Seeking Reason

The sun is rising behind the mountains east of Bouse. The last of my coffee steams in my cup as I sort the words in my head.

Yesterday in the quiet of a desert afternoon we enjoyed the company of our good friends Mark and Bobbie. They are traveling through to link up with others of their wide circle in the Arizona desert.

Last evening we enjoyed a meal and laughter with Jerry and other friends in his camp a short ways away.

This morning I sip my coffee while my ipod sings the sound track of The Last of the Mohicans in my ears.

I see history, unstoppable, unfolding around me and I often feel like Hawkeye and Chingachgook must have felt as they saw the beauty of what they knew slipping away under the weight of a thoughtless civilization.

A conversation from that film sends echoes through my heart whenever I try to speak with people of our current times; and of our place in history.

Hawkeye was speaking to Cora as they lay hiding in the dark, pursued by French forces;

Chingachgook, he warned me about people like you He said "Do not try to understand them". 

Yes, and, "do not try to make them understand you. That is because they are a breed apart and make no sense".

It speaks more eloquently of the feelings of futility I get when I speak to many people about the treasure we had in this land. It lays out the total lack of understanding I see in their eyes and hear in their words when we speak of what should, or must, or can not be done.

There is no communication between us for; "They are a breed apart and make no sense."

It lays a heavy weight on my heart. I see what is, and what will be, and I stand impotent to turn it.

I hear people say; "It makes no matter. We must do something. Even if it is wrong. Even if common sense says it will fail. Even if our actions exacerbate what's been done to us. We must do something! We must act."

What is the value of life if every limb has been cut away? If your eyes have been removed? If your ears are deafened to the music of the wind? If your heart has been cut out and can no longer feel?

What value remains in life if you are insulated from all sensation of sorrow, and love; anger and compassion, melancholy and laughter by a grey blanket of imagined security?

If you eliminate all that was of worth, all that stimulated your senses and intellect... only for the sake of imagined security... of what value is the remaining mere existence?

For me; "There comes a point when doing what is necessary to survive... You render survival worthless."

I fail to remember who spoke those words originally. They are what drives me forward. I can only say that when I am confronted by that situation... I will simply cease to survive. I will not fearfully seek existence for survival's sake.

... It MUST retain Value or it has no purpose.

Brian

Standing Back to Consider the Reflection

A man leaves his momma's house and sets off on life's journey. When he's nineteen his way seems so sharp and clear... He's not going to follow the way everyone else has gone by God! He's going to carve his own trail. Make his own tracks.

An old man steps off on a journey, his intent to erase the years of diversion, distraction, misdirection, manipulation and mistake... He rebukes himself for years of buying into the lie and the phony game, only to fall prey to the same false game that claimed the others... sheep led by judas goats.

Each steps off sure in the knowledge that he has a clear eye. Fully aware of the wind he is running against. Both stride confident in the knowledge that they now recognize the source of that wind and can walk away from that which they each revile, whenever it shows its face.

The winds rise around both of 'em. The dust clouds their eyes and storms obscure their goals. The paths they follow drift unnoticed from the trail they'd set out on. Their attention is concentrated on the never ending struggle against the unceasing wind. One day they stop to catch their breath and look up; each from where his eyes were focused so hard in finding purchase on the trail for his next step...

... their eyes widen, touched by a short sensation of panic. All is strange yet weirdly familiar.

Slowly recognition begins to dawn. Stunned they drop heavily to sit in the middle of the path. Eyes wide they sit, mouths hung open in astonishment. Each shifts his gaze from behind him to what lays before... and back again. They slowly sift through their confusion until the cold reality works its way to the top and becomes undeniable.

Young and old, they'd blindly returned to the very place they'd set out to escape from. They'd unknowingly been herded full circle right back to the beginning.

Society doesn't like resistance. It abhors diversity and asymmetrical, outside the box thinking. True independence is a philosophy it pays lip service to yet has a deep seated revulsion for. Thought outside the proffered doctrine is punished with ridicule. Adherence to accepted mores and philosophy is rewarded with ever more regimentation and demand for obedience.

Finally the light of anything new is choked off by the sheer weight of the height and breadth of the wall of grey sameness and all opportunity for change is extinguished.

New ideas are acceptable only if they are old and well worn ideas.

Society has a sadistic ability to camouflage its lust for control under the perception, the facade... of Freedom; while it applies just enough unseen force and pressure to slowly, imperceptibly turn the most dedicated bunch quitter full circle and back into the herd. As the fisherman applies pressure to his line to wear down and land his trophy catch, society applies unceasing pressure to wear down the ideas of individual freedom that find space to germinate in a man's soul.

While it may allow a man to think he has escaped the assault of those who would rule and use his life... it waits. Patiently, omnisciently, maliciously, pressure is applied; family opinions, economics, arbitrary and arduous regulations, the seemingly unrelated comments by strangers falling out of a blue clear sky...

... but chips every one. Chips taken from the foundation on which he stands and placed one at a time in the growing burden surreptitiously loaded on his back during the storms...

It is that burden that blocks the path ahead. It has them sitting dumbstruck, confused and betrayed. It is the very same burden both thought had been thrown down and left behind.

We are all skillfully handled to be our own jailers.

The Defense of Freedom... the preservation of Liberty is a task that can not be performed one time and then forgotten. It is an ongoing labor.

You must brush a horse before each saddling. You must constantly check and recheck the status of your machinery to ensure that it is ready when needed.

As with life, Freedom cannot be supported by a single act. You most continue breathing with each step. As you must constantly breathe through every moment of your life, the Defense of Freedom must occupy in some way, part of everything you do, from birth to death.

You can not serve a tour in the army and then say; "OK, that job is done. My Freedom is won" and put it on a shelf. To survive, Freedom must occupy a conscious place in every moment of every day of your life. To survive, Freedom must be Lived in. It must be exercised or it will surely perish from apathy.

The old man and the boy... sit for a time... side by side. Then slowly, resignedly... determined and unyielding they stand... look at the blockade ahead... slowly they shake their heads with a smile of understanding... turn, and walk away...

...With a fresh recognition of and appreciation for their Freedom they strive to lift up every fiber of it.

-Brian

There's No Desert Dust Botherin' Anybody 'round Here!

 ***edit. Didn't get this posted till Sunday night because it somehow didn't post and I didn't catch it till then! ;) weirdness in the desert.***

Give this desert another week and there should be some green and maybe even some seldom seen flowers poppin'.

I'd left the awning up for the sake of soakin' up the desert sun since the days haven't been over warm. When I saw the clouds darkening up, and with the forecast saying pretty much ~ it is gonna rain ~ I decided it'd be nice to have a dry spot beside the rig so I stretched it out Friday at noon time. Got the tie down straps pegged in place and my butt in a chair in the shade just in time.

It started drippin' shortly before suppertime Friday and didn't stop until mid afternoon Saturday. 18 hours or better of nearly constant, soft, soaking rain.

There's pools of water in rock pockets up and down all the lil' washes and gullies. You even have to watch your step here and there where over the eons a bit of softer sediment has built up in some spot along the shoulder of a slope or at the bottom. Those spots where some depth could be built up are soft! ;)

My sister and brother-in-law stopped and laid up with us for a couple days on their way back to the valley of the sun. They pulled out in the rain long about thirteen hundred I guess it was... That's 1 p.m. for you civilian sorts.

We had to wait for three or four more hours for the rain to stop and then some time for things to firm up enough to get out and get some fresh air. Finally got to stretch my legs just before sunset.

You can only play cards cooped up inside for so long after being cooped up inside for a week of wiggly quivers. We weren't the only ones enjoying stretching our legs and our lungs out in the open air...

As we crossed over the ridge west of camp to cross over coming home to supper... the sun made for a soft glow from everything.

The quiet is returning to the desert after the "Big Show"... the hordes are depleted. Most returned to whatever they allow to hold them down in the settlements.

As tough as it can get out here, when resources are low and the wind is high; I can't conceive of the day when this would roll inferior to town. 

Brian

A New Day ~ A New Camp

This morning broke in another new camp with one of those sailors warning Sunrises I guess. Don't know as I'll worry much out here in this desert.

The scent is in the air that we had yesterday morning as well. It had "rained" a couple of what's called in Arizona "a six inch rain" in the night. That's when you have one decent sized drop... every six inches.

I savor the scent of the desert after such a rain or just about any rain. It releases a perfume unlike anywhere else. The mountains have their pine scented tang... the sea its own personality...

To me, the rain freshened desert is fresh, and clean and sweet. Somehow the freshened fragrances of Arizona sand, rocks, cactus and Paloverde floating on the sun bleached desert breeze combines into an intoxicating brew that slows the pulse.

If I could put it in a bottle I'd have a masterpiece.

* Arizona Morning *

We had another six incher in this camp sitting around a campfire of mesquite and paloverde last night shortly before bed.

Looking up at a partly overcast sky in the widely scattered drops with the moon peaking out of the clouds and Jupiter shining brightly... a Coyote yipped a few hundred yards out in the dark.

Whether I was a 21st century Cowboy Biker camped on the desert... or an 17th Century Apache sitting by that fire... the desert cared little...

If you cropped out the reflection of the fire on the walls of the rigs... and only took in the moon, the stars... the shapes of the mesquites behind camp flickering in the firelight... and the Coyote singing in the distance... I don't know or care either.

Back into the Quiet
Brian

My! Don't I Feel Better!

It's nice to be able to say that! After the better part of a week of squirming and moaning... I believe I'll live. Heidi is running  day or so ahead in her recuperation. Whew. I'll tell you what... if you see somebody coughing in a parking lot turn around and find another route to where you were goin'!

A neighbor catches this crap? Close your windows. Smile through the glass and wave as you leave! This is a nasty bit of crud, for sure and for certain! Do what you gotta do to not get it. I came edge teetering close to it fallin' off into pneumonia with that bubbling in my lungs baloney... but managed to dance around it I believe.

The real difficulty I've got with it will be a lil' more long term. For me, anything that renders me immobile for a few days, that starts breaking down muscle condition, cripples me up pretty good. The bones in my spine are really just lumps of calcium held in a roughly vertical position by whatever muscle a cranky old mountain windbag like me retains.

The problem for me comes in with the fact that when bedridden you lose approaching 3% of muscle tone, if not mass a day. So... in the time of a week; that opens up a fairly sizable hole in the fairly rickety assembly I began with!

Yeah, the next couple weeks will be a gimpy bit of walking replacing that thin bit of muscle tone... So I can return to that normal Mr. America Bod all the ladies adore so!

There's a second affliction that jumps up in the way as well. I think I've shared it with you some in the past. It's a neurological syndrome well documented across the west; commonly referred to as CADD; Cowboy Attention Diversion Disorder.

It's a multifaceted affliction with no known cure and few treatments of reliable efficacy.

The disorder is diagnosed in an individual of the cowboy persuasion when (3) three distinct brain pan abnormalities are identified to be occurring at the same time. While it is not a fourth abnormality or a required observation; it is very common for caregivers to hear, and lends strength to their diagnoses; when a certain phrase is softly muttered by a glassy eyed schemer as he sips his cup of morning joe, trying to conjure a way to get a ten ton rig up a trail built for the width of a Javalina; If I Only...

1. The subject displays a hyper active rate of acquisition of all the material possibilities presented by any given situation. Since situations are generally fluid, the acquisitions tend to cascade like a kaleidoscope in a continuous flow of flashing lights and colors through his conscious thoughts.
2. Actions to employ any of the flow of real and exciting possibilities are stymied by anemic financial assets obstructing the real time engagement of interesting alternatives. Which produces and agitating frustration.
3. Syndrome acceleration. That obstruction of engagement and the resulting agitating frustration combine and have their energies redirected toward the first component of the syndrome, resulting in a geometric acceleration of the cascade, obviously aggravating the severity of the afflicted subjects disorder.

Uh huh... layin' about, too sick to sleep, to queasy to sit up or even hold your eyes open to play ee-lek-tronic solitaire... and a mind afflicted with any of the hyper active syndromes is like turning an 18 year old kid loose in Vegas... There's BOUND to be trouble!

So now I'm fighting through the pile of ideas stacked up in my head the past week like the crumpled sheets of paper laying on the floor around the typewriter based word whittler of old.

Yup... pretty much getting back to normal around this asylum.

Have to move today. Good thing I mended sufficiently in time! Our 14 day limit has run its course... so we're bumping over to one of our favored camps around Bouse somewhere.

On the Mend
Brian

Excuses for Absent Minded Bloggers...

Been layin' around camp the past three days... fighting off the flue. First she got it. Then I made my ride to Phoenix for those specialty bolts to replace my temporary fix... and when I got back Penny Walters and her husband were waiting...

I was Suuuuuuposed to have been back a lot earlier... BAD COWBOY! NO BEER! Well... we had a real good visit and long about five O'Clock they left...

... I took three steps toward the rig and WHAM! It was like I got hit in the gut by a sledgehammer. Heidi had generously passed her flu on to me.

So... I... we... haven't really slept in 48 hours... our heads are pounding, we're both trying to hack up a lung, every muscle hurts, my teeth hurt... hell, my skin hurts... and my legs don't look like they've gained weight, but those pups are 300 lbs a piece!

Then... yesterday, sick our not, we needed propane. When they filled 'em up, one bottle took 6.8 the other took 6.5 gallons. Yep, we needed propane.

But, In the process I fear I may have been perceived as a bit of an unfriendly blogger.

I figured while we were getting propane might as well get some water too. While we were sitting waiting our turn on the hose an Ol' fella came walking toward the truck, kind tentative like; "You're Brian Gore aren't you?"

"Yeah I am."

"I'm Jerry out of Arkansas! I read your blog!"

I think, Jerry might just have gotten a blank stare from the guy sitting between my ears. Heidi chimed in with something like; "He's not really mute, we're both sick with the flu!" She looked at me and laughed. "I thought there was something wrong with you. Usually you talk their ears off!"

I have to apologize to both Jerry from Arkansas and Pennie's husband. Jerry gave me his last name and Pennie introduced her husband all good and proper. Apparently My brain pan was already debilitated by this vicious little bug... 'cause to my embarrassment, both names have just went pffffffft! But it is an honor to have people come and look me up. Spooky too! I'm reminded over and over again that folks is listening! Sooooo... I better make certain sure that what I say is what I Want to say! ;)

There's been little walkin' and picture collecting in this camp. First off it was dismal cold and windy. Then once that broke... We Broke! Hopefully I'll be up and around a bit more in the coming days... which is a good thing. My dislocated spine can't tolerate too much enforced layin' about or it starts jerkin' and twisting and has me poppin' tylenol like candy.

Here's some pics I took a few days ago after the cold snap broke.

Now I already showed you my lil' rock pilin' exercise from a trip ago... and I believe I've showed you in the past, some of the other rock cairn efforts from other visitors to this area. When You walk out into the desert... pretty much every trail is festooned here and there with lil' rock pinnacles.

No idea what they mean, or if they mean anything at all... we've taken up the habit of adding a rock or two to some of 'em as we pass. They've grown quite a bit! I live long enough and they might grow into some really impressive! ... or not...

Then there was this guy the night before I got sick...

He'd come flying low along the center of the open area we're camped in. Just as he got to our rig he banked hard right and flew between us and those rigs... but maybe thirty feet from the front bumper of the truck and two or three feet off the ground... Took me too long to grab the camera to get it.

I'm gonna go lay in bed and moan now. I don't know if it helps, but it seems the proper thing to do.

Heidi told me today that I'm not very good at being sick.

Poor Poor Sickly Lil Blogger
Brian

RV Boondockers Need to Keep Their Wits Sharpened Up!

Had a sitchy-ashun happen yesterday. It pertained to doing a repair on my motorcycle, but it occurred to me that it fits into just about any sort of traveler's tool bag just the same.

I had a bolt disappear out of a critical part of the bike. I only noticed it a week ago... I had to order the replacement... but it's still not made it to me. I'm in Quartzsite... the part is in Phoenix.

So... here's the storyline;

Imagine you're on a run to Alaska... or ... you're on the back side of Sodom in southern Nowhere... and you've got a busted whizbang. There's no cell service to call for help...aaaaaaand... there's no traffic rolling by to even hope somebody'd be willing to relay a call for help...

Whud-a-ya gonna do? Sit and wait for somebody to come save you?

Sure... You bet... that'll work. Worked well for those poor folks down in Louisiana after the hurricane too... and there were news choppers watching their ordeal!

In the case of the bike... I needed a specific... apparently proprietary bolt and there wasn't one to be found. If I just waited on help to be delivered by Yamaha, UPS, or our pride and joy sittin' behind his desk back... nah... let's not go there...

Plain and simple... if I waited on having the exact right, proper and coh-rect part... I'd still have a busted and unsafe to ride motorcycle. Not a big deal here... but... if I was bear bait somewhere in the Yukon... getting on down the road might be preferable.

Being the ingenious and usually impatient cowboy I am... I figured out how to use a bolt of the wrong kind, that I figured the head was too big on to fit into the recess it had too. I made it would work.

I just fit a spacer of washers behind the head... so that the head stood proud of the recess. That makes the bike rideable and I can ride it to Phoenix... to pick up the parts to repair it! So I get an excuse for a 300 mile ride or so out of the deal. two birds with a few washers. Suh-Wheet! ;)

I almost didn't 'cause for a while I was fixated on only finding the exact right part. Bad philosophy in the hinterlands... the exact right part is seldom handy.

The point is... if you're broke and you need to move, look around. There's all sorts of ways to rig up Rube Goldberg temporary and secure "Fixes" to get you to a place where you can do the permanent and proper repair with the parts that the manufacturer approves of!

...and do the temporary without a lot of trauma, stress and humongous towing bills!

Just open up that cobwebbed lump 'tween your ears and put its imagination to work! :)

You might could also prepare a lil' bit in advance so you have a few bits and pieces around for your imagination to play with as you conjure up your own variety of a red neck fix. ;)

Like... some radiator hose repair tape,  a small selection of likely nuts, bolts and washers, some JB weld. Some screws. A little tie wire. Some automotive wire and electrical connectors. Fuses... Duct tape. Tire plug kit. Radiator sealant... a shovel, some blocking. Bungee cords. general rope... adhesives and bits and pieces of pvc, pex, wood, flat plastic and even plumbing parts... maybe even a piece or two of steel angle brace... I'm just spit ballin' here... pretty much some things that most people might call "junk'. ;)

As you do other repairs... keep those left over bits and pieces. Find a place to stash 'em in some out of the way but handy nook.

Hell, just walk around a hardware store and assemble a lil' bucket of bits and pieces your imagination tells you that you might be able to use for a Redneck Repair.

With a mite of luck... the repair will be needed on the motorhome or fifth wheel an you'll be able to make a run to the hardware store in your toad or tow vehicle.

When you do, open up your imagination and scout around hunting for that one special widget that was designed to support the closet rod in your grandmothers Armoire... but with a little ingenuity it can do double duty as the demagnetizer on a double banded triple spinning polarized dehumidifier! :)

You get the picture don't you? Think of "The Professor" on Gilligan's Island! Dang! He could make a radio out of coconuts two transistor batteries and Ginger's hair pins! :)

The point is... When you need to do a repair to keep the ship afloat... and you don't have the proper Hull Plug... Employ your imagination. Use an Improper Hull Plug!!!

Don't have the dedicated plastic belly pan material for a fifth wheel? Use the 1/8" water resistant luan tile underlayment at Home Depot. Mine's been under there for a couple years and looks better than the factory stuff at the sane age!

Screw on Table Legs at Home Depot aren't only table legs! Sometimes they turn out to be tools in a leather shop ... Cowboys cut a slot in the end and they become Saddle String Tightener tools for saddle repair!

The point is, find something else that will do the job and return the function to your rig! The old cliche' is right! There's more than one way to skin a cat, until you can perform a good and longer lasting repair with the proper and correct bits and pieces.

Keep Your Brain Pans Working
Brian

A Drifter... Learning More Lessons About... His Self

You know what happens when ya'll try and sprint a marathon?

Uh Huh... about 300 yards into a 26 mile run... you start to hear this wheezin' sound... and then you start thinkin' an earthquake is comin', 'cause your legs start quiverin' and shakin'... followed by the sound of a watermelon hittin' the sidewalk.

... and then you wake up ~ face down in a patch of prickly pear! ;)

You get so fixated on bein' the fastest and baddest that you lose sight of the realities of even finishing the race... or enjoying the feeling of the blood pumpin' in your veins... the throbbing of your heart as you labor up that grade... The scent of the wind on your face when you crest the ridge.

You miss it all 'cause in your blindness... you only got a face full of cactus thorns!

The real problem with runnin' Too hard though, is everything you're passin' by is just a blur. The majority of your life is lost in the rush. You focus on the tools rather than the project. You get a tunnel vision and miss the greater portion of what there is too taste in this life... that you might could have savored, if you were just cruising... rather than that all or nothing sprint toward that arbitrary, focused goal!

Trust me... This Sprinter knows what he's about! ;) It's a trap I fall into time after time. I'm not only afflicted with a Lust for Yondering... I'm hobbled by a distinct learning disability! :)

It ain't my fault though! Part of a Drifter's personality is a short attention span. We're hard wired that-a-way. A Drifters personality is the National Lampoon Vacation in real life. Walk up to the edge of the Grand Canyon... Bob your head a few times, say uh huh! Yep... I see it... Now let's go! Lotta miles we gotta make!

A drifter can't be satisfied in some beautiful place he's found. That'd be like an Eagle finding a perch with an unending supply of water and food; With no need to ever fly again. Many in this world would say; "Lucky Bugger! He's got it made in the shade!"

It ain't the water and vittles he's after... it's the Soaring! He'd rather be hungry and Soaring, than fat lazy and perched. Beauty for a rover don't lie in the places... but in the miles between the places.

It ain't easy livin' shade I'm after! It's running against the wind that fills my sails.

Sometimes, in the past I've felt guilty about that and such as me are a definite minority. I live out on the fringe of acceptable society. My position on the social status ladder is just one rung above the grubby guy with a pack and a mutt; sitting against the wall outside the door at McDonalds.

The accepted mentality is to have some place. To have some roots. It sets wanderers apart from the rest of soh-sigh-uh-tee; and being "Set Apart" makes us, whether folks want to accept it or not... Outcasts.

That's ok... I feel pretty trapped when I camp in amongst the "popular" people. I don't "fit". I feel about as comfortable as showing up at a black tie dinner sporting a torn denim jacket, scarred leather chaps and boots that reek of recycled bovine fodder.

I don't fit in poh-lite society. And you know what? It's taken me 60 summers to figure it out... but... I don't believe I'll spend any more time feeling guilty about it. Let those who claim an open mind and tolerance (and exercise none) shoulder the guilt for a bit!

I write about "Long camps" and recommend them for people... Sure I do. But I'll be honest with you... I recommend them for the majority... not me. I am in that outcast few that setting up in one place, with a bus load of stuff, don't fit. It never has and it never will. I set up... only from lack of fuel to keep rolling. That is the pure and simple truth.

My hunger is to keep pushing that horizon. Not stop and watch it leave me behind.

I was built for roving against the wind. To roll out my bed in a new camp. To wander back across old trails to see what's changed. To seek out things I've not seen before. To listen to ideas I've never heard... and then... load my gear and roll.

So what's the upstart of all this disjointed, caffeinated, postulatin'?

Me... Me and this incessant stewing over rigs. I've grown weary of it! ~ So ~ I KNOW you must be!

Rigs... this kind of rig... that kind of rig... how do I build it? How do I finance it... how do I maintain it... rigs rigs rigs... and for me it's all stuff and nonsense. It don't fit... I spend too much nauseating time pondering things that don't really matter!

I've come to the realization that it's just a subconscious "knee jerk"  to distract my brain pan from the discomfort of the empty space in my fuel tank. ;)

It's probable the caged Eagle does much the same thing... to distract his mind from the chain that locks him to the perch... or the wire walls that close him in.

Yeah sure... I need a rig. A Cowboy needs a horse... a Biker needs a ride, a sailor needs a boat... but those are just tools. What they truly need is to be Free. Free to wander and drift... to collect to themselves the spirtitual energy they crave... that can only be gained... for them...

... IF... They are Nose in the Wind ~ Living in Freedom On the Open Road.

Fighting to Keep My Nose in the Wind
Brian

The Digital Sawdust and Eraser Shavings are Piling Up Deep in this RV!

I've juuuuus 'bout wound that lil' rubberband that energizes my brain pan to the poppin' point! Some fellas just don't pay no attention atall to how much they is bitin' off at one time. Yes sir. the kaleidoscope in my head is in Hiiigh Gear!

I don't choose to just fire up a new laptop. Nah... I gotta go complicatin' that with the new and genuinely awkward windows 8 I was warned off of... and rightly so. Then throw in a new whole dang system I build the websites with, while trying to learn two parts of Adobe, elements and premier elements... at the same time!

All while sittin' in a frigid Arizona desert schemin' a restart of a couple of our old cottage industry enterprises...

While high twenties and low thirties ain't cold by northern standards... it's become cold enough for me to be feelin' frigid! Tween the cold and the brain strain... I'm 'bout done for the day!

Progress is happening though! While NOT burning gunpowder on ee-lek-trawniks, kickin' any dogs or chuckin' rocks at the neighbors. Maybe I'm finally maturing! ... riiiight... I'd not go bettin' on that scenario just yet. ;)

Yesterday I rebuilt the homepage to Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road. Today I fought my way a lil' further up the learning curve and converted the goin' RV Boondocking home page to the new system. Tonight... I'm crosseyed!

While takin' a break from tryin' to pull the knots out of all that technology... I looked out the window, boondocked out here in the desert. Plain and simple, there's a lot fewer rigs here than in past years... buuuut... there's still a few folks that flat entertain a personality like myself.

So... I look off across the desert and I see these two fellas steppin' around a short ways from their rigs, like they're in pursuit of some real enterprise. They walk a lil' bit and bend over... Walk a lil' bit and bend over... go back a ways... do it again... and the whole time they're maybe, 30 or 40 feet from each other...

Finally, I pulled out the camera and zoomed in close enough to see what they were up to... Aw lordy...

We're parked out here in a few thousand acres of sand and rocks... stop your rig and roll out the awning kind of set up... and they are... MEASURING OFF PARKING PLACES... for the few rigs of their buddies who are comin' to join 'em!

Like... Truly? You can't just pull up and say WHOA! This is good right here? Out in all this desert, eyeball good enough, ain't good enough? You need a Tape Measure? Seriously? :) These guys have GOT to be Engineers! :) Tickled my funny bone.

So, gigglin' along, I've also been scratchin' on paper, workin', out of necessity, at lining out how we can make do, as we have for the past few years, with the rig we have.

I've come up with a "plan" for movin' things around again, and building/rebuilding a few parts to allow us a decent space to work so we can diversify and hopefully supplement our income a lil' bit.

And... do it in a lot more short term time than a total rig replacement would take... (if that could even happen)

The things I'm workin' at designing up and figuring the arrangement of are;

1. A complete new Bed rebuild for the truck; Needed to allow the generator and compressor to be moved to the truck(from their current locations on the 5er), as well as adding function with built in Fuel, Fresh Water and Waste water tanks to make things a lil' more convenient. (This'll be the Biggest and toughest nut to crack of the whole deal)

But once it's done I could fairly quickly build the rest of the job right in camp with the tools I have on hand.

2. A "Tailbox" Outdoor kitchen on the fiver. I'll mount it back on the cargo deck I built last year. This'll clear one of the bed boxes on the truck of the grill and coleman stove for our camp cooking. And provide hardside enclosure of 'em for those "Bear Areas". Not exactly Bear Proof... but hell, the Fiver itself ain't that! and neither are the cars the rangers make folks lock their coolers in. Then Grizz yank the doors off of Subarus with regularity! ;)

3. One of those fiberglass roof pods to mount on the roof of the fiver to hold my "Bike Camp" gear between trips.This will clear the second truck bed box allowing that space to be occupied by...

4. ...Two "Camp Desks". One a Camp Writing Desk and the other a Camp Leather Working "desk". I figure to make some sort of a version drawing from these two setups I've found online.

 5. Very likely another "Roof Pod", this time to go on the cab of the truck to stow and transport our camp tables in an aerodynamic box that will also help kick the wind up over the fiver when we're on the road.

6. A hardware bin chest built into the forward compartment in the space now occupied by the compressor. This will be mostly the hardware, rivets, buckles and bits I use for building my pieces.

7. The new "Camp furniture" still require some sort of "Auxilliary" living space where we can work.
The only options we have there are to add either an Add-a-Room awning room, or a totally separate canvas workspace (which strikes me as the most flexible)

... something like one of these OUTWELL tents...

... or some variety of Elk Camp type wall tent like this'un from Montana Canvas that I've used in the past...

Put a propane heater in there, a power line from the battery bank for LED lights, and either'll provide lots of warm, dry workspace for a leather carvin' gypsy biker cowboy; as well as a nice spot to set up that Camp Desk to write on...
    

Oh Momma... Listen to the Hummin'! :)
Brian

Dang... Is There a Fire in Quartzsite?

Nah... the smoke is just me... schemin' again!

Ha Ha... the more things change the more they stay the same.

Yesterday's post stirred a couple of responses from readers that helped me knock some of the wobble out of my git along. ;)

When you can't afford new and improved... you go with Old and reworked! :)

Who said; "this rig just don't lend itself to providing the work space we're gonna require to do a true and proper job"??

Oh... that was me huh? :) Well... on occasion I've been known to get wired up and be found jumpin' off the cliff  'fore I was certain sure there was water in the crick!

The thing is... Out of the Box and Unconventional and Unorthodox thinking has to be just that. If you spend all your time Only working and thinking in the approved manner and with the accepted wisdoms... innovation ain't about to happen.

So... I spent a lil' while yesterday and this morning, perusing some of my old pages as I'm relearning computer bits and pieces in preparation for THAT rebuilding job... and warming up my scheming genes to come up with something new for THIS rig; Since it's what we have and will for the foreseeable future.

Some reminding words from Mr. Peters (on of my long term readers here) kept rattlin' around in my head about things he's seen... and told me of before! ;)

Well... the upstart is... with a lil' whacked out imagination... a mite of cowboy ingenuity and some boondockers alchemy... I do believe I CAN whittle on this Ol' Rig to carve out a workable Bead and Leather Studio for us... and... do it in the more short term... rather than some long lost day in the future.

It wouldn't set up in a Wal Mart Parking lot... but in any of our long camps it should be a pretty comfortable arrangement. more on that in the coming days as I work on the idea...

Progress is coming on multiple trails... I'm slowly getting my head around the new technology that my internet provider has imposed on me. Unlike MS... Sitesell/Sitebuilder has built a very good new software for building our websites... The only downside is, it requires dusty old brains to shake off the cobwebs and get to work. ;)

I'm slowly finding my way through the ambiguous maze MS created to put the tools that DO work to work... I'm consuming lots of paper sketching up an unorthodox boondocking cowboy alchemy Art Studio to load onto the 5er... to help keep us fed and I'm stringin' words on the fourth novel...

hmmmm... likely... if I wasn't also a schizo Biker Cowboy... and was possessed of the ability to concentrate on one thing for more than 12 minutes... I'd get more done!

Reworking to circle back to my roots
Brian

Dinero and Weightloss

Don't it just make your sittin' parts itchy to always have worthless paper circlin' around to fool with the trail you mapped out?

Same old same old... We rail against allowing material things to get in the way of livin'... and then get ambushed and beat right back into that place where our trail choosing options are dictated by... uh huh... Dinero and THINGS.

Well boys and girls... that's life in the west! and the crew of goin' RV Boodocking is facing up to that ree-al-i-Tee one more time.

The whole point of this day's tirade is... Don't Ever quit. Never give up. Keep on Keepin' on. Like Ol' Dumbledore said; "Do or Do not... there is no Try!" :) If you want it, there's a way. You only need to keep searching till you find it.

I've got all sorts of ideas and schemes bangin' around the ol' brain pan. No fewer than ever was in my life. If I had the cash I could work 24/7 for a decade and not get 'em all done. I think they call it hyper active schizophrenic cowboy itis with a piggy backing complicatory infection of arbitrary authority aversion.

Anyhoo... here's the deal. Income is down the past year especially... and as ever'body knows, cost of living is up a good deal. That budget string is pulled so tight she's singin' like a banjo; and that's if you don't even take into account the series of repairs we've had to do.

So... one project I really wanted to pursue in the short term is pushed to a back burner... that being the layin' out of some sort of a long term/base camp.

Then there's my writing. It's a funny deal. Some word whittlers can write, and write well, sitting on a street corner under an umbrella in the rain, with their laptop on their knees and cabs honkin' and folks hollerin... I'm impressed with their ability to tune all that stuff out. Me? Not so much. I require an almost hermit like solitude where I can inject myself into the story without interruption or distraction.

Let somebody crumple paper, cough... slam a cabinet door... and... well... let's just say; Writing is not what happens! ;) Needless to say, of late my "Production" has been slow... but I'm workin' on it!

So... we're needful of lining out some supplementary contributions to the pantry. The first off and short term is hunting up another job or two like our Nascar weeks. Not going back to full time regular jobs, but something rather short term with a scheduled termination date! ;) We both fear the Trap that "Jobs" can be. A day becomes a week, becomes a year... and too soon you're looking back at a life that got derailed... So... Temporary is the key for us.

... and secondly, Herself and I, in the interest of shoring up our subsistence a bit are laying out a trail to fall back on some mostly dormant and portable skills that have paid us in the past. Well... at least that's the longer term plan. ;) (Longer term being 'tween now and next winter)

Heidi is one of the better Artisan Level, Jewelry Artists around and I do a fair job of leather carvng... so... we're working the bugs out of how to harness up those arts and skills, in our current sitchy-ashun to keep from losing an excessive amount of weight!

As I do the reconstruction of my websites that I've mentioned a couple times... I believe I'll finally get around to building the online Gallery I've also mentioned a time or two.

We're thinking of calling it... ~Artistic Provisions~; Your source for Journals, Albums, Jewelry and Canine Accessories. Basically all that our Imaginations can conjure up.

The pieces will all be hand stitched and carved Journals and Albums, Collars and leashes and Heidi's jewelry of Improvisational Bead Embroidery of Semi-Precious Stones and fine glass beads; Pendants, Bracelets, Earrings.

To provide the work space to fill that gallery, one of the issues we've got to find a way around is the rig itself. Plainly put, this rig just don't lend itself to providing the work space we're gonna require to do a true and proper job... So of course that dinero thing comes back around again since the only value to change out the rig to a more workable situation... lies in the rig itself.

But, a feller can't sell the house he's livin' in... to swap out to a better fit... without having the "other" house ready to move in to... and that takes dollars... and I've not found a single one layin' out there in the desert! ;)

The sort of rig that's gonna suit our needs is going to be an Oldie but Goodie Motorhome pulling about a 23' cargo box type trailer (That will give us the studio space)... others have found what they need and I by God will too!

'course a MH will require acquiring another oldie but goodie sidekick/tracker to put in the trailer for our runabout transport. all of which still requires that scarce commodity... the Dinero I rail against allowing a commanding place in life.

Yeah? Well... life is full of compromises ain't it?

So... as we continue this journey... watchin' close for some sort of opportunity and workin' hard to get ourselves into the position to take advantage of an opportunity... 

...The Bottom line is... It's a horse race. Re-outfit, on the cheap and get our shops/studios restarted... before we lose so much weight we're too weak to work! :)

Like Fall Leaves in a Swirling Wind...
I'm goin' fourteen directions! ;)
Brian

After Most of a Month in Town Finally Returned...

...To the Far Country where I belong. We landed, out of that force of habit that threatens to become a rut ;) ... in our favored spot along the edge of the RV boondocking area on the south side of Plomosa road.

What can I say? It makes a real convenient spot for a couple of weeks for herself to use the rock shop... and the signal's good for me to get quite a bit of work done on this new laptop... more on THAT in a bit.

That's pretty much the view out my window in the morning here in Freedom Camp ;) Kinda cool huh? 'course, I took it just as sunset was starting from the roof where I was tilting the solar panels up for the morning sunrise! ... hmmmm... I wonder what nut job coulda spent so much time pilin' rocks? ;)

Got here a day later than expected. A few lil' fumbles as we were preparing to haul out set us back a day... one of which was trying to track down some bolts for the bike... it somehow lost one out of a fairly critical spot... and the Biggest Dealership I've Ever been in... didn't have the bolt! ... so... They is ordered! ... "for lack of a bolt the truck was lost... for lack of the truck a battle was lost... for loss of the battle the war was lost...".... DA DA DA DUM!    :) HA HA!

Soooo, about the new Laptop... I've been sortin' my way through this New Toshiba laptop for the past couple of days. As far as the computer is concerned, with it I am plenty happy. It does what it is supposed to and newegg.com did what they promised to, getting it to me...

... Microsoft on the other hand... continues its apparently deliberate effort to be unseated from its position as the supplier of the dominant and premier operating system.What a bunch of bozos.

Windows 8 is a discombobulated, mish mash of two different worlds all shoved together in a dis-harmonious, awkward setup of pretty tiles and confusion.

Here's the deal; Microsoft, apparently, has a psychotic obsession with getting a grip on the tablet/smartphone market that has avoided it... and continues to. Sooooo Micro crap sent out this Thing into the world. I expect, if you've got it on a tablet or phone, using your fingers and flippin' tiles around... for those minimal lil' things that you do on a tablet or phone... it works just fine.

Buuuuuuut... embedded in it is... for all intents and purposes, the old Windows 7. Only, they've taken out quite a bit of the Navigation... and made what's left kind of awkward to access... For those of us actually trying to work... and NOT playing games and fiddling with fooferaw... it's a troublesome, NON inutuitive flub.

Yeah... the guys that told me to steer clear of Windows 8 were right... I took a chance and KERWHAP! :) learnt my lesson one more time.

I'm sortin' things out and can/will over time, make Windows 8 functional/usable for what I do... but a puss gut, biker cowboy fella who just bought the New and Improved Windows 8... shouldn't have to FIX WHAT THE ENGINEERS DESIGNED one more time... should he?

I wonder, do they ever have regular people do a test run on their junk before they shove it off on folks? They might save themselves some lil' bit of difficulty, embarrassment and wraps on their knuckles for playin' the fool if they did! ;)

Soooo... IF... you get a new computer do one of two things. Order it with Windows 7... or ... seek out one of the up and coming Alternative Operating Systems that are Finally, from what I hear, threatening to give Microsoft a run for their money and a lil' competition. Microsoft fired another Dud with Windows 8.

It's cool here on the desert by Quartzsite. The crowds, if they're comin' have not yet arrived. The country layin' about our camp might not be empty, but it sure ain't filled up!

On to my chores... and a good bit of hikin' and walkin'... a month of lethargy, cooped up in town has my busted parts achin' and hollerin'. Time to beat 'em back into some sort of reasonable shape.

Puttin' One foot in front of the other... I'm RV Boondocking for LIFE!
Brian

Getting Ready to Break Our Urban boondock camp...

 ... in my sisters back yard... and run back to the desert... I wonder how many camps this makes now?... I shoulda kept track!

But, the pranks are done ;) most of the packing is done... the new laptop is here... and it's time to roll, get outa town... and get myself back to work before I starve to death! :)

Just fill with water, make a supply stop for bagels and beer and we'll head for Quartzsite... juuuuust in time for a stormy weekend/week. ;)

The packing took most of yesterday to be honest. Figured it was a good time to really sort things a bit while the sun was shining & I was waiting on UPS to show up with my new Toshiba  WORK laptop from newegg.com.

They gave me plenty of time too! According to their tracking it was loaded on the truck for delivery yesterday morning at 5:20 and wasn't delivered till well after 6PM last night. That ol' boy is workin' some hours!

 Last night a few hours were spent beginning the setup of this new laptop. Had to run up to Walmart and grab a fresh flash drive to build a recovery media... considering my relationship with Murphy!

I can already say... wow! after working on that lil' 10" Acer since... October or so... being back on a 15.6" screen... ShazAAAAMMM! It's like being in an IMAX theater! :) and nice to have a full size keyboard again too!

It'll take another few days I'm sure to get all the ee-lek-trawnik furniture arranged and remembered in my new digs. But so far, I'm liking this machine quite a bit... and it's a Windows 8 outfit!!

Yeah... I know... I resist "Change" and some folks warned me off of going with the new microsoft system... but I figured... That's where it's all gonna go eventually... so might as well get it over with now, since I gotta go through the ordeal of learning a new computer anyway.

What with having to rebuild those 400 or so website pages over the next few months, I guess I'll get a crash course on gettin' up close and personal with this thing! ;)

anyhoo... back to that packing. It took some time for a couple of reasons; The first is that over time, "things" seem to migrate around a rig into a discombobulated jumble. As that happens a variety of junk collects adding to the confusion. Then, I try... and I emphasize TRY, to live by the mantra; add something thing new... remove something old.

It's about the only way to keep a rig from bloating up into an axle busting outfit.

So... by yesterday afternoon I'd culled a few bits and pieces of plain old junk as well as one of our folding tables. The new Work Bench (The one thing new) will do the job of the old table holding the grill/stove in camp... until one of the planned projects gets completed... and then it'll just be a work bench.

Once day breaks and we get moving... unless the schedule gets changed... I should be turning off the light back in camp in the desert around Bouse/Quartzsite tonight.

Goin' in Circles but Still Moving
Brian

A Less Than Shiny Day in Boondocking Heaven!

Aw crap! This day just ain't startin' out truly shiny!

Ever get the idea that some folks just don't see the humor in life? geeze...

Yeah... me too.

and I gotta tell ya'll... those cars with the flashin' gumball machines bolted on the roof might look big...



... but ya'll can take it from a lil' guy... Them big Ol' cruisers are crowded inside!

And they ain't got upholstery or nuthin'! Those back seats are nuthin' but hardbottom plastic!

My lil' behind requires more comfort then that!


Well heck... what's life without a lil' adventure huh?  yup... just keeps gettin' better'n better...

In the Pokey?
Brian

 ***edit*** Yeah... It's a prank :) Too bad for all of you waiting on a Juicy story! ha ha! I'm too sweet and even tempered an old gypsy buster to get myself arrested! :)

My brother-in-law is a Volunteer in Maricopa county for Highway safety; They patrol the roads for breakdowns, dangerous situations, accident assistance etc. I was working on the rig when the DPS car pulled in to replace some equipment that had been stored in his shop... What can I say... after that video I made a year or so ago you should know when you're bein' set up ;) It was juuuuust TOO good an opportunity to let slide ;) 

For educational purposes... 
1. Take a look at the car... Yellow lights only on the Gumball machine?...
2. No weapon on the "Cop" ...
3. It's an Arizona DPS car... but no "Smoky" hat on the trooper...
4. And... don't tell my brother-in-law... but that "Cop" has a few too many years on him to be an active duty patrol officer :)

Oh yeah... and down at the bottom of the post? the "Tongue in cheek" Tag!!! :)

... till next time! ;)

Fiddlin' With the Old and Fitting in Some New and Waiting in Chilly Phoenix

Been gettin'  back into the swing of things in the chilly Arizona desert while I wait on the arrival of my new Toshiba work laptop.

Uh huh. I said chilly! Been a LOT cooler this year than the last few. It ain't the -10 we saw coming across I-40 comin' home... but in the desert, when you're used to 70+... fifties and low 60's is cool! ;)

Anyhoo. Gettin' chores done. Finally got all the bits and pieces to complete the belly re-installation that I tore out in Zion to repair the cracked tank. Also, the water heater I put in last June or so... started having ignition "difficulties" just before I left for Denver. Somehow, that miraculously healed itself while we were gone... Works for me! ;)

Repacked a couple of compartments that have gotten discombobulated in our travels; discarding a few more bits in the process.

Tightening up a few things here and there as we wait on the delivery of goin' RV Boondocking's new super computer! Then, we'll load up and head back out to the Quartzsite area for a couple of weeks.

Come the first week of February we've got to be in Tucson for the annual gem and mineral show to try and find some shiny goods for our little store, that's managing to survive, back in Colorado... then it's only two weeks till we have to be back up to PIR in Avondale to work the Spring NASCAR race.

In amongst all that I've got to get that new computer set up; set to work on the reconstruction of something over 400 website pages, keep on punching buttons on my fourth Novel... and all the other lil' projects I got rattlin' around my brain pan that keep the dust stirred up.

A couple of the gizmos we added to the rig this christmas I think should help here and there...

Ol' Lily has been having increasing difficulty hoppin' up into the truck. at 15 or so she's not as spry as she used to be... so we got this dog ramp to make that less of a problem...

This plastic dog ramp sits on the sill of the truck and she can walk right up or down it with no problem.

When you're done it's a tri-fold setup that can squeeze in behind the seat so it's convenient for its next use.

Didn't take long to figure out when we returned to the rig that it could be used here as well. Our rig with its flipped axles sits a lot higher than most.

When the rig is on uneven ground and that first step is really high, getting into the rig is a problem for her as well... Now? Not so much. She can walk up that pet ramp and not have to jump on her achy old hips.

So then, Heidi and Keriann had got Josh one of these work tables. They asked me; "did I think he'd like it?"

I said; "I expect so... That'd be a pretty nice folding work bench to have in camp!"

So... Guess what was under the tree? ;) uh huh. My copy of this plastic and aluminum fold up work bench...

The thing is pretty slick. I'll do a complete story on it from camp... as I'm doing one of the projects I've got planned.

I want to do some hand tool "construction" of some "Camp Furniture"... right there in camp.

This work bench drops down, the legs automatically fold up into the bottom and you've got a nice compact package to pack away.

Though the thing is light it is rock solid set up... and includes two squeeze clamps that mount into those two yellow tracks on the top to hold bits you're working on.

I figure it's solid enough I can even set my tooling slab on it to do some fresh leather carving.

Well... I better get to finishing up the mid winter  "Spring Cleaning" so we're ready to roll when my Toshiba Lap top shows up!

Cleaning up the old... Packing in the new
Brian

Is It Still Christmas in January When You HAVE to Buy New Tools?

Remember the old line about bein' a one legged man in a butt kickin' contest? Or even better... those scenes in Star Wars, when they jump to Hyper Space? and looking out the windows of the Millennium Falcon the stars all go WAAAA-WHOOOOOOSH! ??

THAT, is how I'm feelin' lately.

You might remember, back in September, maybe it was October, my main laptop went KERCHUNK! Well, its repairable for a few hundred bucks. But then, it being as old as it is, I'm still left with a tool of rapidly decreasing function considering the advance of all the other junk around it... arrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhh...

All that was/is rolled in with the axles and tires getting whacked, the grey tank breaking, the water heater earlier in the summer, and then the water heater quit igniting just before I left for Denver... but healed itself while I was gone! ;) and a few other odds and ends to keep a pussgut, soap box preachin', Liberty Lovin', cranky old buster off balance.

So... after keeping that boat afloat... utilizing much the same mindless manipulation of dollars I don't have that the government uses! :) oooooofffffffff! SBI, my internet provider and guru... finally got around to including me in their heavy upgrade of their Website building system... compounding GOOGLE's having dropped another of its lil' bombs last summer/fall that has had the world of the blogger/website builder in a bit of a turmoil because of its impact on their traffic...

Got all that? :) so... that's why I'm feelin' a lot like the dog chasin' his tail.

Well... the bottom line is... my websites/blogs having grown to be a weighty % of our income, there's been damage of some sort to that income.

Now of course, me being me its a lot less clear than it could be! Why keep anything simple right? ;)

While my traffic...that is, the visits from all my treasured and appreciated readers is as high or higher than ever, (on both the blogs and websites) and is running  contrary (fits me huh?) to the "down" impact that many saw with Google's Panda, the income hasn't kept pace, in fact degenerating a bit.

The upstart is... I have to rebuild both my websites, RV Boondocking the Good life and motorcycle touring the good life  to fit well into the new and improved SBI BB2 system as well as address the Google system changes.

You might have seen a few weird color changes on the RV site in the past few days? That was the migration happening. I fixed the thing temporarily... but now, behind the curtain, I have to go in and completely rebuild ~ build new... something near 400 pages... and that can't be done on this lil Acer 10".

Long winded way of saying I finally bit the bullet late last night and ordered with some of that imaginary money... a replacement for the busted Dell Computer from a place called newegg.com.

It's one of those times where you have two choices; A bad choice and a worse one. My laptop(s) aren't down time toys. For me they are a carpenters tools used to make his living. I can stick by my principles and starve, or suck it up... Cowboy Up... and get on down the road.

So... You'll likely see a few changes again around this place over the coming weeks and months as I rebuild into the new system... Can you hear the growling of an  old codger who REALLY resists changes? :)

aw... it'll likely come out ok. In fact it kinda opens up the opportunity for some reorganization and refocusing I've been cogitating on anyway... and it'll keep me out of the bars!

Running 90 miles an hour with no hair left to be on fire
Brian

Ever Buy a Gizmo... and Only Read Part of the Paperwork That Came With It?

Everyone seems to have little trouble seeing my description of the problem... but seem to stop reading there and miss the rest of the story. The part where I lay out how I deal with those problems.

Like yesterday. I get the feeling all people see is the sunset / downer part and don't read on to see the sunrise. You know what? There isn't reason for doom and gloom, unless it is your choice to do nothing. I believe there IS reason for hope and celebration.

"Huh? You write about the end of the world as we know it and then you come back all sweetness and light? What gives Cowboy? Huh?"

Yes sir. In the greatest tribulations lay the greatest opportunities. Fred said it the other day in a comment; "We The People could do it!"

He is right. But... It will take a basic change in core Philosophy. A turn away from the philosophy that "I have a Right to what you have" and a reversion to old ways. Those old ways being a return to a self sufficient mentality. That place where you are responsible for you.

But, Shouldn't the "Community" help people when misfortune comes calling?

You bet!

How-some-ever, that "Help" from community should be a cultural thing; voluntarily born out of a sense of community. Neighbor helping Neighbor... as in the old days on the farms and ranches. NOT... a redistribution as a matter of routine living by gov't edict.

... Otherwise, it is simply theft under color of law.

In the end, like you demand of your children when they reach the age of maturity; We must demand that each individual stand on his own two feet. We must insist that each person be responsible and accept the consequences of their decisions.

They should Not be encouraged to pawn them off on the community while they run off to stack up a laundry list of New poor decisions. People must be required to endure the consequences (pain) of their bad choices and learn from their mistakes.

Now I can already hear the caterwauling of those who are gonna have to do without and not have all the freebies they insist are their Right... Save your breath. I can't hear that noise any more.

:) Look people. Here's the deal as I see it. There's us and there's them. That's the consequence of their choices. They set about to divide us and they succeeded. But, like Satan his own self, their power is all in their talk. They have no magical ability to force people to be stupid. They can only coerce and use tricks and cons. The only way they can achieve anything is by conning folks into following their lead... Pretty much like a Judas goat.

So... don't follow! Don't listen to the doublespeak and deceptions. When it's all said and done, there is little they can do if you won't play the game.

Yup, it's uncomfortable. Stepping out from the imagined security of the system is a downright scary deal at first. But people, that security they've promised is ALL smoke and mirrors!

I've talked to people who had just "boondocked" for the first time.  They were nigh on to quivering in their fear of goblins and ghosts they imagined would come raging out of the dark. It pretty much amazes me. They walked down the street back home without a care, with kooks and cretins running all around them... yet in the silence and purity of the high up and lonesome... they quiver in fear. Simply amazing.

I've been robbed. I've been assaulted. I've been conned. I've had misfortunes... almost universally... down there in town.

Yo! People! Those ghosts that keep you from chasing the joy of your Freedom are all imaginary. They have been planted in your minds by the bossman in his effort to keep you strapped in the traces. They are the phony chains used to con you into being your own jailer!

At the end of the day, your greatest ability to provide for your welfare, good fortune, happiness and security do not reside in some gov't program. The best provider of all those things is YOU. They live in building your own personal ability to adjust to events and deal with whatever comes down the road!

For instance, there's an old saying; When seconds count, the police will be there in MINUTES. Think about that. There are seconds to deal with whatever is happening. "Help" will not arrive for five minutes or more... What are YOU going to do?

You have a small cooking fire in your kitchen... do you really want to wait MINUTES for the Fire Department to show up? or... would it be better to have provided yourself with the tools to deal with such a possibility yourself, while the blaze is still small, and with little or no damage? What are YOU going to do?

Most of the issues of life are likewise best dealt with personally; on your  own string and on your own initiative. What are YOU going to do?

Is it better to depend on gov't handouts if you become unemployed? or would it be better to have fallback savings or better yet, skills to employ to keep hearth and home rolling along?

Is it better to depend on yourself, or to be dependent on some benevolent gov't agency to hold your hand? Is it better to stand as a man, battered by life but proud and enduring? or a slave on his knees; dependent on benevolent ??? Gov't?

Is the way I live the best for everyone? Hell no. Not even close. While the details of my way of going may not be, the basic environment of it is. That basic environment is Freedom. The Right to my own choices and the Right to own the property produced by my labor and sweat.

What is the right trail for you to follow? How in hell should I know? I'm busy enough figuring out my own way. What fits me and my life is unlikely to be a good fit for you. That's what Freedom is! Finding the life that fits YOU! Ya'll need to set about doing your own cogitating on your situation.

That's the whole deal. The whole joy. The WHOLE LIFE.  Confronting all the vagaries of life and finding the shining way through. Looking back with pride tempered by humility at what you encountered and what you found the way to overcome. The Shining life you built in spite of the difficulties that life is.

What is the way forward? That's an easy thing to answer; Forward! Building on what you did yesterday to grow your independence. To be more sovereign and Free with every passing day. To cull out those things and programs which denigrate and debilitate your ability to live. To live Your life in Freedom and the prosperity created by your own sweat and initiative.

Easy to answer. Hard work to do. Life is tough in the west. You have to make decisions based on your situation and your own inherent intelligence. You must find your own way. But at the end of the day, the self respect it creates is worth every drop of sweat and blood it took to produce.

Like yesterday, I finally got the insulation and belly pan reinstalled after the tank repair from back in Zion. On my own nickle. Sweaty, dirty and hands bleeding. But it was my crippled up keister (with a lil' help from my brother in law) that fixed that simple difficulty in my life. Not some gov't handout from some gov't program.

A small thing... but a Large Principle.

Sweating and Bleeding
Brian

2013 Will Be an Interesting Year of Reality Checks

I have come to believe that venting my "political" frustrations is unlikely to ever produce anything positive. Few listen and most don't want to hear it. It's the old; "If I ignore it... it'll go away" train of thought. Luck with that.

Yeah I know... I KNOW! "Stop being such a downer Cowboy! People want to live in the "Don't Worry ~ Be Happy!" land of Fantasy. Stop raining on their parade."

I don't see myself as being a downer. No more than the weatherman when he says it's gonna rain when you figured to have a pic nic. I ain't telling you to stay home. I only offer the advice to take along a rain coat. Savvy?

People want the horse that never bucks, toast that don't burn, tires that never go flat and the jobs you can't be fired from; Health without end, police that aren't bullies, and security without the cost of personal effort. They want it all, they want it now, and increasingly... They want Freedom... as long as everyone is required to abide by and live within the parameters of their narrow definition of Freedom... and as always, they want the bill for it all ~ Sent to someone else!

As many have said; This country has never been more divided and fractured.

Fred said in a comment "WE THE PEOPLE could do it!" Yes sir, we could; but... the problem remains. To "Do It" ... would require The People to return Voluntarily and of their own accord, to living by a philosophy of Honor and Individual responsibility and accepting of the consequences of that decision.

The difficulty that obstructs that return from occurring is that submission is like a drug.

Once infected with the disease of socialism and costless "entitlement"; once a person has abrogated responsibility for their own welfare and future to the Rulers vague promise of security, sometime in the foggy future; it is a rare thing to see a person step back into being a sovereign Individual. They prefer the land of fantasy, to the hard and stormy reality of Freedom.

Yes ~ We The People could do it ~ but I'm not holding my breath.

The system is imploding. There is nothing I or anyone else can do to change that. Too many people have signed on to the something-for-nothing perverse philosophy of socialism; as well as the deliberately false, never to be realized, promises of security in exchange for The Reality of your liberty.

Those who place the value of their Freedom above Life itself have now been relegated to an anachronistic minority to be ridiculed and marginalized.

The gift of Jefferson, Henry, Franklin and the several hundred thousand Soldiers KIA, and many millions more that suffered and survived... that gave us this place to live in Liberty... has now been surrendered to cowardice and greed. It is now laying in critical condition with a terminal illness... Its end is in sight.

... the illness of complacency, cowardice and "me first" socialism; is and always has been an incurable affliction; with few survivors among those who adopt its cancerous philosophy.

So? What do we do? You rip on things Brian... What's the alternative? What is your solution? What is your answer?

Me? I will, with a sure and certain knowledge of the realities of this world and with the Boss as my ONLY sovereign; Walk in the sun, and ride in the wind... I will pursue the horizon and stand in rain. I will laugh through the tears. I will taste every drop of this life that I can. Cowardly Socialists be damned.

As long as one man refuses to bow to the beast... Liberty survives. They can seize my property. They can take my life... I will Never surrender my Freedom.

I will LIVE until I die.

I hope I will not live Free... alone.

That is my answer.
 Brian

It's Time... We'll Be Rolling for the Desert in a Few Hours

The weather is bright, shiny and cold. My bones are aching about like I'd expect if I told a Hells Angel he was cute!

The old truck is sitting in the street mostly loaded and cold himself. He's ready to head back to warmer country as well.

We'll take the southern route this time. Down past Walsenburg, and Sante Fe. Rumble past the Duke City and Gallup. Then I'll have to decide do I run on to Flagg or cut across the state and drop over the Mogollon Rim west of Heber.

Gonna be rolling down roads and through country I've traveled a few hundred times. I can't truly say I get weary of it. It's not like I'm giggling and goofy goin' down the road... It's more that I'm restless and grinchy when I'm not.

On the road, my nose in the wind... the horizon receding before me... I am at home.

It's like a thirst. You can't drink but one time and cure it. It's a chronic ailment that requires repeated doses.

Some NEED to walk out in their garden and pull weeds, nurture flowers, produce zucchini... others, their shops. They have a visceral NEED to walk into that world of sawdust and whining blades and see a few chunks of lumber transformed into a a chest of drawers.

I get that. 100% I understand and GET IT.

I urge everyone to follow their hearts and fulfill their NEEDS. Hell, that's exactly what Life and LIVING are all about.

Chasing your dreams, your ambitions, your hungers... satisfying the NEEDS in your soul.

My NEED is for open country, a receding horizon and the Freedom to chase it. The hunger I feed is a restless urge to roam. Not to get anywhere... Not to see some particular place... not to arrive at some destination... but simply to Be, to see, and... to BE... moving.

There's more to it than the simple, self serving gypsy living I treasure... It's Traveling.

Wandering, drifting, yondering, whatever name you want to hang on it... seeing different people in different places... wandering through the remnants of their struggles to survive... tasting a sliver of what their life is or was... is the only antidote I know of for the division, racism, prejudice and bigotry fostered by the powers that be... deliberately inflicted on us to divide us and keep us weak and distracted.

Republidud, Demothug, Libernut, Tea Farters... all of 'em... If they're Politician...they're about division. Their power and position lays in commanding their lil' piece of the populace... despicable dogs... every one of 'em.

Their goal is to keep us so busy fighting each other over their phony, fabricated conflicts... that we can't combine with enough power to challenge their "Rule".

I emphasize Rule and not Governance; a great difference.

I believe 100% that there is a small thing that can combat the infection of their divisive ways. That small thing is Travel. It is an act that when done properly; it purifies the soul. You want to change the world? You want to try and do that peacefully?

Ok fine. Do yourself and the world a favor... Travel. It deafens you to the lies and bull feces of politicians.

Goin' Down the Road
Brian