is overcast in gray and the air hangs heavy with the threat of rain by the tonnage. There’s new snow on the mountain just down the road from where we’re currently parked.
To the untrained Montanan, this weather is unexpected and hella strange and causes people to say such things as: It’s almost summer for Pete’s sake! This is madness! And just to be clear, some of those untrained Montanans are folks who’ve lived here for years who simply refuse to meet this great state on its own terms - and sometimes that includes me. Developing such skillsets as going with the flow and being with the moment as it is, instead of mad willing it to be something different, are darn helpful in times like these - and also, just in general.
I woke up from my nap yesterday to find Mike on the phone with our good friend/realtor Aaron. We were working with a 5pm deadline to hear back from the sellers of a property for sale and Aaron had called to deliver the good news about our offer - which was a counter of their counter from the original offer we made 3-days prior - being accepted. Still in a daze from my napping state, it took me a little while to come on line and start processing what it all meant. Okay. Soooo. We’re land owners? They accepted our offer? We’re under contract?! Oh boy, here we go!
Once I shook off my nap and woke up proper, there was some swinging into action that needed to be done. There were disclosure docs to sign online and earnest money to transfer into our account, so we could write and send a check to the sellers ASAP, as per our buy/sell agreement. There was even a title lady in the small town of Superior, nearby to where the property is located, that we needed to chat with. We had set the closing date for July 1st, so things needed to move quickly.
Knowing that deals can fall through and there are still a few small hurdles to clear, I’m not keen on alerting the masses via social media post or email blast just yet. A few folks know at this point, but I think we’ll keep it on the DL until we’re a little more certain things are a go.
I’m a slow processor. A percolator, if you will. As such, it often takes me a little while to get in the spirit of things. While I knew we had a 5pm deadline yesterday to hear back from the sellers about our counter offer, I hadn’t really considered what it would mean if the outcome went in our favor. So often is the case: The idea of a thing and the actual experience of a thing are two really different animals.
This morning was spent talking with Aaron about next steps and making phone calls to inquire about property insurance, road easements, zoning, and other matters concerning physical due diligence on the land. We have until June 24th to do any fact checking we want to do regarding the land that might effect the purchase price or our interest moving forward with the sale. Given that today is the 14th, we don’t have a whole lot of time. We were mostly only able to leave phone messages and send emails. I reckon with staff shortages being what they are and many places being backed up with work, there’s a good chance we’ll just have to roll the dice and hope for the best when it comes to certain aspects of this land deal. Getting service industry or city/county folks on the phone these days is on par with trying to cross the ocean in a canoe. I dramatize of course, but you get the picture. It’s slow goin.
It’s 4:21pm and I’ll fix dinner around 5, before we head to a friend’s house at 7 for a date to watch a documentary on Netflix called Disclosure. The wind is rattling the trees into the van and rain is spurting in fits and starts. Amazingly enough, the forecast predicts a 90-degree day on Friday. We’re 4 men down in our 6 one-pound propane canister stock. We plan to fill em up tomorrow, which is a super great thing Mike learned to do that is way cheaper than buying them new. We use the canisters for both cooking and heat. Depending on Mr. Heater Buddy usage, 6 canisters will typically keep us rolling for a couple of weeks. On days like today, when we’re in hibernation mode inside the van, we can really crank through a canister to keep things warm on the home front. Still, with how small our footprint is, it doesn’t take much to get things toasty, and even with all of our many windows, the heat we generate retains longer than I think it would.
When I woke this morning, my mind instantly flooded with a long and menacing list of to-do’s, now that land buying and in-the-woods living will soon be a reality. And here I thought there was a steep learning curve to learning to live the van life. Off-grid living will be next level!
This is me reminding myself often: One step at a time, Nicole. That’s all anyone can do. Just take things one step at a time. Breathe, dear one. Keep breathing.