life's a gamble

so deal already...

close encounters

i marked the beginning of 2010 while camping in death valley. a better way to begin the new year i could not have asked for. the weather was good, even though we had one chilly, overcast day. didn't matter. much in the way of atv noises, both from a neighboring dune system (where they're allowed), and closer to us (where they're illegal.) didn't matter. i returned feeling drained of any and all tension, with a clarity of purpose and vision befitting starting a new year.
and we had a visitor.

(not my photo-found on the web.)

this one showed up at midnight on new year's eve. guess she was looking for a party to crash. she found one in my food box. there is evidence to support a theft of fudge by friend fox. a rather brazen one, it took the throwing of a rock to finally convince her that the party she was looking for was elsewhere. good fox medicine for the next year.
and for the first time in years, i was awake when the new year rolled in!

then there were these folks.

fortunately, these weren't too near our campsite. we did spot some about a mile away, big ones. not a cat you want to keep in the house-or tent.

and we saw several groups of these..

i am in total accordance with the urge to go barefoot in the sand. but geez, look, ROCKS here-and a lot of them! (there's a rock post coming, by the way.) if we hadn't seen more than one set, i would have thought it a prank.

there were also bird and snake prints galore. i couldn't get a decent shot of either of those. the light was not forgiving of a rookie photographer.

there's more to be said about this trip (rock post!). there are more photos to put up, more thoughts to be shared. for now-
happy new year, all.
set your intentions, and act accordingly!

turn left at the joshua tree

all the folks with whom i would usually have thanksgiving are out of town this year. so, in a fit of emotional equilibrium, i decided i'd better do something other than sit at home and suck the mop.

thanksgiving morning, i packed up my camping gear and headed to the mojave, hoping that most folks would be at someone's house, either having a good time or making each other miserable. in either case, i had a shot at getting the campsite i can reach in my low-ground-clearance, definitely not off-roadable car.

and it worked!

i was there by 9:30am, and all set up by 10:30am. there was one camper near me, no big deal. i had a fire ring, a flat spot for my tent, and a gorgeous juniper tree above. i was thankful. and then i was hiking.

i wish i was more eloquent with the written word. i am, most assuredly, a talking woman. i learn better, think more creatively, connect ideas more rapidly, in conversation. (and no, talking to myself doesn't count, most of the time.) i would very much like to be able to describe what happens when i'm out in the desert, by myself. the noise in my head stills. my thoughts slow. my vision is sharpened. the only sound is that of my footfalls. occasionally, a bird will chime in an opinion. my entire physiology calms. i can breathe. i feel whole. silence heals.

so i walked and walked. i discovered 2 other campsites that i think i can safely get to in my car, farther from the road. i took some photos. i sucked up as much silence as i could contain.

as i'm sure you've noticed, it gets dark early these days. so at 4:00, i built a fire. good thing, since the temperature dropped quickly out there. i got to do my second favorite thing when camping, play with fire! it had been pretty windy all day, and it didn't slow down much in the evening. the fire burned hot and fast, and i sat as close as i could get without melting the soles of my shoes. (i've done that in the past.) as the fire burned down, the lantern came on. i love lanterns. another form of fire, with a different sound and a different glow. by 6:30, i was in the tent, in my sleeping bag. the wrong sleeping bag, as it turned out. that's a post unto itself.

i fell asleep reading, and dreamed odd dreams. i woke periodically, thinking i was in a straight jacket-it was the sleeping bag.

this morning it took me an hour to talk myself out into the cold. once i was out of the tent, the path was obvious. go hike. so i did.

there were more people about today, more campers, more hikers. even with that, if it hadn't been for that damn sleeping bag, i would have stayed another night. or 3. so i packed up, slowly, and drove home. slowly.

prickly love

well, this trip confirmed it. i'm in love.

in the spring of '08, i drove to ventura, california for a brain gym training, which took me through the mojave national preserve for the first time. the desert grabbed my heart, with no plans to surrender it.

time passed, with no further contact, and the thrill of new love abated. i put it in the box marked "oh well", and moved on.

about a month or so ago, having had it's praises sung to me again, i drove back to the preserve, to take another look.
and wham! in love all over again.
we made plans to meet again, the desert and i, and soon.

i spent one night there, camped out under more stars than i've seen in a very long time. i remembered camping skills and knowledge long unused, under the kind and gracious tutelage of one more experienced. i also remembered, too damn late, that i need more padding under me than most do, when sleeping on the ground. damn but my ass hurt.

on halloween weekend, i got to spend 2 nights there. this was truly a treat better than candy, and i like candy! treats included:
-hikes, where we found 3-4 deflated mylar balloons, in disparate locations, for different occasions. huh? why?
-reading, or more accurately, being read to, when the reader could quell the laughter spasms that threatened to asphyxiate him! it was a very funny book, one that now i don't have to read!
-writing, a draft of this that bears no resemblance to the final posting. as i was staring at the mountains in the distance, i found myself musing about time and space, and that since they're the same thing, perhaps i was seeing into the future? you betcha.
-a smoldering campfire that stunk up the tent all night, and yes, it was a treat to me. not everyone shared my opinion. this was the same campfire that regularly shifted to blow smoke at us during dinner-that i could have lived without.
-and some of the best, and longest nights' sleep i've had in a very long time.

the moon was 99% full, and hugely bright, the only light needed during the middle-of-the-night pee walk, bright enough to keep me awake, shining through the tent skin.

oh yes, the wildlife. 2 ravens, apparently hoping we were dead and available, sorely disappointed. we tried to explain to them that we were old and stringy, mostly bones, and not very tasty. they were not convinced.
a jackrabbit, bounding off to parts unknown. a real treat, that, since they're scarce on the ground these days.
and a horned toad-tiny,tiny, in a place and at a time of year when they're not usually seen.
and since it was halloween, of course there was a bat.

i have to throw this in. i really like being naked outdoors. skinnydipping has always been a favorite activity. now i like skinnydipping in the sun, and the moonlight. and no, there are no pictures. be grateful.

all this leads up to this: in the month of october, i've had 2 of the best times i've had in the last 3 years, excluding yoga and dancing stuff. these times involved a lot of dust and sweat, sleeping on the ground, eating things that came out of cans, getting my ass scrubbed by bushes while peeing, watching for snakes, and other things too numerous to mention.

now THIS is my idea of a good time.