There Are Days, and Then There Are Days . . .
After our weekend campout, I have decided on a few things:
One, don’t reinvent the wheel. Two, don’t make it harder than it has to be. And three, I DO like certain comforts.
Now, the first two are no-brainers, and virtually the same thing. And the first really has nothing to do with this camping trip, and well, neither does the second. But my points are still valid.
As for the third, well, I truly believe camping should be out in the wilderness, or at least a park or a place where you don’t have access to too many “civilized” comforts. We could all stand to toughen up a bit, yes? But on the other side of “comfort,” you have “this is really painful on my old body.”
In light of that, I’m making a few changes before the next trip in June:
I enjoy washing dishes over the fire—I have my two fire buckets, wash in one, rinse in the second; the wash water is thrown out and refilled and the rinse water becomes the next wash water. But I am a bit tired of lugging those buckets over to the table (to use as a drying rack), and squatting down on the pad while I do this.
Purchase #1: a kitchen rack/counter/whatever you want to call it.
I can deal with the cold—I have plenty of layers and a great sleeping bag, and yes, it was 37 degrees Saturday morning. Again. In May. Argh. But I cannot sleep on the ground—I would be miserable and immobile for at least a day, even with copious doses of Advil. And air mattresses are hit-or-miss around here. Had another slow leak Saturday night. A good night’s sleep is really important, no matter where you are.
Purchase #2: a really thick foam pad—6-8 inches—or an actual mattress.
Speaking of the cold, skipping a shower or two (yes, I WASH, if anyone’s interested) isn’t a big deal when the temps only get up to 60 degrees. But I do like a hot shower—or at least warmish—to loosen up my muscles and clear my head. And since the warmer weather will surely be here for the next trip, this is something I must have:
Purchase #3: a solar shower.
And finally, electronics. They are a fact of life, and indeed, much of my work is done online. And, too, if one is camping alone, regardless of how often it’s used, a cell phone can be mighty handy. My battery does well, but I still had to power down Saturday night; 48 hours on a charge isn’t bad, but Sunday morning the darn thing was being stubborn until it, too, warmed up.
Purchase #4: solar cell charger
Now, I know a lot of people whose idea of camping is the local Marriott, and I know some who own and use every camping gadget invented, just because they can. I even know a few who wouldn’t be caught dead using any comforts whatsoever—and I was one of them, oh, maybe 10 years ago. Or five.
But hey, it’s a choice, right? And all of these things will enable me to stay out in the woods just a little bit longer than I do now, and even work from there if I want to do that. And there are some things where I draw the line: RVs, running water, and electricity, to name a few.
On the other hand, I’m sure some of you have seen pictures of my pot. Er, bathroom. Yes, I have one, and yes, I make no apologies. There’s a big difference, to me, in using a latrine built and equipped for oneself versus those hideous vault toilets in many campgrounds, used by many. (Seriously, it’s like sitting on a tall tin can—ugh!)
One, don’t reinvent the wheel. Two, don’t make it harder than it has to be. And three, I DO like certain comforts.
Now, the first two are no-brainers, and virtually the same thing. And the first really has nothing to do with this camping trip, and well, neither does the second. But my points are still valid.
As for the third, well, I truly believe camping should be out in the wilderness, or at least a park or a place where you don’t have access to too many “civilized” comforts. We could all stand to toughen up a bit, yes? But on the other side of “comfort,” you have “this is really painful on my old body.”
In light of that, I’m making a few changes before the next trip in June:
I enjoy washing dishes over the fire—I have my two fire buckets, wash in one, rinse in the second; the wash water is thrown out and refilled and the rinse water becomes the next wash water. But I am a bit tired of lugging those buckets over to the table (to use as a drying rack), and squatting down on the pad while I do this.
Purchase #1: a kitchen rack/counter/whatever you want to call it.
I can deal with the cold—I have plenty of layers and a great sleeping bag, and yes, it was 37 degrees Saturday morning. Again. In May. Argh. But I cannot sleep on the ground—I would be miserable and immobile for at least a day, even with copious doses of Advil. And air mattresses are hit-or-miss around here. Had another slow leak Saturday night. A good night’s sleep is really important, no matter where you are.
Purchase #2: a really thick foam pad—6-8 inches—or an actual mattress.
Speaking of the cold, skipping a shower or two (yes, I WASH, if anyone’s interested) isn’t a big deal when the temps only get up to 60 degrees. But I do like a hot shower—or at least warmish—to loosen up my muscles and clear my head. And since the warmer weather will surely be here for the next trip, this is something I must have:
Purchase #3: a solar shower.
And finally, electronics. They are a fact of life, and indeed, much of my work is done online. And, too, if one is camping alone, regardless of how often it’s used, a cell phone can be mighty handy. My battery does well, but I still had to power down Saturday night; 48 hours on a charge isn’t bad, but Sunday morning the darn thing was being stubborn until it, too, warmed up.
Purchase #4: solar cell charger
Now, I know a lot of people whose idea of camping is the local Marriott, and I know some who own and use every camping gadget invented, just because they can. I even know a few who wouldn’t be caught dead using any comforts whatsoever—and I was one of them, oh, maybe 10 years ago. Or five.
But hey, it’s a choice, right? And all of these things will enable me to stay out in the woods just a little bit longer than I do now, and even work from there if I want to do that. And there are some things where I draw the line: RVs, running water, and electricity, to name a few.
On the other hand, I’m sure some of you have seen pictures of my pot. Er, bathroom. Yes, I have one, and yes, I make no apologies. There’s a big difference, to me, in using a latrine built and equipped for oneself versus those hideous vault toilets in many campgrounds, used by many. (Seriously, it’s like sitting on a tall tin can—ugh!)
Let’s Talk Food and Health
Are you healthy? Do you eat “right?” When SHTF, what are your plans for eating?
First, if you aren’t healthy now, it’s gonna be a lot tougher to get that way when things go south. You really need to start now, or even yesterday.
Me, I’m in reasonably good shape, although since I turned 50 I seem to be acquiring a few more injuries than usual. I burned myself with steam twice in the last month, then nearly again last night. Aside from a few arthritic aches and pains, my knees and back are holding up pretty well—then again, I’ve got this foot pain, sesamoiditis or metatarsalagia, take your pick. The initial treatments for both are about the same so I’m sure I’ll muddle through.
My weight is okay—who doesn’t want to lose a few pounds—and my strength is pretty decent. I’m working on both, and you’d be bored to tears if I kept updating any progress so I won’t. Besides, I have no advice other than eat right and exercise, and everyone knows that. Sorry, no shortcuts.
Now, these are the obvious things. What about internal health? And no, not going into mental health here—that’s called having the right stuff and you may not know if you have it or not until SHTF actually comes down. So good luck!
What do you eat? Seriously, think about it for a minute.
Every once in a while, I suppose you should take stock and write things down for a few days. You know, based on the USDA charts. Just to get an inkling. And remember when your kids were small? Didn’t the doc tell you that one day didn’t matter, but nutrition over a whole week was a better indicator? Keep that in mind.
What do I eat? Bacon. Of course. And granola, that I make myself. Lunch is usually either a salad or maybe something snacky, but most often it’s leftovers from the night before. For dinner we have meat, potatoes, vegetables. Sometimes dessert, but my guys have a sweet tooth and will eat sugar alone if that’s all there is—which is why I do make dessert. From scratch.
Case in point: at the store last week, the kid picked up a box cake mix and a can of frosting. I gave in, because I don’t make this stuff often even though the guys prefer it. Later, when I was mixing it up, I pointed out to the kid that when I make a cake, it has flour, sugar, eggs, leavening, vanilla, cocoa, butter. While this cake had those things too, it ALSO had a laundry list of additives and preservatives: 23 of them!
His response: Mom, you’re supposed to MAKE the cake, not READ THE BOX!
Are we bad eaters for having snarfed down that cake? No. Unless we did it every week. Then it could have consequences. Without going into all the latest food crazes, the more natural your food, the better it is for you. If I bake a cake, I know almost exactly what’s going into it and therefore what’s going in to ME.
All this to say you should eat for health, not fun. Not that it can’t be fun, or tasty, but the primary reason is to fuel our bodies. And, when SHTF is here, do remember what you like to eat and don’t invest in a stack of nasty-tasting stuff if it isn’t something you’d normally eat.
MREs are fine for an emergency, but don’t build your stock around them. Nutritious, lightweight, easy to prepare, yes. Have you read the labels? Just asking. Include seeds in that stockpile too. And maybe a pig. It’s hard to grow bacon in the garden . . .
First, if you aren’t healthy now, it’s gonna be a lot tougher to get that way when things go south. You really need to start now, or even yesterday.
Me, I’m in reasonably good shape, although since I turned 50 I seem to be acquiring a few more injuries than usual. I burned myself with steam twice in the last month, then nearly again last night. Aside from a few arthritic aches and pains, my knees and back are holding up pretty well—then again, I’ve got this foot pain, sesamoiditis or metatarsalagia, take your pick. The initial treatments for both are about the same so I’m sure I’ll muddle through.
My weight is okay—who doesn’t want to lose a few pounds—and my strength is pretty decent. I’m working on both, and you’d be bored to tears if I kept updating any progress so I won’t. Besides, I have no advice other than eat right and exercise, and everyone knows that. Sorry, no shortcuts.
Now, these are the obvious things. What about internal health? And no, not going into mental health here—that’s called having the right stuff and you may not know if you have it or not until SHTF actually comes down. So good luck!
What do you eat? Seriously, think about it for a minute.
Every once in a while, I suppose you should take stock and write things down for a few days. You know, based on the USDA charts. Just to get an inkling. And remember when your kids were small? Didn’t the doc tell you that one day didn’t matter, but nutrition over a whole week was a better indicator? Keep that in mind.
What do I eat? Bacon. Of course. And granola, that I make myself. Lunch is usually either a salad or maybe something snacky, but most often it’s leftovers from the night before. For dinner we have meat, potatoes, vegetables. Sometimes dessert, but my guys have a sweet tooth and will eat sugar alone if that’s all there is—which is why I do make dessert. From scratch.
Case in point: at the store last week, the kid picked up a box cake mix and a can of frosting. I gave in, because I don’t make this stuff often even though the guys prefer it. Later, when I was mixing it up, I pointed out to the kid that when I make a cake, it has flour, sugar, eggs, leavening, vanilla, cocoa, butter. While this cake had those things too, it ALSO had a laundry list of additives and preservatives: 23 of them!
His response: Mom, you’re supposed to MAKE the cake, not READ THE BOX!
Are we bad eaters for having snarfed down that cake? No. Unless we did it every week. Then it could have consequences. Without going into all the latest food crazes, the more natural your food, the better it is for you. If I bake a cake, I know almost exactly what’s going into it and therefore what’s going in to ME.
All this to say you should eat for health, not fun. Not that it can’t be fun, or tasty, but the primary reason is to fuel our bodies. And, when SHTF is here, do remember what you like to eat and don’t invest in a stack of nasty-tasting stuff if it isn’t something you’d normally eat.
MREs are fine for an emergency, but don’t build your stock around them. Nutritious, lightweight, easy to prepare, yes. Have you read the labels? Just asking. Include seeds in that stockpile too. And maybe a pig. It’s hard to grow bacon in the garden . . .