May13

Thankful Thursday May 2021

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Photo by Caleb Chen on Unsplash

Thankful Thursday posts can be challenging. They can quickly become boring when I mention gratitude for the same things month after month. Don’t get me wrong. I AM always thankful for my health, plenty of food, friends, and people who support me and my writing, but I don’t know if folks want to read about the same things every month. So please know that while I’m going to mention new things for which I am thankful, I still appreciate all the people and things I told you about last month too.

Without further ado, the people and things I am thankful for this Thursday in May 2021.

I appreciate Dave who made a monetary donation last month, as well as Shannan who has set up an automatic monthly donation for me through PayPal.

Thanks to Rena, Ben, and Samantha who bought hats from me in April and to Enid, Laurie, Kat, Maggie, Laura-Marie, and Barbara who bought some of my “With Love from the Desert” postcards. Every time someone buys an item I’ve created, my spirits are lifted, and I’m a little closer to making ends meet.

Thanks so much to my Patreon patrons too. I appreciate their monthly monetary support. I hope they enjoy the extra content (only available on Patreon) that they receive from me.

I’m so grateful to my friend Richard of @cajunvantravelers, a graphic artist who is totally revamping my logo to include my minivan. I’ve really enjoyed my current logo which was drawn by the lovely, sweet, talented Samantha Adelle who sadly passed away at the end of 2019. However that logo harks back to my conversion van days, and I really want to feature my Sienna in the design that represents me. I’ll be very excited to unveil my new logo soon. I can’t wait to get stickers featuring the new design and do more sticker trades.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

My friend Brent visited me (outside in a park, masked, safely distanced) right before I left home for the summer. I was really pleased he took time out of his travels to spend a couple of hours chatting with me.

I’m very grateful for the summer house and dog sitting gig that has already begun. I’m living in an apartment in a small mountain town where summer temperatures will be bearable. The dog behaves well and is very sweet. I’m enjoying a lot of space in the apartment, as well as the full-size refrigerator, stove, oven, and shower. I’m glad to spend the next several months here.

Before I began house sitting, I visited friends in Phoenix. I’m extremely thankful for the hospitality they showed me while I was there. I appreciate the meals, the games, the laughs, the use of the laundry facilities, and the drive-in puppet show. It was a good time for me.

My sibling bought me an old school manual typewriter and had it spiffed up with a new ribbon and typewriter tune-up. It is grand, and I love it so much. It won’t replace my laptop, but it will be fun to write letters on it and use it to type up bits for collages. I am so grateful for this fine gift.

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

I’m doing well. My life is good. As always, I have so much to be thankful for.

Thank you for reading! I’m always grateful for my readers. If you want to offer some financial support, I would be grateful for that too. To make a one-time donation, click on the “donate” button at the top of the column on the right. To become my patron on Patreon, click on the “Become a patron” button just under the search bar at the top of the column on the right. Folks who follow me on Patreon get extra content that I don’t share anywhere else. Depending on at what level you chose to support me, you can receive email updates, letters and postcards in the mail from me, stickers, buttons, a custom made hemp bracelet and/or a collage I created.

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About Blaize Sun

My name is Blaize Sun. Maybe that's the name my family gave me; maybe it's not. In any case, that's the name I'm using here and now. I've been a rubber tramp for nearly a decade.I like to see places I've never seen before, and I like to visit the places I love again and again. For most of my years on the road, my primary residence was my van. For almost half of the time I was a van dweller, I was going it alone. Now I have a little travel trailer parked in a small RV park in a small desert town. I also have a minivan to travel in. When it gets too hot for me in my desert, I get in my minivan and move up in elevation to find cooler temperatures or I house sit in town in a place with air conditioning I was a work camper in a remote National Forest recreation area on a mountain for four seasons. I was a camp host and parking lot attendant for two seasons and wrote a book about my experiences called Confessions of a Work Camper: Tales from the Woods. During the last two seasons as a work camper on that mountain, I was a clerk in a campground store. I'm also a house and pet sitter, and I pick up odd jobs when I can. I'm primarily a writer, but I also create beautiful little collages; hand make hemp jewelry and warm, colorful winter hats; and use my creative and artistic skills to decorate my life and brighten the lives of others. My goal (for my writing and my life) is to be real. I don't like fake, and I don't want to share fake. I want to share my authentic thoughts and feelings. I want to give others space and permission to share their authentic selves. Sometimes I think the best way to support others is to leave them alone and allow them to be. I am more than just a rubber tramp artist. I'm fat. I'm funny. I'm flawed. I try to be kind. I'm often grouchy. I am awed by the stars in the dark desert night. I hope my writing moves people. If my writing makes someone laugh or cry or feel angry or happy or troubled or comforted, I have done my job. If my writing makes someone think and question and try a little harder, I've done my job. If my writing opens a door for someone, changes a life, I have done my job well. I hope you enjoy my blog posts, my word and pictures, the work I've done to express myself in a way others will understand. I hope you appreciate the time and energy I put into each post. I hope you will click the like button each time you like what you have read. I hope you will share posts with the people in your life. I hope you'll leave a comment and share your authentic self with me and this blog's other readers. Thank you for reading.  A writer without readers is very sad indeed.

I'd love to know what you think. Please leave a comment.