Pace of life
This morning I reflected on how my pace of life has changed so dramatically. Everything requires so much more planning and forethought than it did before. For instance, if need to go to the toilet, I cannot leave the laptop on the table. I must shut it down and lock it in the safe before I go (On Seans recommendation I built a safe into the camper and bolted it through the floor). If I’m going into town to get provisions I must pack up camp to use the car so I had better not forget anything... like toilet roll!!!! Time, however is something I have plenty of. As long as I don’t spend over £36 / day, I literally have all the time in the world.
On the road again and a storm is brewing. We are over a kilometre high in the Auvernge meaning it’s slightly cooler and the mountains make for very changeable weather.
I found the remote spot I’ve been looking for on the edge of a steep hill. I’ll stay here a few days and get some work done. If god had made a more beautiful spot on earth I’ve yet to see it. I can hear cows, birds, a cuckoo, crickets, even some chickens, but no people!
I parked on a narrow ledge barely wider than the length of my car. About 2 metres behind the canvas doorway the bank drops vertical for about 6 metres onto another narrow ledge. Less than 2 metres in front the bank rises steeply. I parked lengthways rather than the more conventional sideways so that when I wake up in the morning I would have a view into the lush greenery in the valley below. The ground however was not entirely flat and if my handbrake gave way during the night there were no trees behind me to stop me going over the edge. No problem, I found some very large rocks to chock all four wheels with.
As I arrive the storm is now well and truly underway. Ear splitting thunder but then curiously bursts of intense sunshine at the same instance as the thunder claps. It’s all quite surreal.
Seeing as I’m going to be here a few days I thought I would set up the tent as well to give me a little more space. God what a fantastic spot! It keeps hitting me and I stand there stupefied for a while getting soaked. I’m off grid again and it occurred to me that there is no signal either so it might be a while before I get my updates on the blog.
Man country! A bit like Canada only with goats instead of grizzlys
Camp deployed I started dinner. I have some bits I want to use up in true eco fashion. I have a little spaghetti and some of that twirly pasta that no-one can ever remember the name of. The last veggy spag bol I did was so tasty I thought I’d recreate the effort.
So table out, stereo on, a selection of herbs laid out for easy access... I started chopping... Tomatoes, fresh garlic and ginger, red hot chilli’s, cardamom pods, some of Seans Morrocan spice mix. Within minutes the clouds parted and the sun bursts through again. The table was still soaked from the deluge just a few moments ago and everywhere the sun glistened off the rain soaked leaves and grass. I took off my boots and socks so the moist ground could cool my feet while the sun warmed my face. This is the very essence of life... living it like it has been for millions of years! I threw my tomato and herby mix into the pan, put the lid on and let it cook for an hour.
A band called (Hed) pe was playing on the stereo (fittingly the PE apparently stands for Planet Earth)... the song was ‘the other side’. A song about dying I think! It was while waiting for dinner to cook and looking up at the now cloudless blue sky that I had one of those rare moments of clarity that happen only a handful of times in your life. And clarity it was for I hadn’t touched a drop yet! Isn’t this what true happiness is? When even for a moment there isn’t a single thing you want in life that you don’t have? So taken by the moment was I that having poured me some wine and being sure no one could see, I started dancing around and singing at the top of my voice like a hippy on drugs. It occurred to me the next day that it must be close to the solstice and maybe this place has awoken within me some ancient genetic pagan clock.
The stereo has been playing for quite a while now and I risk flattening the car battery. Ah.. worry about that one tomorrow!
Chocks away!
An hour later dinner was ready, but I wasn’t yet ready to eat it. I covered myself in sun cream and put the album on two more times, and continued until it started to rain again. It was during my pagan-like ritual I noticed that closer to the bank edge my heels were sinking deeper into the mud. Damn! There is no point in chocking the wheels if the whole ledge is unstable. The ground seemed rock solid further from the edge but then the Landrover is a 2 ton vehicle. To make matters worse I then noticed how badly eroded the ‘up’ section of the bank was, where many downpours had washed it away in parts. Downpours like the one I just had! A good day to die it may be but I’m not finished yet. No problem, I’ll sleep in the tent tonight. Truth is if the bank had given way the tent would probably be following the Landrover downhill anyway, but it made me feel safer.
The dinner I did eventually eat
At 9pm it was dark and rainy again. Exhausted, full of dinner and lightheaded from the wine, I climbed into bed early... with very dirty feet. Just as I was dropping off, the sun came out again and illuminated my bedroom... Nice!
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