Shelter From The Storm

And the rains came. The view changed every few minutes so there was no lack of entertainment.

Somewhat self-consciously usurping the best seat in the house, I sat my ground for two days. In that time several interesting folks surmounted the intimidation factor and stopped to partake of the view. The first, a Norwegian Instructional Technologies (IT) specialist (John Petter Hagen) attending a conference in Las Vegas, said it all when he enthusiastically emoted: "It takes your breath away!!" We commiserated on the depredations caused by livestock. He said they have similar problems with reindeer.

The couple from Wales were vanning it and equally effusive. It's always great to meet folks whose appreciation rivals my own...and she has a sister who's an artist. Quickly employing today's technology, she whupped out her tablet and showed me some of her work. It was good enough to excite my dormant Marketeering desires. Of course it was hard to ignore the first image: multiple nude females cavorting in Matisse-esque postures with a lush and equally sensual landscape.

And last but by no means least was the man from Zurich. He was on a Suzuki motorcycle and imparted his knowledge of tires. I learned about road versus offroad pattern ratios and got to use some of my vestigial German.

But I needed shelter in which to cook. There've been a couple of occasions when I created shade, but this was my first attempt to fend off rain....so it took a while. Of course, one of the advantages of the lifestyle is the like, total disregard for expediency. As it happened, the result was better than anticipated. I was so pleased I felt compelled to THOROuGHLY document it.

Though impressed by my creativity, I later swapped the rake for a five-gallon jug.

Port side ties went to the radio antennae and the hub caps. The antennae served as a centering device with a secondary guy to the rear-view mirror taking the "weight."

Ensconced -- that's the coffeepot on the right burner. Yes, it's cowboy coffee. And it does a right fine job of growin' yer nose hare. The propane tank hails from Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon where a kindly dealer traded me straight across for my backyard grill behemoth.

This fine photo was taken by John Petter Hagen an avid photographer with a superb collection on Flickr.





















And then one day you look in the mirror and wonder, "How'd I get so old....and phat?"