I rented a U-Haul truck the other day, and the clerk handed me a stack of forms to fill out . The forms asked for the usual information. Name...check. Phone number...check. Address....hmmm. I put in my post office box number (which is how I get my mail these days), then continued filling out the remaining forms. I handed the papers back to the clerk. She looked them over and said, "We need your physical address here." I said, "I'm currently homeless." She gave me an empathetic look of concern and said, "Oh, I'm sorry", and moved on to the next page.
Homeless? Well, sort of I guess. I don't have a physical address. And I don't live in what most people would considered a home. But strangely, I feel more secure with this life style then I did when I lived in a house! For the first time in my life, I actually *own* my "home". And in a pinch, I can pack it all up and put it in a 5' x 10' storage unit where it will wait for me until I'm ready to set it up again. I actually feel like I will *never* be without a home now. I can lose my job or run into other financial hardship without having to worry about losing my home.
And since I am renting land from individuals, I can rely upon the goodness in people's hearts instead of the corporate policies of bankers. And that's a good feeling!
I'm still not sure whether I'm "homeless", but if I am, well, that's okay!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Path to the Tent Site
My tent site is tucked in the woods about 30 yards from where I park my truck. I followed an existing game trail from the parking area down to the tent site, and I used a wheel barrow to haul stuff in. The single wheel of the wheel barrow carrying 100+ lbs loads, together with rainy weather, turned the game trail into a muddy mess by the time I was done moving my stuff!
To make the trail more pleasant, I brought in five bags of pine bark mulch, which helped to build up the muddier areas. Then I covered the entire trail with pine needles from nearby trees. As a final touch, I placed a tiki torches every six or eight yards along the path. Sure is nice to be out of that mud!
To make the trail more pleasant, I brought in five bags of pine bark mulch, which helped to build up the muddier areas. Then I covered the entire trail with pine needles from nearby trees. As a final touch, I placed a tiki torches every six or eight yards along the path. Sure is nice to be out of that mud!
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| Path to my tent site |
Installing the Dry Well
One of the most convenient fixtures in my tent is a dump sink, which is simply a plastic bucket with a drain in the bottom. The sink drains to a dry well outside, which is just a hole filled with rocks. Here's how I installed the dump sink and dry well at my new location in Brandy Station.
The project starts by placing the dump sink at the proper location inside the tent (not shown), then running 1 1/4" PVC pipe down the tent wall to the outside. From there, I run two 10' lengths of pipe downhill, away from the tent.
I dig a trench for the pipe, being careful to remove the top layer of sod first so that I can replace it later.
Once the trench is finished, I place the pipe in the trench and see where it ends. That's where the dry well goes!
The dry well is just a hole in the ground large enough to accommodate around five gallons of water. I only use the dump sink for grey water (such as dish water, bathing water, urine, and so on) so five gallons is plenty of capacity.
With the pipe in place and the dry well dug, I can bury the pipe and replace the sod.
The last step is to fill the dry well with large rocks. This keeps the grey water below the surface where it can safely seep into the soil.
To finish the job, I soften the edges of the dry well with soil and sod. It gives the well a more natural look.
The project starts by placing the dump sink at the proper location inside the tent (not shown), then running 1 1/4" PVC pipe down the tent wall to the outside. From there, I run two 10' lengths of pipe downhill, away from the tent.
I dig a trench for the pipe, being careful to remove the top layer of sod first so that I can replace it later.
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| 1 1/4" PVC pipe running downhill from the dump sink inside the tent (not shown) |
The dry well is just a hole in the ground large enough to accommodate around five gallons of water. I only use the dump sink for grey water (such as dish water, bathing water, urine, and so on) so five gallons is plenty of capacity.
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| Five-gallon hole for the dry well |
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| Pipe buried and sod replaced |
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| Filling the dry well with rocks |
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| The finished dry well |
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The 20-hour Work Week
Most anthropologists agree that stone age people worked around 20 hours per week for their basic food, shelter, and clothing needs. And that's with stone age technology. Give a caveman a chain saw and a poly tarp and watch out!
So how does this figure match up with the modern tent lifestyle?
The caveman had to hunt and gather their food. Let's modernize that a bit and give him a $15 per hour job and a grocery store instead. And let's take him out of the cave and put him into...hmmm...a canvas wall tent! :) Now, his 20 hours at $15 per hour brings in around $1200 per month, or about $1000 after taxes. Shelter (in the form of rent, propane, kerosene, firewood, and water) is about $200 per month. That leaves $800 for food and clothing.
Now, let's keep him eating like a caveman. That means cooking from scratch using basic ingredients like fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, fish, poultry, a few meats, nuts and seeds, and so on. (By the way, there are some great caveman recipes out there!) This style of eating is very economical, so let's say $10 per day, or around $300 per month.
That leaves $500 per month for clothing! So what you end up with is a very healthy, well-dressed caveman working only 20 hours per week! :)
So how does this figure match up with the modern tent lifestyle?
The caveman had to hunt and gather their food. Let's modernize that a bit and give him a $15 per hour job and a grocery store instead. And let's take him out of the cave and put him into...hmmm...a canvas wall tent! :) Now, his 20 hours at $15 per hour brings in around $1200 per month, or about $1000 after taxes. Shelter (in the form of rent, propane, kerosene, firewood, and water) is about $200 per month. That leaves $800 for food and clothing.
Now, let's keep him eating like a caveman. That means cooking from scratch using basic ingredients like fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, fish, poultry, a few meats, nuts and seeds, and so on. (By the way, there are some great caveman recipes out there!) This style of eating is very economical, so let's say $10 per day, or around $300 per month.
That leaves $500 per month for clothing! So what you end up with is a very healthy, well-dressed caveman working only 20 hours per week! :)
My First Night in Brandy Station
Last night I spent my first night at my new location near Brandy Station, Virginia. It's such a peaceful spot, right in the middle of a patch of evergreens.
My place is currently a disaster! You know how it is on moving day.
That's my front door in the photo, above, leaning against the tree. And the rainfly is just draped over the tent. Didn't even bother to stake it down, so I hope we don't get any strong winds for a while. I did tie the tent to the platform, but that's about it for now. I need to re-construct my rainfly support, then I'll stake out the tent at the same time I install the rainfly.
A thunderstorm came through about 4:30am this morning. Strongest rain I've experienced so far. Usually the rain will lull me to sleep, but these raindrops were so loud they kept me awake. I couldn't fully close the tent opening either, so there was a small puddle on the floor this morning.
The inside of my tent is even more disorganized than the outside. I've got work to do!
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| My "front yard" |
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A thunderstorm came through about 4:30am this morning. Strongest rain I've experienced so far. Usually the rain will lull me to sleep, but these raindrops were so loud they kept me awake. I couldn't fully close the tent opening either, so there was a small puddle on the floor this morning.
The inside of my tent is even more disorganized than the outside. I've got work to do!
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