New Living Room Tarp

I finally replaced the small tarp over my picnic table. I lost the old one to heavy snow loads last Winter. The new one is the same size as the old one, 10' x 20', and a bit heavier at 5 mils. But it's still no match for Winter snow loads so I'll take it down in a few months before the snow flies.

Living Room, with a new tarp over the picnic table

Hurricane Lamps

I don't have electricity at my place so I light with oil lamps and candles. I have three table-top oil lamps the two hanging hurricane lamps.

I bought my first hurricane lamps from a local department store. They cost around $6 each. They'd work well for awhile, but then they'd always fail. (What do you expect for six bucks, right?) I'd usually get two or three months use out of them, and then they'd start leaking or the fuel caps would strip out or the wick mechanism would break.

I had such bad luck with those cheap hurricane lamps that I sort of just gave up on them. But a few weeks ago, I decided to break down and buy some high-quality hurricane lamps that would last for many years.

After doing a little research, I decided on the Dietz #1 "Little Wizard" lantern. It's pretty short (12" high) so I can hang it from ceiling, and it holds 36 ozs of fuel, which gives a 40+ hour burn time. The Dietz Company has been making oil lamps and lanterns since the 1840s and has a great reputation.

The "Little Wizard" seemed like the perfect lantern, so I bought two!

Dietz Brand #1 "Little Wizard" Oil Lanterns

New hurricane lamps hanging from the ceiling

Time for a New Roof

When I bought my Wilderness wall tent a few years ago, I had it treated with Sunforger water and mildew treatment. The thick, water-treated canvas repels water really well, but I've done enough camping to know that an extra layer or protection is always good, so I installed a rain fly above the canvas tent, too. The rain fly is a 20'x30' poly tarp, 10 mils thick, with heavy, reinforced grommets. It's significantly larger than the 12'x14' tent so there's plenty of overhang all around, and I mounted it a foot or so above the tent so it provides welcome shade in Summer, and helps to bear some of the snow load in Winter.

The poly rain fly protects the canvas from sun, rain, and snow. It's my first line of defense against the forces of Nature so it takes a real beating. Last Winter was a tough one in Virginia, and the heavy snow really took its toll on my two-year-old rain fly. It ripped out one of the grommets and put a few small holes in the fabric, and the poly material has deteriorated to the point where water is trickling through in a number of areas during heavy rains.





 



Original rain fly showing signs of fatigue after nearly three years of use

That first tarp served me incredibly well. It kept me safe and dry for nearly three years at a cost of around $30 per year. But now, I think it's too weak to take me through another Winter, so it's time to install a new one.

I pulled the old tarp off and dragged it off to the side. It had been a long time since I'd seen the uncovered canvas. It looked so small.

Before putting up the new rain fly, I decided to make some improvements to my installation. I have never been very satisfied with the way the rain fly sags toward the middle of the suspension rope over time. It tends to sag along the eaves, too, even though I have adjustable ropes there and can tighten them up from time to time. With the new rain fly, I want to be able to adjust it just once when I install it, nice and taught, and have it stay that way.

With my old installation, I tied a rope to a single grommet at each gable end and secured the other end of the rope to the support post. That kept the ridge line tight, for awhile, but the grommet eventually tore out. (If there's one thing I've learned about tarps, it's that you never tie a rope to a single grommet!)

With my new rain fly, I decided to lash the gable ends to a couple pieces of conduit in order to spread the tension across several grommets, like I do on the eave sides. I then tied a rope to the conduit, and secured the other end of the rope to the support post using a heavy-duty rubber tie-down (not shown). The tie-down keeps constant tension on the gable ends.

Putting tension on the gable ends

To keep constant tension on the eaves, I installed the same rubber tie-downs on the guy lines there, too. It turned the entire ran fly into a trampoline!

Rubber tie-downs keep the rain fly taught

Here's hoping I get another three years out of this new rain fly.

New rain fly with improved installation

Bad Neighbors, Part 3

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He was still anxious and angry as he started right back at me. "What are you doing out here!", he said. "You're living here, aren't you!"

"Yeah, I live here," I admitted.

"Oh I know you do! I keep track of you. I see where you park your truck and I know when you're here," he said. What? He's been monitoring my comings and goings? Now I was the one who was starting to feel uncomfortable.

I understood why he was uncomfortable with me living there. And, assuming he was a family man, I even understood his anger and aggressiveness. He was protecting his "territory", which for him I suppose included the adjacent property, so long as there was a strange man there living in a tent. But I still thought this whole situation could be defused if only he would get to know me a little and realize that I was no threat to him or his family.

"Hey look," I said, "I know this is strange, and I realize you're probably thinking the worst, but believe me there's nothing shady going on here. The landowner is a friend of mine, and I live this way by choice. It's something I've always wanted to try. And since you and I are neighbors..."

"We're not neighbors!!" he interrupted. "Do you own the property here? Do you pay taxes? No! So don't call me your neighbor! You're not my neighbor!" That statement sent alarms through me. It was dehumanizing, and that can lead to a dangerous situation. I tried to stay calm, but this guy was much more upset than I had first imagined. And now I wasn't quite sure that talking this thing out was going to work.

"Okay, fine," I said, "but I still consider you to be my neighbor, and I don't want to make your life miserable. I'm trying to live in peace here, and if you're this upset over the situation then that upsets me, too."

For the first time, I could see his face beginning to soften just a little. The deep frown was beginning to relax. Maybe I was getting through to him.

"Look," I continued, "what is it exactly that's bothering you? What can I do to help you feel better about this?" He looked at me and paused for just a moment. I got the feeling that he'd never actually thought about that question. He just knew that he didn't like me there and he wanted me gone.

"Well, why do you have to camp right here? Right next to my driveway?" he asked. "I mean, I like camping, too, but out in the woods somewhere, not on some one's property like this. And what do you do about your toilet? I mean, where do you go?" he continued.

"I compost my waste," I said. "And when I set up here, I didn't realize your driveway was so close. I was trying to get toward the back of my friend's property to get away from the road, but I guess I went in too deep and ended up near your driveway."

"Look," I continued, "I was thinking about moving next Spring anyway, and now you've got me thinking even more seriously about it. But this stuff is a bitch to move, and Winter's comin' on. Can you at least tolerate me until Spring?"

"Hey, I don't want to chase anyone away," he countered. "If you wanna leave then that's up to you." I was glad that he was showing more respect towards me now. And his anger was nearly gone.

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Skunks

I had my first close encounter with a skunk last night. Fortunately, it wasn't so close that I got sprayed.

I had just fallen asleep when I was awakened by small foot steps coming down my path. I realized from the sound that it was just a small animal. I figured it was a opossum since they occasionally snoop around my tent. I got up and grab my flashlight and shined it toward the noise.

It was a momma skunk and her three kits marching toward my tent in single-file, with momma in the lead. They were just a foot or two from my front steps by the time I got to the door. Cute, cute, cute!

Momma didn't mind the light at all and just kept right on coming, with the three kits following close behind. I made a loud "Pssst! Pssst!" noise, which stopped momma in her tracks and caused the kits to sort of bump into her back side. For a moment, they were just a cuddly bundle of black and white confusion as momma tried to figure out her next move. She turned left then right then left then around and back a few steps then started to approach the tent again. I did the "Pssst! Pssst!" again, and this time she decided to retreat altogether as she turned away and headed back down the path the way she had come. The kits tagged right along behind her, and within a few steps they were all in single-file again, marching down the path the way they had come.

I don't know whether they would have climbed the steps into the tent, but I closed the door just in case. I'll probably start sleeping with the door closed now, at least for awhile.

Bad Neighbors, Part 2

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"I don’t know who you are or what you’re up to, but I don’t like it!" the man had said as we met at the fence line, I on my side and he on his.

 

This was a new experience for me. Throughout my life I’d lived a "normal" lifestyle and had always fit into the society around me. But now, this guy’s attitude had made me feel that I had done something terribly wrong. He looked at me like I was crazy, or somehow a threat to his family. He was angry and agitated, but I didn’t get the sense that he intended physical harm. He just didn’t understand what I was doing there, living in a tent so close to his home and family.

 

I’m not a fighter, and it takes a lot to get me angry, so my immediate reaction was to stay calm and try to talk to this guy. "Hold on a minute." I said, trying my best to stay calm while speaking in a firm and confident voice. After all, the way that he had greeted me was very rude, and although I understood why he might be upset, it didn’t excuse his behaviour. "Let’s back up a bit", I said as I offered him my right hand. "My name is Dave".

 

He reached out and shook my hand with a deep frown still on his face. The handshake was almost instinctive on his part, which showed he was usually a polite man and that this encountered was probably as uncomfortable for him as it had been so far for me. "Alan", he said

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Hot Summer Nights

As the hot Summer sun moved slowly across the evening sky, the long shadows of the pines stretched across the floor of the woods. Soon enough, the trees’ shadows would be absorbed into the darkness, joining with the evening, completing the transition from day to evening to night.

 

I lay on my hammock watching the close of the day, dressed only in shorts, my skin still sticky from the sweat of the day. I spread out on my back, looking up into the tall tree tops and watched the day pass into evening. The trees were especially beautiful in these early evening hours as they caught the parting rays of sunlight. Their leaves and branches and needles, being bathed in horizontal light from the west, glowed orange and reddish. The air felt still and humid, but high in the trees the leaves and branches rustled very gently, a sign of a cooler evening ahead.

 

The evening insects found me again as I lay there gently rocking from side to side. Their annoying buzzes interrupted the pleasant white noise of wind and leaves and evening birds and crickets. But soon most of them went on their way, and the few that remained were easier to ignore, so I fell asleep for an evening nap.

 

When I awoke it was nearly dark. I gathered my things and went back to the tent. Still tired, I went straight to bed, only to begin sweating again in the stale, still air inside. There would be no sleep until I cooled down, so I filled my water pot and went outside for a bath. I slowly poured the cool water over my body and let it trickle down my skin. A breezy evening would have been perfect, but there would be little wind evening. I continued to pour water on myself until the pot was empty. I was a bit more comfortable now so I went back to bed. I lay back on the damp bedding, my body still damp as well, and was soon able to fall asleep.

 

I slept well for some hours until I was awakened by a Summer storm that had built up some distance to the northeast. Heat lightning was lighting up my tent. And the accompanying thunder, grumbling slowly along as it passed through my woods, spoke softly of a powerful storm several miles away.

 

I was wide awake now, so I went outside to enjoy the cooler air that the storm had brought to the area. I sat naked on the pine needles outside, found a fairly comfortable spot that offered some softness, and looked high into the trees to the southwest. It was a dark night with little moonlight so the woods appeared black. Then, the distant lightning would strike again and for a brief moment cast the trees in a flash of light, only to drop them back into darkness again an instant later. Between the flashes, the woods returned to their normal night time state, with only fireflies and a few stars making their way through the darkness. I sat there awhile longer, smiling at the activity of the night. Before long my sleepiness returned and I went back inside to bed.

 

I awoke the next morning and immediately thought about the evening and night before, and how wonderful these hot Summer nights are in the woods of my home.