Farewell Winter

It's the first week of March and there's still plenty of snow at my place. The cold, white hand of Winter still holds on. It was an impressive season. There were very few strong winds at my place, thankfully, but plenty of cold days, and lots of snow. My rain fly took a lot of punishment and will have to finally be replaced before next Winter. She's served me well and will get me through Autumn, but she will not survive another Winter, especially another Winter like this one.

I underestimated the amount of firewood I would need to get me through this Winter...twice. And for the third time I am down to only a few days supply, but this time I won't resupply. Part of me wants one, last cold night before Spring. I want to feel it all and remember it well. This has been a strong, wonderful Winter. One to be respected. And so I bid you farewell, Winter! Until next year.

A Spiritual Place

Up until now, I've viewed tent living as a physical endeavour. I've focused on the practical side of physical life. Keeping my body safe and comfortable. Fashioning my systems to be simple and functional in order to meet the needs of my body. Along the way, I've had hints that my home is a spiritual place, too. But only quiet, subtle hints. Or maybe they were indeed loud shouts instead of quiet whispers, and I just wasn't listening very well.

Now, as I enter my third year of living this way, I have begun to see this as more of a spiritual journey than a physical one. Remarkably, the spiritual changes that have begun to happen lately are far more interesting, and far more intense, than heating with wood and carrying water and lighting with oil lamps. I have achieved some sort of alignment in the physical world, which has now left me free to explore the spiritual side of my life, which I must admit has been long neglected.

It's clear to me that living in a tent pleases God. In fact, I don't believe he thinks it's unusual at all. After all, the rest of his creation lives simply, too. And they, by his design. So if I am to create a home, should I not look to his creation for clues in the matter?

I've looked for those clues, and apparently I have done something right in living this way. My home is a humble place. I have no debt. I do not claim that I "own" the land on which it sits. I am safe and live a healthy life. Yes, I am a bit cold in Winter, and a bit warm in Summer, but my home serves me, and not the other way around. And so it is with all the other homes built by Life on this planet. (Well, with the exception of many of the homes built by Man.) All of God's creatures build homes in accordance with their nature, from nests to burrows, from ant hills to bee hives. And all share many of the same attributes. Simplicity. Economy. Aesthetics. So I'm very pleased with my home.

In resolving my physical problems, I think I've made room for the spiritual. I've never been religious. In fact, I've been atheist. But now I pray, and I know my prayers are heard, and answered. I can hear now, and I can see. I've never felt such grace, and I am overwhelmed by it all.

Recipe for Fried Cabbage and Lobster

Fried Cabbage and Lobster

 This recipe make enough for two, but I ate it all myself in one sitting!

1. Heat about three tablespoons of coconut oil in a large skillet over low heat.
2. Thinly slice one small head of cabbage. Put in pan and slowly fry until tender, stirring regularly.
3. Once tender, turn heat up to medium-high and fry cabbage until slightly brown, stirring constantly.
4. Stir in liberal amounts of garlic powder, curry, Worcestershire, and Asian fish powder.
5. Move cabbage to the perimeter of the pan, freeing up the center.
6. With heat still on medium-high, add four tablespoons of coconut oil to center of pan.
7. Add 8 oz of lobster chunks (imitation works well) to center of pan and quickly fry for just a minute or two, stirring constantly.
8. Remove from heat. Add Asian peanut sauce to lobster and stir.

Enjoy!

Cold Winter Winds

January is the most challenging Winter month in Virginia. Overnight temperatures can dip down into single-digits, and Winter storms bring in steady winds. That's a rough combination for a tent, where air infiltration is a big problem. Even though I've gone to great lengths to seal the gaps in my canvas, the material itself is so porous that the wind comes right through, causing my candles to flicker as they dance in the cold air. On nights like that I burn a hot stove, so wood consumption doubles and burn time is cut in half. And I have to wake up every few hours to stoke the fire.

As I snooze through such nights, I let the temperature on my face act as an alarm clock, the rest of me being cozy and warm beneath my blankets. I've found that when my face gets cold enough, say at around 30 degrees or so, I usually wake up. And just in time to add fuel to the stove, there being a nice, hot bed of coals still glowing. Of course, there have been times when I've slept through and have woken up to temperatures in the teens, and dying coals that needed kindling and care. I always knew when that had happened as soon as I awoke, and frowned and grumbled to myself for having slept through, knowing that I would be up a bit longer tending to the stove.

January's cold has also worked to acclimate my body. Forty degrees is now quite comfortable, so some evenings I'll heat with just propane, satisfied to wake up to a 30 degree morning.

I'm enjoying Winter now, having passed through the December doldrums. February is just weeks away, then Spring, then the heat of Summer when I'll wish for January.

Fire Safety

From a fire safety point-of-view, my home is a small, flammable space with open flames everywhere. The tent itself is only 12' x 14', and in it I have a double-bed, a kitchen area, a bathing area, a toilet, two chairs, some small shelves and tables, and at this time of year, a wood stove. It's packed pretty tight, and even though the canvas has been treated for fire resistance, I'm still surround by a lot of flammable material.

I light with oil lamps and candles, cook with propane, and heat with propane and wood, so there are always open flames about. And it being a small, crowded space, the likelihood for accidents increases. One false move, and an oil lamp falls to the floor or the propane heater gets knocked over. Or worse, a failure of the tent frame, a fallen limb, or an accidental bump could dislodge the stove pipe from the wood stove leading to thick smoke and open flames within the tent.

So here are my fire safety tips for tent living:

1. Don't live in a tent! It's dangerous!

Okay, if you ignore that rule (like I do), then at least:

1. Install a carbon monoxide detector. This is a must! Carbon monoxide accumulates quickly in a small space like a tent. My CO detector goes off routinely, so it has probably already saved my life.
2. Install a smoke detector. This is more for peace-of-mind, for example, when I leave my wood stove burning through the night. But my smoke detector has also alerted me to sooty wicks and slight obstructions in the stove pipe.
3. Keep a fire extinguisher handy. Fortunately, I haven't had to use mine yet, but I've had some pretty close calls when I've almost pulled it out.
4. Prevention. Arrange your space so as to minimize accidents. For example, place oil lamps on stable surfaces out of the main traffic flow, and avoid setups where you have to reach over an open flame to retrieve objects.
5. Have a fire plan. This is perhaps the most important. Imagine everything that could go wrong, and plan your response ahead of time. For example, what would you do if a tree limb ripped off the stove pipe and knocked over the wood stove? Or an oil lamp fell to the floor and broke? Or you smelled propane? Or your hair or clothes caught fire? And so on.

Please think about these things, be safe, and enjoy the thrill of tent living!

Winter Melancholy

It's the last day of December and I'm feeling down. The tent feels awfully small this time of year. The days are short, and I just want to sleep. I need some sun! I start feeling this way every year around this time. January is tough, too. But once February is near, I know it's about over.

Heavy Snow Takes a Toll

I had my first significant storm-related failure a few weeks ago. We had a Winter storm with mixed precipitation and the heavy accumulation of snow, rain, and sleet on my rain fly caused it to break loose from the conduit pipe running along the eaves.

Heavy snow damages rain fly

Fortunately, my good friend, Tom, had convinced me to attach the rain fly to the conduit with nylon zip-ties. Not only was that a clever and easy solution, but the zip-ties broke before the grommets did, so it was easy to fix the damage.

Not so for the small tarp that I had set over the picnic table. I rigged it about the same way, using zip-ties, but the tarp itself wasn't very thick so some of the grommets tore out. I'll replace it in Spring with a heavier tarp.

Living room tarp was a total loss