Yes I Live in a Tent

What is that feeling when life flows steadily for week or months — not too quickly, not busily — and then slows? It is the high-water mark where the wave, having already crashed on the beach in a thunderous flourish of energy, silently spreads up the beach toward your toes before rushing back to the sea to form the next wave. It is a calm and quiet place, the “Sunday evening” of seasons that is best enjoyed on a porch with a dog, a friend, maybe a gin and soda. I seem to have found myself in such a magical time and place. 

I live in a tent! Or more accurately, I sleep in a tent. No, not by necessity – things are as fine as they’ve ever been – mostly by choice. Since I concluded my July visit to Minnesota, I have been living on my friends’ south-facing slope in Left Hand canyon in my REI camp dome 2. I pay no rent, but exchange 13 hours of monthly labor improving this exotic mountain paradise. Recent tasks have included constructing a rabbit coop, designing and building a bear- and rodent-proof compost system, digging a drainage trench named Dolores, moving rocks from a free pile up the road to strategic locations in need of erosion mitigation, constructing gabions, and hauling dirt from free piles to build up the slope behind the gabions. Last week I was shoveling dirt for about an hour every day and built up some significant mass. For the first time ever, I have “pecs”! I promised Mom I wouldn’t “live out of my truck”, and I have no intention of doing so. I cook inside and primarily use the bathroom and shower at work. In August, I signed a lease on a place in Fraser, CO (8 minutes from Winter Park resort, where I have a ski pass) and then promptly subleased the place until December 1. So at that time I will pack up the tent and move across the divide! 

You will notice this means I am tenting through the fall! I am super stoked about this — to me there are few better feelings than waking up in a warm sleeping bag within a chilly tent. The average November minimum temperature is 29ºF in Boulder, and 21ºF in Ward, 7 miles up the canyon. Boulder is at 5328’, I am at 6942’, and Ward is at 9449’. So a good estimate of the average November minimum is around 24ºF. This is not unlike the conditions I experienced living in the unheated cabin in Patagonia; my sleeping bag is rated to -20ºF so I should be fine. I watch Clint Eastwood films and listen to old school pedal steel country (think Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline etc.); it’s a nice life. 

I keep wishing I still smoked cigarettes. There is something so “fall” about wearing thick sweaters and blowing thick, hot smoke into thin, chilly air. And unlike a cup of coffee or tea, they require very little preparation – you can pretty much just roll out of bed and start smoking. Outside my tent, there is a flagstone patio with a simple wooden bench and views of the canyon that would be ideal for tobacco. Too bad I can’t stand even being in the vicinity of cigarettes anymore! Drinking mate is a fine option; I just need to heat water first. 

Because I keep saying to people, “that’s gotta be in my top 5 pet peeves” I decided to make a list of my top pet peeves. Does this make me a curmudgeon? Undoubtedly. 
1. People smoking in public areas (e.g. bus stops) 
2. Diesel engines
3. People occupying anywhere but the right in a shared space with traffic traveling different speeds (e.g. sidewalk, road) 
4. People adding sugar to foods that have no business containing additional sugar (e.g. tomato sauce) 
5. People with dogs on long leashes on paths shared with other trail users  
6. People who zone out in the left turn lane and delay other people’s left turn 
7. People who drive (or bike) around blind turns in the opposing lane 
8. People who demand your attention in public  

Here is a song to listen to while you scroll through these photos: