Try to make a dollar out of 15 cents/Saturn in Virgo; Disciple to make a dream real

When I was a girl, I remember a rhyme we used to say that included the phrase about a Chinaman.  In those days, politican correctness had no meaning and in our neighborhood our own family was part of the Chinese.  The rhyme included "Chinaman, Chinaman sitting on a fence, try to make a dollar out of 15 cents."  Many times over in my life I've seen or heard the dictum of my Chinese ancestors being thrifty with their shackles and wise with their money and able to save pennies to make a dollar out of 15 cents. 

Today, there are few things you put your fingers on which are not made in China and that is an issue I'm not going to tackle with this string of words.  What is on my mind and in the foreground is the hard work involved in finding a place for us to live from our VardoForTwo.  A recent photo series chronicled our journey of building the tiny wheelie home and the places we have been since.  Last night Pete and I sat and discussed the details of our reality.  We will need to be on the move again, soon.  Through our discussion the missing details, the ones that I thought were clear showed no so clearly in Pete's thinking.  Pete came up with new information and together we stirred the emotions of fear that can come up when you're woken from a dream that is not grounded or not yet firm.

Molly Hall from About.com offers this angle on dreams not yet firm or not grounded with her article on

Saturn in Virgo:

Saturn is transiting in Virgo from September 2nd, 2007 to October 29th, 2009. After going into Libra, it will retrograde back into Virgo from April 7th to July 21st 2010.

Saturn in Virgo Themes: Discipline to make a dream real; going back to nature; discovering limitations of basic necessities; purification of body, mind, spirit; awareness of toxins in the environment, food, air; getting rid of non-essentials; establishing Cause & Effect in nature, business, work plans; becoming self-sufficient; being cautious about spending on extras; considering the needs of the community; thorough research that leaves no stone unturned; refinements to the fields of healing and medicine.

Further along in Hall's article she writes:

..."Saturn in Virgo is an ally for projects that call for precision, endurance and responsibility. It allows you to roll up the shirt sleeves, dig your hands in the mud, and create a self-sustaining system you can be proud of in the end. This might mean an actual garden, as in the nourishment of life. But it also means "cultivating your own garden" of talents through discipline. Saturn here helps you find a rhythm in the day that leads to a sense of productivity."

..."Saturn tends to bring out the fearful aspect of a sign, when not channeled in a way that feels stabilizing. That means we'll need to guard against nervous OCD-type worry that feeds on itself. It's helpful to find new outlets for the jittery physical energy of Virgo, such as crafts, gardening, martial arts, penning snail mail, book binding, yoga, tending to animals, volunteering, tree-hugging, giving and receiving massage, independent research, purifying in a sauna or hot tub, visiting a sacred place, creating an altar, researching enviro-toxins, home re-organizing, restorative nature projects, regular exercise, ritual cleansing, detoxing mind, body and spirit, and reaching for a new level of well-being...

Click here to read the entire article

VardoForTwo was a dream two years ago.  Two years ago last March, we lived from the Subaru and went from place to place with that "nervous OCD-type worry that feeds on itself" a constant condition.  Life in crisis is obsessive compulsion if not paralysis.  Each step of the way since that point in time in March Pete and I have moved gradually through the hard work Hall describes as a "call for precision, endurance and responsibility..."cultivating your own garden" of talents through discipline."  Life from VardoForTwo is a social and economic experiment.  When we are able to detach from worry and despair, it's possible to see and appreciate -- accept, what we cannot change.  Yes!  We will need to move from the yard where we have parked here in the Mill Town.  No, we do not yet know whether the next place will "work" or how long we can be there.

We can take small steps.

1. we can visit that next place early next week.
2. we know the painting next door will happen next week or not long after.
3. we know painting is toxic for me.
4. we know the vardo will need to be fit with running lights.
5. we know I can wear an ankle brace to support my recently discovered injury/break.
6. we know the Vardo keeps us safe.
7. we know we are committed to each other.
8. we try to live one day at a time.
9. we do the work of tending to our 'inner gardens' (Pete back at yoga, planting a garden, facilitating projects, learning to create a business; and me writing messages via the blog and communications-supporting wonderful people/friends new and long-term and healing old wounds and both of us learning to live creatively with MCS)
10. we know we have 15 cents. 
11. Is that enough? 

For now that will have to be enough to build on. 

Can you relate to the disciple and hard work of making a dream real?