“When they tell you to grow up, they mean stop growing.”
~ Tom Robbins
Good Morning All,
Monday morning, I got up and got organized early. I drove into Blythe to meet my friend Jonah who was going to be visiting from the DC area. He had rented a Jeep and we’d hoped to spend the week out in the desert on BLM land. Unfortunately, this was the coldest week so far this winter, with temperatures down below freezing most nights. He decided that sleeping in a Jeep in freezing weather wouldn’t be fun, so he rented a room in Blythe, CA and I moved to the motel parking lot. Monday evening, we went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant in town and got caught up over a delicious meal. Cosmo and I slept in the van parked outside his motel room.
Tuesday morning after we had coffee in the van, Jonah followed me to Ehrenberg (10 minutes east) and we visited Bonnie and I showed him where I usually stay. We hiked around a bit, and found a dead ocotillo cactus and I chopped it up into manageable chunks with my handy dandy tiny chainsaw. (If you haven’t noticed by now, most things in my life are tiny.) We put the small logs in the back of his rented Jeep and went back to Blythe where I cooked us dinner and we talked until bedtime.
Wednesday was to be the warmest day of the week with temperatures reaching the low 60’s and nighttime temperatures hovering at around 40. Jonah decided he wanted to try camping in the desert, so we drove over to Kofa, AZ, south of Quartzsite and north of Yuma. It turned out to be a good decision. The skies were clear and there was no wind. The sun felt warm on our skin. We travelled down the dirt road past several large gatherings, and found a mostly secluded spot to settle in.
We took a couple walks and gathered some more firewood for our after-dinner campfire.
We hadn’t gathered very much wood, and it was extremely dry, so it made a very nice blaze, but for only a short time. We retired to the van after the fire died down and I taught Jonah to play Qwerkle. Apparently, I’m a good teacher because he kicked my ass. We talked until late into the night (late for two old men) and he braved the cold and went to his Jeep for the night.
In the morning he came over for coffee and to warmth. He said it was pretty cold and uncomfortable for most of the night, but the coffee and company warmed him up, along with the propane heat that I’d turned on to take the chill off. I was glad we’d made it to Kofa on Wednesday, because Thursday morning was in the low 40’s and the forecast was for it to only warm up to the low 50’s. The wind howled and there was intermittent drizzle. I cooked breakfast and we talked over coffee until nearly noon when Jonah said he had to go lie down in his car since he hadn’t slept well the previous night.
When he came back, he and Cosmo conspired against me as I made us a snack.
A short time later, Jonah left and headed back to Tucson to continue his visits with friends in the area and catch a flight to Portland. We really had a good visit, and I was so glad I got a chance to show him where I live, even if only for one night.
After he left, I moved my van to a spot I’d been eyeing that was across the road and a bit back from traffic. The wind died down and the sun came out and I decided I had to stay another night. It got bitter cold once again, but Cosmo and I snuggled up for warmth and I slept so well that I didn’t get out of bed until the sun was already over the mountain. I made coffee and got back in bed and looked out the window at my beautiful back yard.
I was so glad to have stayed the extra day. I’d originally intended to leave with Jonah, but staying in Kofa alone, in such a quiet spot was such a nice pause before I head back to The Magic Circle and then on to SkooliePalooza.
Lessons From The Road: I’m quite pleased with myself for having learned to be flexible. It has been a gradual process, mostly unnoticed by me, but this week while Jonah was here, and doubly so after he left, I realized how much I’ve grown in this area. Jonah and I had decided to meet in Kofa on Monday and camp together for 3 nights. The weather had other plans for us. When I started out on the road nearly three years ago, this would have been very difficult for me to accept, and I would have scrambled to figure out a plan B. Now, change of plans has become the norm. Whether it is blazing hot temperatures or hard freeze warnings, roads closed due to flooding, or BLM land temporarily blocked due to impending fires, life in the great outdoors seems to turn on a dime. Nature seems to have a way of changing plans for me whether I’m willing or not. I’ve figured out that you can’t fight Mother Nature. Well, I guess you can, but you certainly can’t WIN if you do. So I go with the flow, even when the flow takes a sharp turn to the unexpected. It makes me think of the serenity prayer: Accept the things I cannot change. The more I do that, the calmer my life seems to be.