Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Privacy

I knew what I was getting myself into with a 3 week stay in Liberty Harbor RV Park. An absurdly over-priced gravel parking lot, with 270 degrees of the worst view in RV Park history.

Out either side window is nothing but gel-coated walls of the big rigs beside me, our slides almost touching. The crunch of footsteps in the gravel right beneath my bedroom window is just the guy next door checking his hook-ups. And passing outside the front window numerous times per day is the lovely “Honey Wagon” being pulled behind a back-hoe that can be heard long before it is seen (thankfully not smelled!) rumbling down the narrow one way lane performing a necessary service in a fifty-site RV Park with no sewer hook-ups.

Twenty bucks to “bring out yer dead!”

Construction on all sides, both from Manhattan’s “Urban Sprawl” as well as the ravages of Hurricane Sandy.

Jack hammers, wrecking balls, and background back-up beeps all day long

But oh, that remaining 90 degree view! Mountains and canyons of glimmering steel and glass rising up out of one of the world’s busiest rivers can make one feel like they have a finger on the pulse of the whole wide world.

My brother Don came to meet me here. Like so many other places in the world, we both share the same appreciation for the cultural melting pot, where you can hear a half a dozen different languages on any given street corner, and food from any ethnicity can be had from 212-TAKE-OUT or www.delivery.com. Besides, I hadn’t seen him since May when I headed East and he went South to Mexico, so we were long overdue for a visit.

Don makes some welcome repairs to the drafty bedroom window.

Our family is all poised, waiting for the “big blow-up.” They all expect any minute for word to come that one or the other of us is wanted for homicide. No one believes that we can survive together in such “close quarters.” I keep reminding everyone, “It’s no different than a boat!” which we came away from unscathed in years past. But with me chained to the desk while working, and him free to roam and explore, we are more like “ships that pass in the night” rather than crew mates.

Will my little dinette ever be the same? 😉

What time we have spent together has been on making improvements to the RV, and near futile attempts at improvements to my signal strength. I thought being here in the shadow of Manhattan, the center of the world, it would be one place I could finally relax and not have to worry about connectivity. Instead, it is the worst connection I have had since I went full time. It took sending the Yagi antenna up the ladder to coax out 3 bars of 3G service from Verizon.

A boost from the Yagi antenna helps, along with Google Earth, which helped me reserve a space under one of the only trees on the lot!

When one has free maintenance and tech support on board, one must make certain they never go thirsty. Looks like there is enough “ethnicity” in this neighborhood to keep both siblings happy for a while!

3 thoughts on “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Privacy

  1. That’s Gonzo Urban Wilderness Camping at it’s best…which is to say, worst. I guess there are sacrifices to be made to Boondock with a “Man-hat view,” as Ms Gabor use to sing. Where next, Wall Street? White House Lawn?
    Box Canyon Mark

    • Why, Park Avenue, of course! “Darlin’ I love ya, but gimme Park Avenue”! (You crack me up!) My soul is steering me back to the wild of nature and all things “un-Gonzo Urban.” Soon, very soon…

  2. RV Parks are always a challenge for me but sometimes necessary. I do believe that may be one of the worst I’ve seen. Hopefully you’ll be back to more elbow room soon. Aren’t brother’s great 🙂

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