If it’s the new year, it must be time to visit the Renaissance Festival, and if it’s 2003, it could be the sixth or seventh time we’ve driven out this way just past Mesa to spend the day getting sunburned, fatter, and poorer.

Ah, the Ded Bob Show. A crowd favorite every time.

Besides the turkey legs, blazing sun, and great entertainment, we are out here for the artists and craftspeople who make all manner of really cool, often expensive, stuff. Many of the decorations in our apartment are from right here, including art pieces from Bungled Jungle, a metal smith who makes some great dragon mirrors, a broom maker, our didgeridoo, some jewelry, and then there’s this weaver.

Caroline has been eyeballing master weaver Margaret Fischer’s work every time we come to the Ren Fest. While Greentree Weaving holds a special place in Caroline’s heart, the cost of these works is not cheap, and at about $250 for the Ruana above, she debates with herself and ultimately talks herself out of buying one. Someday, she’ll give in.

Goodbye condo. You ultimately proved too expensive and incompatible with our desire to travel more. The thousand dollars a month we can save by renting a smaller apartment feels well worth the downsizing at this time. It does come with a bit of ego-bruising for me as this is America, and we are measured by our material wealth more than any other aspect of who we are. Success implies we must drive the right car and have the right address.

Oh well, that’s not ultimately very important. How much we laugh, cry at profound beauty, hold hands when walking into a forest we are enchanted with, buy a fridge magnet of a lighthouse we visited, or cringe at the worst, saggiest bed we’ve ever slept in, these things are important as they are our experiences and not our belongings or material objects to put on display to impress others. With a bittersweet look back at Unit 1089, we depart and move on to new adventures.