Let\u2019s zip through some journal entries, and get away from the approaching storm…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlright, I\u2019m sitting in the shed \u2013 still hasn\u2019t been wired for electricity \u2013 but I\u2019ve got the cell phone signal-booster going, so I have 4G and a connection to the net with my tablet and phone, although I still haven\u2019t gotten the mobile hotspot to bring it to my laptop and desktop.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I watched the Monday Night Football game on the tablet the other night \u2013 it was great! I\u2019m finally CONNECTED! It feels fantastic. It was quite the digital drought, though, I must say…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I also received the next assignment from <\/em>On Common Ground, so I have work and time to do it. The article is due the same day I have to be off the property by orders of the damn HOA \u2013 October 12<\/em>th<\/em><\/sup>. <\/em>Yeeehaw!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, I\u2019ll pull the camper off this property and set up at Dowdy Lake Campground down near the Village for a few days to collect myself and prepare for the journey south. Now that I have a net connection, I can entertain myself. It gets way too dark way too early these days. Winter is coming fast, though this has been the best fall foliage I\u2019ve seen in a long, long time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal\nentry: Thursday; September, 20th, 2018; 11:59 am. In the Shtudiop. (shed\/studio\/shop)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHuge! I went out to the shed to work at the desk this morning and it was 38 degrees inside. When I came back into the camper and turned on the computer to play a CD it connected to the internet! The jetpack hotspot reaches from the shed! I can work out of the camper, as I do now. NO EXCUSES!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Tuesday; September, 25th, 2018; 11:28 am. In my camper, Cochise<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe weather has been changing up here in the High and Lonesome, and it\u2019s becoming the latter. More snow is predicted for the next few days and it rained and howled from about 3 am \u2018til sunup \u2013 when it continued to just howl and buffet the trailer until just now.<\/em> Peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I need to focus on this article and little else but keep the wolves at bay. I had to go down to the flats yesterday to breath thick air, for I have found myself wanting of late for full, deep breaths. Even in Red Feather, 1,000\u2019 feet lower, I find the air more filling.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Wednesday; October, 3rd, 2018; 11:58 am. In my camper, Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat a glorious morning greets me through my work-nook window, the shadows of invisible branches made visible by the sun! Warm. No snow.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I was afraid last evening that the wind \u2013 at times ferocious \u2013 was going to topple Gus, the 80\u2019 tall, lone sentinel lodgepole pine tree elder who leans downhill from the top of my driveway escarpment. At times the wind pushed him toward the camper. A few seconds later he would be hurled back the opposite way with equal fury. Smaller trees simply bowed, their crowns bending down the descending slope. But always they sprang back, waving defiantly at the firmament above, shouting<\/em> \u2018Is that all you\u2019ve got!?\u2019, like Lt. Dan on top of the mast, shrimp fishing with Gump. Forest Gump.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, I must ready myself for a day of writing \u2013 the article for the only outfit that pays me so far, which is due in less than a week, and the weather is supposed to turn sour, cold and snow. <\/em>Please, no… I should be rolling south…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Friday; October, 5th, 2018; 9:08 am. In my camper, Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWinter is here, but hopefully not for long. The last three days have had snow \u2013 several inches \u2013 and it\u2019s been damn cold! Highs in the upper 20s and lows in the teens. My little camper is living up to the task, though. The furnace is running about as much as it rests, and a small, electric ceramic heater (oscillating, even) sits at my feet and keeps it warm under the worktable. Rambeaux huddles there now. These wind and water-resistant insulated summit pants are supreme. Gotta love having the right gear.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have to finish my article for <\/em>OCG and submit it. I think I\u2019ll go down to the library in the Village to work on it. I\u2019ll be pulling out of here soon. Hard to believe. This summer has gone by faster than any other I can recall. It\u2019s the beginning of something big, like this mountain I live on, in what has become the High and Lonesome. Next year I hope to be out by this time. We\u2019ll see how that goes…\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Tuesday; October, 9th, 2018; 9:36 am. In my cozy camper, Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDamn! More snow. More cold. Supposed to be like this for the next few days, getting down to the low teens at night. Our beautiful Indian Summer is gone, lost forever in memory only now. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I need to finish the feature article today and knock out the sidebar update for a previous article. The camper is warm and tight, since I covered the windows (except for the work-table portal I gaze through now) and vents with a thick, insulating cover called Reflectix. Dark, quiet \u2013 but warm. I worry about my water system freezing up, since we\u2019ve been well below freezing for days now. I run the water pump to keep things moving in the storage tank and lines. I have plenty of propane and the electricity is solid. Hell, I even have the internet, so I\u2019m in good shape. It\u2019s just that this is the weather I\u2019m trying to avoid. I must admit – it\u2019s quite pretty, though. I\u2019ll think back to this when I\u2019m kicking it in a hot spring in New Mexico. I hope to tote my trailer down to Dowdy [Lake Campground] next Tuesday, when it warms up a bit and gets sunny. Still don\u2019t have all of my next steps figured out, but I\u2019ll have time to do that when I get off the mountain. I\u2019ll shuttle back up here to close everything up. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I wonder what of ice-fishing this winter, but I can\u2019t think of that now…\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Wednesday; October, 10th, 2018; 11:15 am. In my little-bitty camper, Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHere I am at the library, trying to finish my article for <\/em>On Common Ground. My editor gave me time to get more interviews. They really like quotes from industry experts. I just wish these experts were more expert at returning my calls. I\u2019m having difficulty focusing and being productive this time around. I\u2019ve been feeling a lot of anxiety lately regarding my upcoming move and going on the road, lugging a camper over unknown ground \u2013 and living at this altitude, always short of breath. I had my wellness exam, and everything is fine with my health. That\u2019s good. I just need to punch through. I\u2019ve got the rest of the week, so it shouldn\u2019t be a problem. We\u2019ll see…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The weather finally broke out of record cold temperatures and snow, which is nice. It dropped down to single-digit temps and snowed all week. Several days never got out of the 20s. Not what I had hoped would happen, but it did. I\u2019m surprised how comfortable the camper is, after insulating the windows and getting a space heater, but it\u2019s still not ideal. I should have gone down to Dowdy Lake [campground] today, but I decided to tough it out. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, the weather is warming, so I\u2019ll take the trailer down later this week when it\u2019s supposed to get up into the 60s and 70s. Then, I go south…\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal\nentry: Tuesday; October, 16th, 2018; 12:35 pm. At the Red Feather Lakes Village\nlibrary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell…been a couple days since I\u2019ve logged in this journal. Apprehensive of putting the truth on paper, I guess. I\u2019ve yanked the camper down from the property and have been here at Dowdy for the last two nights. Hopped off the mountain before the cold and snow would have made it more treacherous than necessary.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal\nentry: Thursday; October, 18th, 2018; 12:35 pm. Finally at Dowdy Lake\nCampground, on the edge of the Village of Red Feather Lakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHard to believe, but I\u2019m still at Dowdy. I\u2019ve spent the last four or five nights at ****\u2019s, which has been a great comfort after being cooped up in the camper. Showers, fireplace, fun. She\u2019s a good person, and I\u2019ll worry about her this winter, being back on her isolated property in the boonies. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m getting ready to hook-up and haul down the hill. It\u2019s feeling secluded and foreboding up here. I came back to the camper yesterday and the propane had run out. It was 20 degrees inside, and the water system froze up, but I thawed it out with the little electric heater. Luckily, the water pump didn\u2019t pop. I\u2019ll shoot for Pawnee National Grasslands down on lower elevation. They have a campground at Crow Valley that\u2019s a good place to view birds. I wonder if any will be there. It would be nice to see some feathered friends. I\u2019ve always liked observing birds. It runs in our family.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal\nentry: Friday; November, 9th, 2018; 10:59 am. At Dowdy Lake Campground, and off\nthe damn mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSHAZAAM! I\u2019m out of the elevation and back on the flats! Crow Valley Campground (run by the USDA) is in the Pawnee National Grassland just outside of Briggsdale in unincorporated Weld County. Big oil country. Big-ass freaking sky! More stars than I\u2019ve seen in a long time! Quiet. No wind. A few other campers are here, so I\u2019m not alone. Met the host when I tried to camp at their spot. Hey, it was dark! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I almost ran out of gas on the barren prairie roads built up off the plain – in the dark. One last dose of hyper-anxiety before the unspeakable relief of this great unletting of the moment. <\/em>Thank you, Lord!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal\nentry: Friday; November, 9th, 2018; 8:26 pm. Somewhere in the dark at Crow\nValley Campground, on flat land at last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s six minutes past the official moment that World War I ended, in 1918 \u2013 one hundred years ago today. I don\u2019t know how I noticed that, but I can\u2019t help but take a few minutes to imagine what that war was like, in those muddy, bloody God-forsaken trenches. Sometimes you just have to put things in historical perspective, lest we forget…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here I am at a real campsite in Crow Valley Campground. The first night I squatted in a parking lot, and left the trailer hooked up to BroBo so I could just crawl inside Cochise and decompress on the bed, Rambeaux at my side, both of us happy as flatland clams can be. This spot\u2019s a beauty! Two picnic tables, a grill and firepit, all next to the trash dumpster (not even bear-proof!) and pit [vault] toilet. A veritable paradise \u2013 except the water and electricity have been shut off for the season. Life as a rubber tramp has its interesting turns. <\/em>Deal with it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n