Carmen says the irony of being a longtime cycling activist who now technically lives in a motor vehicle is not lost on her, and she admits it provoked a hiccup of doubt before purchasing. Not letting past attitudes block future roads, Carmen recalled her wish only a few months earlier – “a place to call her own.” She laughs,”I had to admit I hadn’t been too specific on the details.”
As she puts it at “five feet fuck all,” she is proportionally perfect for the Green Turtle, an old school bus now converted into a tiny home on wheels. “I’m probably the only person who can do a full sun-salutation in here,” she says raising her arms barely skimming the wood-paneled ceiling. The bus’s beautiful wood interior, fashioned long ago from a dedicated and imaginative carpenter, and its functioning propane-fueled engine made moving it a realistic prospect but she is mostly interested in parking it.
“I wonder if they will let me put the bus here,” is how Carmen cast the spell initially while taking a walk on a friend’s acreage. With literally a million-dollar view, Carmen only shells out a few hundred for pad space with a. million-dollar view. I hauled my camera along for the launch of Carmen’s landship (not a bus, don’t say bus) from its old home on the seller’s foliage thick driveway to it’s cliff-side perch for the summer. The road to her chosen spot was so steep and narrow at times when looking at the smoke from her engine, I had to admit I wrestled with doubt. But she made it. Ali, the driver, expertly steered her up and through, parking her perfectly per Carmen’s instruction.
Out of a little sweat and worry, from the backseat on this little adventure came this short film, The Green Turtle Sails. Yes, and where’s the green? Well it was before the vessel was the glorious colour she is today but most certainly she was already green at heart. Carmen took a can of forest green to her over the summer, and now her amphibious nature is much clearer.
