Camping In

I feel like a squatter in my own home.  But what else makes sense?  I have power (heat), a gas stove to cook on, hot showers, and a dandy new blow-up bed.   What else do I need?  A buyer, maybe.  But, hey–you would be amazed at how much less housework there is to do.   There’s something to be said for this minimalist lifestyle.  Style-wise it isn’t my cup of tea, but I kinda like the limited housework.

A refrigerator would be nice, of course, but at the moment the whole outdoors is a fridge, so all I have to do is make sure the food box is possum-proof.  That’s not as easy as it may sound.  Australian possums are clever little buggers, and very determined.  Nothing like the o’possum of the northern hemisphere.  They remind me more of a squirrel in terms of problem-solving skills.  Just ask anyone who has tried to outsmart a squirrel that wants to get to a bird feeder.  Tonight we’re having flooding rains, which I’m hoping will deter the possums from assaulting my make-shift fridge until I have a chance to secure it better.

Another thing I could really use is a washing machine.  At $5 a load (just to wash) it wouldn’t take long to pay for one.   Which brings me to ask–Has anyone tried putting clothes in a dishwasher?   I don’t suppose so.

I could also use a T.V.   I can watch some stuff on my iPad, but it isn’t quite the same, somehow.   Of course, if I had a T.V. I would need a chair or a sofa.  And so it goes…if it takes long enough to attract another offer on the house I’ll have it redecorated!

I haven’t been camping since the early 1980s.   Before then I did quite a bit of it in Idaho.  We backpacked into the mountains, slept under the stars,  strung our food up in a tree some distance from the campsite so the bears wouldn’t be attracted to where we slept…ah, those were the good ole days.  Who would have thought all these years and miles later I’d be doing it all again?  (Without the climbing)

i don’t mind roughing it, but I do feel it’s important to keep up appearances in these situations, so yesterday I had my nails done.  The color I chose was ‘Russian Navy.’  I think it conveys a bit about my current lifestyle:  a certain ‘basic’ comfort level, a sense of not knowing from day to day just where the dickens I’ll be tomorrow, and wearing the same uniform clothes day after day.

About the clothes: I  had expected to go to Wilmot the day after settlement on my house, so had taken nearly everything up there a few days earlier, keeping only a very limited wardrobe with me.  It’s wintertime, so everything is heavy, bulky stuff. Not an easy pile of laundry to hand wash.

Don’t misunderstand me– I’m not complaining,  just reporting (and having a laugh at myself).  I know that there are millions of people on the planet who lack the comforts I have.  And I don’t think for a minute that ‘Russian Navy’ would begin to capture the essence of starvation.       MM