Occupation of Independence

This summer is important to me. No more will I tolerate oppressive forest fires, dry heat, and drought. So I am spending early summer in the Northwest and late summer further south, when monsoons will hopefully put out the forest fires that already started in May. On the first real day of looking for a new campsite, I was shocked to learn that I was completely 'out of shape' for camping in dark, wet forests. Would my open-differential rear-wheel-drive van get stuck the first time it rained? Did I even own an umbrella? A rain suit? How would I walk my dog in the rain and keep the inside of the trailer clean? The forest was thick and dark. It almost seemed threatening. And here I was: a new ATT customer with a WeBoost amplifier. But was it going to do me any good? I am ashamed to admit it, but I felt sort of panicky. What happened to my mighty ideals and hopes? I thought of some music written by Patrick Doyle for the beginning of "Carlito's Way". Now if you listened

  Credulousness, credulity. 'Credulousness' is a longer word but it is easier to say. The war in Ukraine might seem like a topic that is so serious or sad that you might want to block it from your mind. But there is some good news, too: Ukrainian conscripts (aka, cannon fodder) are starting to disobey orders or surrender to the Russkies. Thus they have chosen to live. That is a rare development. Soldiers tend to follow orders even if it means near-certain death. When you read books about the Great War (World War I) it is hard to believe that officers would blow a whistle and the troops would go 'over the top', just to be caught up in the barb wire and slaughtered by machine guns. The exception was the French soldiers who partially rebelled against their officers. The soldiers would not go on offensive charges across no-man's-land in 1918, but they did stay in the trench and fight defensively. I think that is a true moment of glory for French culture. And now some Uk

When walking the dog this morning I chanced upon an unusually smooth section of gravel road. (Unlike New Mexico, Idaho puts gravel on its forest roads.) Skinny tracks criss-crossed this road 'all over the place.' It was earthworms. I can't even remember the last time I saw vermicular-Americans crawling out of the ground after a night of rain.  The loveable little app, Pocket Rain Gauge, says we got 0.27" of rain last night! Everybody has read that 'your skin is the largest organ in the human body.' Is it ever! My skin, nails, and hair are going through a resurrection these days. I am wearing a baseball cap! And I used to make fun of them as unmanly, nerdy, ugly, and ineffective. There really are some adjustments to camping with rain, but I am 'up' for the challenge. The most important issue is traction on dirt/gravel roads, or rather, right off of those roads.  It is important to camp by backing away uphill from those roads, thereby making an easy esc

  When most people read the title above they hear, "What is my favorite national park?" Well, there is no accounting for taste.  In fact, national parks are not beautiful at all -- and remember, you read that here! They are merely freakishly big, vertical, or red. "Beautiful" means variety, balance, harmony, and utility: the color green, productive agriculture, soft hills with womanly curves, spirited creeks, barns, wildlife and herds of domestic stock, not many people, and trees. A few rocks are tolerable. And that is what you see in the Palouse of eastern Washington, especially near its border with forest land. Driving through this land on a semi-rainy day, I lusted for a drone to photograph it. The three-dimensionality might get washed out if photographed from the highway. Sunrise or sunset, and partly stormy skies! from openstreetmaps I managed to camp in the national forest near Moscow, ID with my first ATT signal, as a newbie customer. Idaho actually puts gra