Occupation of Independence

A camper needs some sort of project to work on. Mine is to tolerate summer better than in the past. 1. Let's start with the easier improvements: hats. Baseball hats are OK, but they provide sun protection only on the face. Barmah hats have been popular; their dark leather brim is surprisingly hot.  The breakthrough was the Henschel Australian Breezer, with the widest brim provided. The crown is mesh. Besides all that, women like to look admiringly at that hat. 2. As a beginner I used to smear my arms and face with sunscreen in order to mountain bike in the western sun. Basically OK -- but that greasy glop distracted me at the desk, after the ride. You are forced to take too many showers. Then I started wearing Da Brim over the bicycle helmet. It does not restrict air flow to the slots in the helmet, so it is much cooler than a baseball hat or cotton bandana under the helmet. They make Da Brim for horse people's helmets, too. I am surprised more bicyclists don't wear Da Bri

It isn't worth taking siestas in winter -- the daylight hours are too short to waste any of them. But now another summer is coming on. I hate summer. Therefore it benefits me to concentrate on the pleasure of siestas which I only experience in summer. A siesta is best after a morning mountain bike ride and lunch. I am astonished how something so simple can be almost intensely pleasurable. The real trick is not to fall asleep, but to simply let your voltage sag from 14.3 Volts DC to about 12.2 Volts DC, and then snap back into alertness. I have written about this before. Why does a blogger think they must apologize for any post that isn't new? How much newness is there on so-called news programs, weather reports, the president said this or that, movies or TV shows, etc? Why is newness of such great importance, anyway? A quote came to mind, but I wasn't able to find it in those lists of famous quotes, as usual. It went something like, 'True wit is but nature dressed, wha

When listening to audio books, I can't help but wonder what a map of the brain would like, right at that moment. How does it compare to a brain-map when reading a book? It is strange to think that both modes lead to a similar comprehension. But which mode is "best"? Language came before writing, historically. Human physiology has evolved to make it possible. Although it is true that vision is a big part of the brain, no evolution in the brain is necessary to read an alphabet. Let's avoid the temptation to use the silly term 'natural' and say that language is more visceral than writing. from creativemarket.com Writing/reading had the great advantage of not requiring the two communicators to stand a few steps apart at the same moment. Writing/reading was mobile, recordable, and replayable.  But what about today, when smartphones and digital cameras make it easy to record the voice, and transport it instantly around the world. Doesn't that make writing obsole

It was my own fault: sometimes I click on some RV or van-building nomad's YouTube channel, and all they do is piss me off. There should be some upper limit to how stupid and how phony these people can be! You would think that people in this line of work would 'march to the beat of a different drummer,' but in fact they are just selling the old foolishness of over-spending for entertainment or to raise the customer's self-esteem. These You Tube charlatans are helping to destroy a good lifestyle with their money-making propaganda. Let's talk about a positive agenda: it is a fine thing to think of ways to get comfort and functionality without getting sucked into all these expensive gimmicky products. Imagine possessions that are inexpensive, mass-produced things available at big box stores, anywhere. Imagine them with maximum versatility. Adapt them. Why roll up your sleeves immediately with D-I-Y projects. First ask yourself 'why', not 'how.'  Maybe th

Something important was happening on yesterday's ride. Can you spot it? It looks like planet Earth again, instead of Arizona. How nice it is to have soil on the ground instead of rubble! But New Mexico is about as dry as Arizona, so why is there soil and grass here? It is probably the higher altitude.  Most people probably wouldn't say this photo is breathtakingly beautiful. But tell that to your butt and hands! The trail felt so smooth and fast and safe.  I like the challenge of letting the significance of that soil sink into my mind. It takes discipline to stay focused on something meaningful, after the travel blogosphere and the tourist industry have gotten everybody addicted to mindless postcards. Taking on challenges like this encourage me to think that I'm not just wasting my time as a perpetual tourist. A couple days ago, when I was still back on that alien planet of Arizona, this rock grabbed my attention. It was close to the campsite. The rock seems to be bent like