Arabic
German
Portuguese
Chinese
Italian
Russian
Japanese
Spanish
French
Korean (About)
The first thing I noticed about moving to Los Angeles in 1999 was that it was a city that preyed on new life. It was obvious that few who moved there left with as much as they arrived with, if the left with anything at all. It's a predatory place. We hadn't arrived with much so this wasn't a fact lost on me even eight years into living there. I never had a day that I didn't look at the homeless people on the vacant lot across the street and think that that could be me one day. I said a lot of prayers there - for myself and for those that didn't make it. Survival has become a life long venture with us though. Maybe we are drawn to adventure - maybe adventure is drawn to us.
We had moved from New Mexico in 1990 with 36-cents, two free doughnuts from a Motel 6 on the highway, and 1/16 of a tank of gas in a (ahem) "borrowed", 30 year old Chevy Bonanza pick-up truck. We had had a huge fight. I wanted to leave and my mother thought I was crazy to go leave with no money and no place to go. I was loading the truck and she was unloading it over and over again while we argued. I would throw the sewing machine in - she would throw it out. Finally she conceded and before we ran out of gas we had sold enough of the crafts I had loaded into the truck to buy some more gas and go again. We were nearly a year sewing at night in motel rooms and selling crafts by day to survive.
A few years later we set out again - a car (not borrowed) full of crafts, a sewing machine, and two outfits each. We lived 19 months in 38 states of sewing and selling our crafts. I think we had about$20 dollars when we left that time.
When we moved to Los Angeles we left with little to sell and nearly 1800 miles between us and our destination. We twenty-five-bucked our way across the USA for months before we made it to LA. It took another year to save up enough money for an apartment. Our car died shortly after we arrived and I scoured the city on foot and by metro bus with a big, black, duffle bag over my shoulder full of toe rings that I sold to shops around the city. I remember one victorious day when I had been on 19 busses and made enough money to pay our motel bill for a week plus make 3 car payments on the car that had died but we were still paying for. One $2 toe ring at a time but I did it and still had enough cash left over for two 5-pound bags of oranges and a watermelon bought on the side of a road. It was a very good day!
Los Angeles was successful for us but not necessarily in the ways I had hoped. My attempt at an acting career failed but I learned a lot about computers. In the end, I left with more than I had come with. That early observation probably helped though. I consciously worked at building a net worth that couldn't be lost to a predatory city. I mean, I worked at learning all I could because I knew I couldn't lose that. Financially, it's a tough city and we didn't leave on the victorious end on that count.
We left with what we could afford to ship which was just the bare necessities - our paintings, our computers, our patterns, and little else. Bonnie made us a loaf of bread into peanut butter sandwiches and packed two 2-liter Coke's into our carry on bags. We purchased two Greyhound bus tickets at the Los Angeles station and had $21 cash left. We left the city on the same mode of transportation I had learned to navigate so well. Willy Nelson was playing "On the Road Again" on the radio as we pulled onto the highway and rode off into the desert. I slept most of the way.
We arrived in Lubbock, Texas to my awaiting father who I had not spoken to in 14 years. He looked the same - thinner, but familiar.
He had agreed to loan me a car to drive the rest of the way and keep until I could afford my own. As it turns out he gave me the car. A blue, ten year old, Chevy Malibu with 164,000 miles on it. More freedom than I had had in a very long time. We have history with cars, he and I, not necessarily an enviable one. We spent a day together, driving his new Prowler, vintage Mercedes, vintage Jaguar, and riding on the back of his Harley. It was a good day - a very good day!
I had not wanted to ask for gas money for the rest of the way so we packed in our four allowed bags, crafts (chenille teddy bears and barrettes) packed in vacuum sealed bags to squeeze as many in as we could. We planned to sell them on the way for gas and hotel money to Eastern Tennessee (1,600 miles). As we said our goodbyes at my dads house he told me which road to take out of town toward Dallas. Did I know the way? "Oh yes!". Oh no! Yes, I knew the way but I knew I couldn't make money that way and I only had six dollars left so I was going north for 100 miles to make some cash. I omitted this part.
Well, the cash part worked out. I had made enough money for a tank of gas + $111.00 but the cars transmission got stuck in park at a little town sqare about 100 miles noth of my dad and and about 9 hours in the wrong direction of where he thought I would be by then. I had to call him. His mechanics had serviced the vehicle and only they could tell me what to do. The conversation started "where are you?". I answered. It proceeded "why are you there?". I answered, "you know those four big bags you carried off the Greyhound for me. Well, they were full of tedddy bears & dolls that I am selling to make gas money to get to Tennessee". It got ugly shortly after that.
After dodging the angry dad (angry x-husband) bullet and making our way to Dallas, I was notified that my computers and all of our belongings had been delivered in Tennessee and left on the front porch of the house I had rented with no one to let them in. No signature. No explanation. And I didn't know a soul in Tennessee. My landlord lives 4 hours away in Georgia. What to do? hmmm........... I finally got a hold of land lord, who got a hold of a friend, who had a cousin, who had a friend, who knew someone, that would get the key and bring them in for $100 cash when I got here. Whew! Saved! Well.........sort of.......how many more bears to sell to make the $100. I guess I would have to worry about that on the way.
We worked it out in the end and I wound up in Tennessee a week or so later at 3 am. I had rented a house online before we ever started this venture. No way of getting here but a place to go. It all worked out in the end - things usually do.
For this little time our shop was closed and pattern shipments were delayed we apologize. And many thanks to my good friend Robin who helped me take care of things online while we were en route. Visit her Etsy store
My mother embroidered me a jacket when I was a little girl with a scruffy looking little kid on it. It said, "Please be patient, God isn't finished with me yet."
*** Note: If you missed the first piece of this story find it here: Home Sweet Home
Posts
