Last episode I talked about camping near a pseudo-cliff-dwelling. Imagine finding a perfect one! The opening would face southeast, I guess. In the winter the low angle of the sun would warm up your mornings. In the summer you would stay cool. And you would be sheltered from the northwest wind in the winter.
But wait -- don't I already have a cliff dwelling? One that can be repositioned as required? One could argue that that is the ultimate cliff dwelling.
Here is my improved version:
Granted, the cargo trailer was not sacred to the Native Americans. But it has everything else going for it. Laying down on the bed, my body is being warmed by the sun, but my face is shielded from direct sunlight. The west and northwest wind can't hurt me. There are screens across the entire back of the trailer, but you hardly need them at this time of year.
It is almost embarrassing to me how much pleasure I get from this. How can this be explained? Long-suffering readers are used to me praising the skin as our largest and most under-rated sensory organ. But there is more to it than being 'freeze-toasted' on my bed.
Is there such a thing as 'sweat equity' in our appreciation of natural pleasures like this? It did take me two months of working sunrise to sunset to do the cargo trailer conversion.
Or is the appreciation enhanced by thinking independently? It means that I'm alive, and that's actually a little scary for anybody in a culture like ours.
Not sure. But it is important to see the patterns of what causes intense gratification, in order to reproduce it in new applications.
But wait -- don't I already have a cliff dwelling? One that can be repositioned as required? One could argue that that is the ultimate cliff dwelling.
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| Not sure that mudstone is the ideal building material for a comfortable cliff dwelling. |
Here is my improved version:
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| The low and bright winter sun toasts the inside of my portable cliff dwelling.The magnetic closure makes the screen dog-friendly. |
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| The low and bright winter sun toasts the inside of my portable cliff dwelling |
Granted, the cargo trailer was not sacred to the Native Americans. But it has everything else going for it. Laying down on the bed, my body is being warmed by the sun, but my face is shielded from direct sunlight. The west and northwest wind can't hurt me. There are screens across the entire back of the trailer, but you hardly need them at this time of year.
It is almost embarrassing to me how much pleasure I get from this. How can this be explained? Long-suffering readers are used to me praising the skin as our largest and most under-rated sensory organ. But there is more to it than being 'freeze-toasted' on my bed.
 |
| Archive photo of winter ice and New Mexican sun. |
Is there such a thing as 'sweat equity' in our appreciation of natural pleasures like this? It did take me two months of working sunrise to sunset to do the cargo trailer conversion.
Or is the appreciation enhanced by thinking independently? It means that I'm alive, and that's actually a little scary for anybody in a culture like ours.
Not sure. But it is important to see the patterns of what causes intense gratification, in order to reproduce it in new applications.
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Trainman
Chris