Why I Left My Tent

I had always told myself that if I ever decided to leave my tent, I would move out in Spring or Autumn, never Winter. I would move out when the weather was at its best for tent living, and never let Winter's cold factor into my decision to leave. So what did I end up doing? I moved out in January, right in the middle of Winter. Not because it was too cold to continue with tent living, but because it was time to leave. It was time to rejoin society and start the next chapter in my life.

At the time that I left my tent, I had been living in it for about three years and had fully assimilated to the lifestyle. I had a comfortable home and a simple, peaceful life. I had just retired and was financially secure. But with all of those blessings, I was also completely unsettled. Retirement had disrupted my thoughts, forcing me to consider the question that so many of us ask, "What should I be doing with my life?" Signing my retirement papers was like cashing in a winning lottery ticket. No more financial worries! Nothing but leisure time! Great! But, now what?

And it wasn't just retirement that was disturbing me. Something else had been bothering me for some time. With each passing day, I had gotten further and further away from society. I felt more connected to the birds and the squirrels now, and less comfortable with my fellow humans. When you live a simple life, surrounded by Nature, everything in the world begins to make a lot of sense. Everything, that is, except for human society, with all of its self-inflicted pain and foolishness. I was becoming less and less tolerant of my fellow humans, and that was unsettling, too.

In January of 2015, it had all come to a head. I had been given the gift of total freedom and at the same time was on the verge of becoming a hermit! I felt lost and confused, and my instincts told me to retreat back to society. Perhaps it would have been better to leave my tent for different reasons, but I just wanted to go back home. Back to my fellow humans. I knew that it would be difficult. That I would have to work hard to remember what I had learned in the tent, and that over time I would probably come to view human society as "natural" once again. I was sure that staying in the tent would disconnect me further from society, and I was also sure that rejoining society would most probably disconnect me from Nature, but it was time. Time to go back home, before I slipped too far away.

On Being Normal

It's a beautiful Autumn day, just past noon. I'm pretty sure the sky is clear because I see crisp shadows cast upon the fallen leaves in my back yard as the Sun's rays make their way through bare November tree limbs. If it's not clear, then it's mostly sunny anyway, I suppose. It should be a good day for birds, too. They're probably pretty active on a fine day like today, but I really can't be sure because their songs are muted by the R-13 wall insulation and double-pane windows that keep me so comfortable this time of year. And even if that weren't the case, the dishwasher is running in the kitchen so all I can hear is its "swish" and "rumble" as I sit at my dining room table typing on a fully-charged laptop that is plugged into the wall and connected wirelessly to a router that is cabled into Comcast's high-speed Internet at $80/month. But anyway, the birds are probably happy today, this typical day in the life of a typical American in the year 2016.

Normal. It's all very normal. I got up this morning, not to the sound of birds chirping at dawn as I did in my tent days, but because I was just done sleeping. I had no idea what time it was so I walked into the kitchen and glanced at the digital clock on the electric stove. It was close to 7:30am. The birds would have finished their morning songs some time ago, but that thought never crossed my mind because that's not something that normal people think about. I looked out the window and wondered what the temperature was. I don't have a thermometer hanging outside my door like I did in my tent days because it doesn't really matter what it's like outside anyway. What matters is the temperature inside my house, which is always right at 70 degrees, maintained automatically, day and night, Summer or Winter.

I've been out of my tent for nearly two years now. It took me that much time to decide to start writing again. I had to figure out what I wanted to say, but I think I've got a pretty good idea now. And I think this Tent Living blog is the place to say it, not because I still live in a tent, but because tent living was but one chapter of a story that I'm ready to continue now. It's the story of the multitude of social constructs that mankind has created for themselves, and our capacity to accept them. It's about the struggle within each of us to reconcile two inner voices. Two voices that I believe each of us hears, in some degree, for it's a human condition and we are all much the same in that regard. It's about the struggle to find internal peace and happiness while living a normal life. To find beauty and contentment and meaning is a man-made world. To shine brilliantly right smack dab in the middle of being normal.

"Farewell, Aquarius"

There’s a scene in the movie, “Apollo 13”, in which the three astronauts, Haise, Swigert, and Lovell, are approaching Earth for reentry. They crawl back into the command module from the lunar module. The lunar module, Aquarius, was just a small, frail craft, but to them, it was much more. “She sure was a good ship”, one of them says as they jettison the craft. “Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you”.

I lived in a canvas wall tent for three years. It was a wonderful time in my life. The tent itself was just a large piece of fabric, but to me, it was much more. It was my home. It’s where I experienced things that I will never forget. It’s where I regrouped and found my bearings. It’s where I found peace and solitude during troubled times. It’s where I learned how simple life could be. Where I found the rhythms of Mother Earth and heard most clearly from God.

And now, having learned a great deal from it all, it is time to return to my fellow humans and live a more “normal” life among them.

I’m bringing the lessons of tent living with me. The knowledge that we have all been given everything we need to live a happy life, if only we can appreciate those blessings. The understanding that my life is not to be spent living in the woods by myself but rather among the wonderful people that I already know, and those that I have still to meet. The people that I love, and will love, and who love me.

So I’m paddling out of my calm and peaceful cove, and reentering the mainstream of human society, with all of its sharp bends and turbulent eddies. The rough waters of human society used to trouble me a great deal, but now I’m eager to embrace the rapids and paddle alongside the rest of humanity.

I know what it’s like to live a simple life. It’s wonderful, and the peace and security of that lifestyle is always there, for each of us, if ever we wish to live it. It’s with that experience and knowledge that I now return to mainstream society. We are all a bit crazy, and all so beautiful, and by far the most interesting creatures on the planet. So farewell, my canvas tent, and I thank you. I’m gonna go hang out with my fellow humans now.

 

My Third Anniversary of Tent Living

I moved into my tent in November of 2011, so it's been three years now. And what a year this one has been.

The year 2014 has been one of the most eventful and significant years of my life. It's been full of love and heartache and worry and joy. Divorce and severance and the end of the old, but also reunion and healing of broken relationships that were so important to me. There were nosy neighbors and police, lawyers and judges and courtrooms and threats of lawsuits. Such experiences. Such learning. So many life changes.

And on top of it all, or perhaps, at least in part, because of it, I found God this year, and all the grace and forgiveness that comes with that, as well as all the hard work of repentance. I'm just beginning to understand the relationship between Mother Earth and Father Spirit and this way of life, but it's clear to me that these things are all interwoven, and that my life is now taking me down a wondrous path.

So, with all the change and all the wonder and all the distractions of this past year, what has this third year of tent living meant to me?

My simple home has been the one constant in my life this past year. It's been my safe haven. It's been the one area of my life that was never once threatened by loss or change from all the happenings of this year. A quiet, peaceful place where I could spend time alone, figuring things out. My place of prayer, where I heard most clearly. It's been my sanctuary. My place of retreat when I felt overwhelmed. And even though the thin canvas walls of my home bend easily to Mother Earth's winds, they are completely immune to anything that mankind may try to wield against them. Like an invisible, nearly magical shield, these thin walls protect me from all the threats and disruptions that the outside world of man may bring. Peace. Security. Holiness. What a wonderful home this is.

And so, in keeping with my tradition for this time of year, I ask myself whether I will continue this way of life for yet another year, or whether I am finally finished with tent living. Well this year, when I pondered that choice, I could only smile.

While most people consider tent living to be sort of crazy, I find that the longer I live this way, the more sense it makes. It's fascinating to me that when I now consider the notion of packing up my tent and moving back into a house and living like I used to, every part of my being screams, "No!!! That's crazy!!!"

So another year it is. And if I were a planning man, I'd commit to even more! But one year at a time is already a lot to ask, as this past year has shown, so I'll leave it at that.

Recipe for Apple Fritters

I went to a gathering at a friend's house last weekend. It was a beautiful November night, full or stars and not too cold. Early in the evening, as guests were still arriving and gathering around the campfire, one of our friends, Honey Marie, was still in the kitchen, dancing to music and frying up fritters.

These fritters aren't as good as Honey's, but they're still pretty damn good! I fried them up last night when I woke up at 3am with a sweet tooth and noticed that I still had one apple left from the several that I had bought from Mary Ann's fruit stand a few days before.



Apple fritters frying in coconut oil

Served up with honey and molasses

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/4 cup wheat flour, 1/4 cup nut or soy flour, 1/4 cup biscuit mix, 1/2 cup sugar, and lots of cinnamon
2. Mix in one egg, 1/4 cup olive oil, and just enough water to bring to a thick batter
3. Add one peeled and diced apple

Mix batter well. Heat 1/4 inch of coconut oil to medium-high heat in a small frying pan. Drop spoonfuls of batter mix into hot oil and fry to golden brown, flipping as needed. Remove from frying pan and place on paper towel to remove excess oil. Top with honey and molasses when served.

Enjoy!

Bringing Electricity into my World

It's mid-November now. Thanksgiving is next week, and December is right around the corner. Soon it will be Christmas, then New Year's Eve when I will drink a toast to 2015, the start of a new chapter in my life, for I'm retiring from the software industry at the end of this year.

Retirement will bring big changes to my life, so it's a very interesting time for me. I've been doing a lot of thinking these past few months about what next year may bring, and over the weekend I made some final decisions that will impact my life in the tent, the most important of which is the concession that...

I'm gonna need electricity.

Yep, that's right, I have to bring in electricity. I'm actually okay with this decision, finally, but I must admit that I didn't like going down that road to begin with. Electricity is just too...tempting. Once I have an AC outlet in my tent, I'll be tempted by other things, like televisions and DVD players and...God, help me! So I'm about to begin my battle with worldly temptations again, and I hope I have the strength to persevere.

In any case, for better or for worse, I've decided to flirt with that temptress in order to pursue my passions next year. I plan to write and make music for hours at a time, so I'm gonna need to plug-in.

I'll use a laptop for writing. I'm still shopping for one, but it will be very basic. Just a small system with Internet capabilities. Small, cheap, and low power consumption. For music, I plan to do a lot of recording and to rehearse once in a while for live performances. I already own an eight-track digital recorder, and a small acoustic amplifier for live performances.

I plan to build a 12V system with a single AC inverter. To correctly size the components, I need to look closely at my consumption.

First, I need to determine the peak load by adding up the wattage of all devices that could be running at the same time. This sum will determine the inverter size that I'll need.

The devices that I'll be operating are:

• Laptop = 100W
• Digital recorder = 20W
• Small acoustic amplifier = 150W

I might actually want to operate all of these at the same time. For example, I might want to mic the amplifier and record the output, then download the recorded tracks to the laptop. So my peak load could be as high as 100 + 20 + 150 = 270W. I'll round that up to a 400W inverter which I can easily find for under $30.00.

Next, I need to find my average daily consumption by multiplying the wattage of each device by its average run-time. That will give me my average watt-hours per day. But what will my "average day" look like? Hmm. Well, some days I may write all day long, so a day of writing would cost me 100W x 8 hours = 800 watt-hours. Other days, I might be recording all day long, so 20W x 8 hours = 160 watt-hours. I don't plan to do much rehearsing through the amplifier, so maybe a few hours here and there would be a big day for that, something like 150W x 2 hours = 300 watt-hours per week at the most.

Ok, that helps, but it still doesn't give me a good sense of what an "average day" might be like, so let's explore that. The writing days are the heavy consumers, but if I'm really writing all day long, then I'll probably want to get out anyway, maybe go to a coffee shop and socialize a bit and get on the Internet. So I'll just budget for one day of at-home writing per week. Now, for the digital recording. My recording time will probably go in spurts. I might record for a few days in a row, then take an entire week off. So on average, I'll budget for two full days of recording per week. So that gives me: (800 x 1 day) + (160 x 2 days) = 1120 watt-hours per week. I'll round that up to 1300 watt-hours per week.

Now that I know my average consumption, I can start to think about how many days I'd like to run before having to recharge. At the moment, I plan to recharge my batteries at a local auto parts store (I'm still looking into that, so I'll have another post on recharging later). I don't mind taking batteries in once a week for recharge, but I'd like at least five full days of continuous operation on a single charge. And I don't want to draw the batteries down below 50% depth of discharge, so I'll double the weekly consumption rate to 2600 watt-hours and size the batteries based on that figure.

For a 12V system, I'll need 2600 watt-hours / 12V = 217 amp-hours per week. I can get that from just one battery, albeit a pretty expensive one (something like the Trojan J185H-AC 12V 225AH flooded deep-cycle battery, which costs over $300.00!). Or I could build a battery bank from 12V or 6V batteries.

So the problem now comes down to acquiring the batteries and figuring out how to recharge them. I'll need to do more research to figure that out, so stay tuned!

New Propane Heater

I'm still experimenting with different space heaters to heat my tent in Autumn. The wood stove is just too hot to fire up until December, so I need a space heater to get me through October and November.

My first two Winters, I used a kerosene space heater. Kerosene heat is very economical and puts out about 22K BTUs, which is more than enough for my needs. But while kerosene heat has some nice advantages, I just didn't like the mess and the fumes, so last year I switched to propane. I chose a Mr. Heater MH15T tank-top heater, which puts out about 15K BTUs. The tank-top heater was also very economical, provided plenty of heat, was very convenient, and gave off no fumes. But the tank-top heater was a bit difficult to connect to the tank, and I just didn't like the design, from a safety standpoint. It had an automatic shut-off in case it tipped over, but I still didn't like the higher center of gravity on the tank, and the idea that the heater was physically connected to the tank. Also, the wiring from the thermocouple to the shut-off valve was just sort of hanging off to the side where it could be easily damaged. In fact, the thermocouple failed last Spring, but whether that was due to the wiring or to something else I don't know.

A few weeks ago, I went shopping for a new propane heater to replace the old tank-top that broke last Spring. I had been pretty pleased with the tank-top heater, and fully intended to just buy another one, until I saw the Mr. Heater MH9BX Portable Buddy propane heater.

Mr. Heater MH9BX Portable Buddy

The Portable Buddy had a lot of features that I really liked. It was a separate unit that attached to the propane tank with an adaptor hose, which meant that I could keep the tank outside of the tent if I wanted. It also had an electric ignitor, which wasn't available on the tank-top heater. It had an automatic shut-off in case of tip, like the tank-top model, but it also had a shut-off in case of low oxygen. And it was much easier to move around than the tank-top model. The Portable Buddy also had a more refined radiant panel, which provided a much quieter burn.

On the down-side, the Portable Buddy is nearly twice the price of the tank-top model, and it only offers 9K BTUs. That's only enough heat to raise the temperature in my tent by 20 degrees or so (compared to 30 degrees with the 15K BTU tank-top model). With only a 20 degree increase, the 9K BTUs will only get me into the low-60s on those cold November mornings in Virginia.

After scratching my head a bit, I decided to go ahead and try the Portable Buddy. I also purchased a 5' adaptor hose and decided to just leave the tank inside the tent for now (probably a mistake!) I've only used the heater a few times so far, but I like it a lot.The heater is nearly silent when it burns, and has a beautify orange glow that lights up my dark tent in the early morning. As the days get colder, I'll probably have to supplement the heater by burning my propane cook stove, too, which I occasionally do anyway. But the lower BTUs is more than compensated for by the improved safety over the tank-top model, which is a big advantage for me.