Well, I certainly failed to "meet spec" on the recent cold mudhole debacle in Colorado. Yes, it was disgusting and uncomfortable -- but so what? Let's see if I can redeem myself today.
But first, consider how absurd the situation was. It was cloudy and rainy and only got into the 50s (F), even in mid-day. I was wearing thermal underwear and a skull cap, but just couldn't get warm. In August! I refused to go out to the tow vehicle and retrieve my winter parka; I also refused to turn on my propane heater. Finally I crawled into bed in mid-day and watched "Lawrence of Arabia", so that the mere sight of hot sand and deserts and camels would cheer me up.
What is valuable or meaningful about mud? Perhaps mud is the best example we have of true progress, in the form of gravel roads. It is easy to look up the date that certain gadgets or machines were "invented." (This is usually a bit misleading, since a working thing is a combination of technologies, and which exact combination constitutes "the invention?") Still most things are easier to date than gravel roads.
For instance I had a grandfather born on a Midwest farm in the year 1900. Most Americans were farmers in that era. How many roads in his county were better than simple dirt roads? Imagine the isolation and inconvenience that that involved. Why, it must have isolated them for weeks or even a couple months in the late winter!
It is true that horses do OK with muddy roads, at least if you are riding the horse. But they couldn't pull a wagon or carriage through that goo or slop. How did a family go to town on Saturday or to church on Sunday?
Consider how much the world changed in our grandfather's era, compared to our own. We are brainwashed to believe that a new gadget of some sort is proof of how rapid progress is. But look how trivial gadgets are compared to the inventions of two generations ago! Even in my youth, the "invention" (meaning widespread acceptance in middle-class homes and cars) of air conditioning was a drastic thing, compared to version 8.2.05 of some operating system or a minor change in the form factor of an iPad.
Although it is just human nature to take miracles like gravel roads for granted, it is still very nice to take a vacation from such ingratitude. Real camping provides many opportunities of that type. It's a pleasure that mainstream, comfort and status-worshiping motorhomers will never experience.
But first, consider how absurd the situation was. It was cloudy and rainy and only got into the 50s (F), even in mid-day. I was wearing thermal underwear and a skull cap, but just couldn't get warm. In August! I refused to go out to the tow vehicle and retrieve my winter parka; I also refused to turn on my propane heater. Finally I crawled into bed in mid-day and watched "Lawrence of Arabia", so that the mere sight of hot sand and deserts and camels would cheer me up.
What is valuable or meaningful about mud? Perhaps mud is the best example we have of true progress, in the form of gravel roads. It is easy to look up the date that certain gadgets or machines were "invented." (This is usually a bit misleading, since a working thing is a combination of technologies, and which exact combination constitutes "the invention?") Still most things are easier to date than gravel roads.
For instance I had a grandfather born on a Midwest farm in the year 1900. Most Americans were farmers in that era. How many roads in his county were better than simple dirt roads? Imagine the isolation and inconvenience that that involved. Why, it must have isolated them for weeks or even a couple months in the late winter!
It is true that horses do OK with muddy roads, at least if you are riding the horse. But they couldn't pull a wagon or carriage through that goo or slop. How did a family go to town on Saturday or to church on Sunday?
Consider how much the world changed in our grandfather's era, compared to our own. We are brainwashed to believe that a new gadget of some sort is proof of how rapid progress is. But look how trivial gadgets are compared to the inventions of two generations ago! Even in my youth, the "invention" (meaning widespread acceptance in middle-class homes and cars) of air conditioning was a drastic thing, compared to version 8.2.05 of some operating system or a minor change in the form factor of an iPad.
Although it is just human nature to take miracles like gravel roads for granted, it is still very nice to take a vacation from such ingratitude. Real camping provides many opportunities of that type. It's a pleasure that mainstream, comfort and status-worshiping motorhomers will never experience.
Comments
Don't blame you for moving on- hope you found a drier place.
Gayle
Moving on? I only moved to town for two nights of urban boondocking, and to let the rains go back to normal patterns. Also, I lost 1000 feet of elevation and am now in sagebrush, rather than the forest borderline.
Most summer days here are 60 degrees, at least partly overcast and misty. That suits me just fine too.
Mud is actually pretty interesting if you stop and take time to learn about what's all living in it, at least here at the coast. Which makes me wonder about mud in other places as well.
I believe Edward Abbey interviewed Joseph Wood Krutch just before the latter died. Both men disliked the paved "auto loops" that the national parks were building at the time. Krutch thought that national park roads should stay gravel to screen out the mass-tourist.
My curiosity was spiked and I tried to find a book on amazon about the importance of mud and couldn't find one. I'm taking a class now on life in the coastal zone and mud planes are a very important layer between the ocean and the land. It's a bridge full of life and full of species that can transverse both salt and fresh water, who are part of the web of food and prey, etc.
Today I was mountain biking in an area where the dirt is mixed with decomposed granite "sand". It's really good stuff because it is coarse, non-round, and has nice corners. So it improves a wet dirt surface by quite a bit.
Your anecdote is reminiscent of the photo-cartoon-poster of the ol' drunk cowboy slumped in the saddle, with a dog in front, doing the driving.
The had plank roads in the old days. I wonder what those were like. They must have been noisy.
Katharine Whitehorn
I think you are definitely obstinate Boonie. LOL Good luck coping with your present mud environment.