Curiosity Roving : V.25 : Great Divide
Curiosity Roving
The Grand Adventures of L Rose Goossen
V.25 : Great Divide
in which the tocks are ticking
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Greetings and Salutations!
Welcome to the twenty-fifth volume of Curiosity Roving. I thank you kindly for your attention. If you've missed any of my previous letters, they are always available in the archive: https://tinyletter.com/curiosity_roving/archive
In the time since I told you all about life at the lake, I was mostly just living it. I also enjoyed some wildly serendipitous opportunities to connect with an unexpected selection of friends and family, traveled to a couple of stunning scenic sites, and, facing both facts and music, roused myself from a very pleasant and healthy state of torpor to dismantle one version of heaven and chug along on to the next weird chapter in this long strange trip. I'm shipping out this letter from Austin, Texas, where, by the grace of God and my tax return, I will be installed in a housesitting job with three charming cats, one of whom shares my name, until sometime in May.
goodbye and helloWe are halfway through National Poetry Writing Month - in which I and thousands of other people around the world attempt to write one poem every day - so when I am not kitty-wrangling, I am fully employed in mining the murky depths of memory, imagination, and word on the street for the truest expressions that are available to me. If I wax poetic today, please indulge and excuse me. If you'd like to join in on the fun, it's at napowrimo.net.
Back in December, when my plans came to an end, I had three ideas for what I might do next. I wrote them on a piece of paper with the intention to make a list of pros and cons that would lend some practical and structured thought to my decision. I never made those lists - instead, I made an intuitive decision grounded in feeling that ultimately proved to have hilarious results - but I kept the paper, and in the end, I'm doing all three of those things: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Texas. Clockwork. It's a thrilling and surreal stunt to pull, and I'm grateful. Especially because it's still snowing in Canada.
destination = destinyI'm living in Girl Paradise. The usual inhabitant of this space has gone to Coachella to run a bike taxi, leaving me as temporary custodian for the feline residents (Rose, Felipe, and Paloma), as well as her piano, her sauna, her bathtub, her crystals, her jungle plants, and her record collection. The place is what we would call a wendy house in South Africa; basically, a little house behind the big house. It was built in the 1930s, and has been extensively decorated in colours, patterns, textures, and trinkets. I'm still recovering from the four days of travel and chaos that were required to get here and get settled. It's a relief to be back in Anglophone territory, and I'm excited to see my nascent local personality coming into its own. So far, Texas Rose is flamboyantly polite. If you have Austin recommendations, I will take them!
time-forgottenPeople who see my social media have historically been inclined to ask how my life "works". Like every other life, I guess it does and it doesn't. Magic, risk, uncertainty, instinct, effort, commitment, deep trust, personal connections, willing surrender, and a few well-honed skills all play a role in the alchemy of making the Thing Happen. Honestly, it's so messy over here - my mail, my money, my social circles, my paperwork, and my favourite things are splashed around the world, and the geography constantly interferes with access. I even get spam emails in six languages. I really wouldn't mind consolidating my existence a bit, but given that it took fifteen years to create this glorious mess, I reckon it might take at least another ten to clean it up.
i'm looking through youI live with the guilty pleasure of augmenting my life with many short-term rentals. By that I mean: when I need something, I buy it, and I use it, and then I abandon it to a fate independent of me. My cultural heritage is Mennonite, and we are a notoriously frugal people, but the reality of carting a life around from place to place is that you become accustomed to dropping whatever gets too heavy. In this season alone, I've blown through seven SIM cards, three yoga mats, three wallets, two mini-backpacks, untold bottles of cooking oil and shakers of salt and bags of coffee, and a couple of excellent purpose-purchased costumes. I've played bumblebee in the pollinating flight of English-language books through hostels, coffee shops, and Little Free Libraries. I've sunk hundreds of dollars into ATM fees, currency exchange, and onward tickets that I had no intention of ever using, and I've accepted that as the cost of doing business. Over the last few weeks, I threw out all of my shoes, socks, and underwear and completely replaced them. It took me just seven months to completely obliterate my high-end trail runners - a new record. Some people count steps; I count pairs of shoes.
On the other end of that extreme, I am also the proud owner of a large and carefully folded plastic bag from Qatar Airways that I've been carrying around for eleven years. You gotta know when to hold 'em.
passion is the nameReader, I've been making plans again. Next month will mark the four-year anniversary of Curiosity Roving (!). I'll write one or two more volumes, and then I'll go on hiatus. It's a good thing I know how to let a good thing go. Birthday number thirty-three is fast approaching, and certain astrologers have promised me the best year of my life. To that end, I've been investing in the future: I'll be working and living in Victoria, BC for July and August of this year. I just put a very large deposit on a very beautiful apartment in a very good location. Welcome to visit! I'm also looking for casual employment in June and September. Obviously, I am willing to travel for the right opportunity.
as above, so belowIf you've been enjoying the content that I create - this long and convoluted epic poem slash durational performance that is my life and the way I choose to share it with you - please consider supporting the art. I have links to my digital tip jars on three different platforms at the bottom of this letter. I lived many years as a street performer; the internet is now my street corner. Spare change?
If you yourself have experienced financial stress around basics such as food and shelter within the last six months, please do not donate.
next in lineI recently rewatched George Roy Hill's 1973 classic The Sting. In the final scene of that film, Robert Redford and Paul Newman have, with great effort, pulled off a very elaborate, successful, and profitable caper. They exchange a few words, instruct the many collaborators to collect their take, and shamble out together, empty-handed. Reader, this is how satisfied I am trying to be. It's always worthwhile to do a thing well, and with style.
The plain fact of it is that nothing compares. I'm a hopeless junkie for the road, for the window seat, for the sense of possibility, for the chilly dawn and the sweat of a hard ascent. I love to wonder what might happen next. I love to open the door, walk down the street, turn a corner, and find out. I think I might do that right now.
The plain fact of it is that nothing compares. I'm a hopeless junkie for the road, for the window seat, for the sense of possibility, for the chilly dawn and the sweat of a hard ascent. I love to wonder what might happen next. I love to open the door, walk down the street, turn a corner, and find out. I think I might do that right now.
Until next time, stay curious. -- Rose
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PayPal: GooseRoses@gmail.com
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