Occupation of Independence

During the recent heatwave I tried to think my way out of it.  For instance, why not flood myself with thoughts about cool climates.  As luck would have it, Book Bub notified me of a discount on "The Last Viking" by Stephen Bown.  It is a biography of the Norwegian polar explorer, Roald Amundsen. At the end of the day I was inspired to take an unheated shower.  That doesn't mean "cold" water, such as the water that comes out of the ground.  It just means ambient temperature water from 5 gallon water jugs that sit around at camp.  After showering with a half-gallon of that kind of water, I felt wonderful.  And there was something pleasing about not using any propane to heat up water for a shower. The book helped me stay flexible because that was a big part of Amundsen's success.  He studied the Inuit in northern Canada and learned everything he could about dogs, sleds, clothing, and equipment.   It has long been a cliché that the Eskimos have a large number o

There is only one more day to what I hope is the last real heat wave of this summer.  So it is a good time to watch videos of people installing air conditioners into RVs and powering them with lithium batteries.  It is an interesting idea, but I am likely to hold off.  Being a late adopter is a life-long habit that has served me well.   But on top of that, I have never owned an air conditioner, despite living in a few places where everybody had one.  (And you know how right everybody is!) Half-facetiously I call this "noble suffering."  More seriously it could be called constructive or creative suffering. Camping is reduced to scenery-vacationing if it is robbed of creative suffering, necessities of action, and problem solving.  Solving every problem by buying one more damn $600 lithium battery, gadget, or electronic module has become the great vice of modern camping, and it is You Tube videos that are feeding that vice. So what is the alternative?  This post likely to get

There must be many Russians who would like to see their forces finish off the Ukrainians quicker.  I too used to think it was a mistake to fight the war the way they have: small operations at the line of contact.  Why are they trying to reproduce the Western Front of World War I? But if the Russians finish off the Ukrainian regime in 2023, the war will be old news during the presidential election in late 2024.  That means it will be ignored.  I would prefer to see a military debacle in Ukraine come crashing down on the Biden regime's head during the presidential election. If that happens, it might have an effect greater than just finishing off Biden.  It might affect Washington's vassal states in Europe or least the current leadership there.  The ultimate success would be to see the neo-con cabal in Washington lose its power and influence.  The end of the Victoria Nuland era can't come soon enough. Charlie Chaplin in "The Great Dictator"

A couple surprises came my way on top of this mountain.  Previously the thick forest up here seemed unappealing.  But the forest's coolness fits in with the lateness of summer to inspire you with hopes of coolness.  It is a beautiful -- but tantalizing -- thought. I was also surprised how pleasant it was to hear the quiet gurgling of many small streams that have suddenly appeared after several days of drought-busting rains.  People who live in backwoods home must have pleasures like this: pleasures that are humble to an outsider, but are nevertheless felt intensely.   To make this pleasure interesting and intense you need only contemplate the warm prairie just a few miles away and the torrid trenches of the Salmon and Snake rivers that are almost a mile beneath me in altitude. This is a funny time of year.  I start prematurely celebrating the killing off of another summer.  Oh please be patient!  It is good enough to have a green parasol for the next couple weeks.