living alfresco,and the strawberry moon

First off, one needs to truly enjoy spending time out in nature. If not—just go about it in the standard RV way. You’ll probably be happier.

Most people spend much of their day exposed to lots of noise, people—lots of stimulation. Our minds are processing and responding to an enormous number of auditory and visual cues all the time. Alone in nature, we find ourselves in an environment that makes virtually no demands on us. There’s a low level of stimulation that slows down our thinking. This is a good thing. We need to be aware of its power.

The leaving behind of schedules and appointments, job and routine can open one up to the varied rhythms and tempo of the natural world—sunrises and sunsets, the sound of the wind, and the crashing of a storm. This heightened awareness and shift in attitude usually takes time and it cannot be forced. It is often a gradual seeping-in process, an accumulation of rainstorms, moonrises, and silence.

To live with a small rig, it helps if one is somewhat laid back, has a good sense of humor, and some semblance of tolerance. Then again, one always has the restorative power of nature out there with you. One just has to learn how to slow down and tap into it. When living on wheels, things are always changing. If it is not working well somewhere—just roll away.

Weed out the ‘time suckers’ in your life. Unnecessary possessions, tasks, and even some people that you devote time to. Remember, life is an hourglass with only a limited amount of sand and it only runs one way. You want as much free time as possible. Then be sure to make good use of it because once a minute is gone—it’s gone.

Celebrate the ordinary.
Your heart knows the comfort and the beauty in common things.
Let it tell your head.
Linus Mundy

All your ‘yards’ will be different. Tweak each one so it’s the most comfortable for you. That’s where you will be spending a good deal of your time. You’ll have cooking, cleaning, and sitting areas. A table or bench will be set up for working on whatever you are into. Have a shallow pit for a fire (that can be covered back up to leave-no-trace). An area for whatever activities you enjoy. Find out where the local trails are or where you can go off cross-country. It’s important to find time each day to get away from your rig. Go off for a walk, bike ride, possibly visit with anyone who might be around. Go for a mug-walk in the mornings and a moon-walk at night. Absorb the freedom to be had out of doors.

Be small and child-like.
There is no simpler, better way to see the big picture.
once again, Linus Mundy

Go outside and take in the smell of pine-scented air, the smell of rain, the sound of the wind in the trees, pinecones dropping, the babble of a brook, its crystal clear running water, the wind rippling across a lake, the sight of a waterfall, the surface of a glassy lake at dawn enveloped in fog, deer grazing, the bugle of an elk, sounds of wildlife moving about, the brilliance of dawn as the sun peeks over the horizon, the crackle of a small campfire, the darkness, the cry of a loon, the howl of coyotes, the majestic night sky, a full moon rising over a ridge, the quiet. Some find a balance in life with all of this. And if one can truly get out into the boondocks, there is an honest chance to live outside the confines of predictability and be free of society’s restraint.

The Celtic ‘The Deer’s Cry’

I arise today
through the strength of heaven, light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.’ This quote has been attributed to Mark Twain, but the attribution cannot be verified. The quote should not be regarded as authentic. However—if you stop and think—it might provide some incentive to start living the lifestyle you have been working towards much sooner than you had planned. You might be trading some security for your new freedom but if you want some semblance of adventure back in your life—quit beating around the bush and go for it. One might be getting on a bit in years, but that does not need to apply to one's outlook. One’s real life, more often than not, is not the one, one is living.

There's nothing much not to like about it. The freedom of being able to pull up anywhere one wants—mountains, desert, lake, creek-side, wherever. Set up and have one’s front yard different every time. Wherever one wants it to be, and to see a section of the country that way—is a stellar life.
One does not even have to travel extensively and see a whole lot of new areas—one just needs to see with new eyes.

If you get something from the simple things in life, this lifestyle can work for you. Some put a high value on freedom and flexibility—remember, one might be freer without something than with it—think outside the box.

The June, the full moon is referred as the Strawberry Moon. Known to every Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon.

Then there’s ‘The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes’ which states,
There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.

Who says comics are not educational?

RVwest article ‘Following a Free Spirit’
FOR INDEX OF POSTINGS GO TO JULY 2006