Day 40
Wednesday April 9th
Tonight was an interesting one. I spent the early part of the afternoon reading on the beach. I have been reading a new book and it has been hard to put down. It is called "Play for a Kingdom" by Thomas Dyja. It is loosely based on the Wilderness campaign of the last part of the Civil War. The book follows a small detachment of hardened veterans from Brooklyn in the last few weeks before they are mustered out. It is an interesting read. The soldiers all know they are going home and the war will be over for them in a few days and all of a sudden the inherent risks of war are even more vividly apparent. No one wants to die only a few days before shipping home. Every order is mentally debated and motivations are questioned. Psychologically it is quite the conundrum. Each individual trooper has to really address his priority in the daily comings and goings of Army life in 1865.
To make matters a little more compelling, the detachment meets up with a Confederate unit from Alabamy during picket duty. The two enemy units decide to put their guns aside for a few tense hours for a friendly match of baseball. Eventually the two units go out of their way to meet up and continue to play out a five game series. It comes to a point where each soldier, despite the color of his uniform, has to question and reaffirm his loyalty to whatever it is they pledge. It is a pretty good book. Though fiction, it doesn't have the common tendency to romanticize the Civil War (think any Shaara work-- like most famously the movie Gettysburg, based on his book "Killer Angels", great read but super SUPER over-the-top ramanticism).
After reading I cooked up a quick meal in the parking lot and then headed downtown. I met up with Giggles who finally made it back down here to the Ventuck' from Sac-town. We chilled for a bit and checked out a couple live bands along with a photo exhibit. By the time the night was over I was beat. I headed back up the 33 and found a little-used access road. I turned off my lights so as not to attract attention and gingerly backed down the access road. When I reached the end I parked it where it was and called it good. At first I robotically went about the common motions of setting up camp. After I got the fire going, I realized I really had no interest or any energy to set up camp. Back into the Focus I went. I curled up in the back seat and passed out yet again. Screw setting up camp!
Wednesday April 9th
Tonight was an interesting one. I spent the early part of the afternoon reading on the beach. I have been reading a new book and it has been hard to put down. It is called "Play for a Kingdom" by Thomas Dyja. It is loosely based on the Wilderness campaign of the last part of the Civil War. The book follows a small detachment of hardened veterans from Brooklyn in the last few weeks before they are mustered out. It is an interesting read. The soldiers all know they are going home and the war will be over for them in a few days and all of a sudden the inherent risks of war are even more vividly apparent. No one wants to die only a few days before shipping home. Every order is mentally debated and motivations are questioned. Psychologically it is quite the conundrum. Each individual trooper has to really address his priority in the daily comings and goings of Army life in 1865.
To make matters a little more compelling, the detachment meets up with a Confederate unit from Alabamy during picket duty. The two enemy units decide to put their guns aside for a few tense hours for a friendly match of baseball. Eventually the two units go out of their way to meet up and continue to play out a five game series. It comes to a point where each soldier, despite the color of his uniform, has to question and reaffirm his loyalty to whatever it is they pledge. It is a pretty good book. Though fiction, it doesn't have the common tendency to romanticize the Civil War (think any Shaara work-- like most famously the movie Gettysburg, based on his book "Killer Angels", great read but super SUPER over-the-top ramanticism).
After reading I cooked up a quick meal in the parking lot and then headed downtown. I met up with Giggles who finally made it back down here to the Ventuck' from Sac-town. We chilled for a bit and checked out a couple live bands along with a photo exhibit. By the time the night was over I was beat. I headed back up the 33 and found a little-used access road. I turned off my lights so as not to attract attention and gingerly backed down the access road. When I reached the end I parked it where it was and called it good. At first I robotically went about the common motions of setting up camp. After I got the fire going, I realized I really had no interest or any energy to set up camp. Back into the Focus I went. I curled up in the back seat and passed out yet again. Screw setting up camp!
Camping off the 33, I didn't realize until sunrise exactly how close I really was to four lanes of bustling belching traffic. I eventually gave up on the fire, put on an extra sweater and curled up in the back seat. No sleeping under the stars for me tonight, too much dang trouble. Day 39
Tuesday April 8th
After work today the sun was shinning brilliantly. I decided to head out to the river up the 33 in Ojai for the afternoon. On the way I finally picked up a new sine-wave power converter. My other converter kept blowing fuses left and right and was totally unreliable. In fact the first trip w/ Sparky to Telescope I blew my last replacement fuse and could not recharge batteries for the entire trip. yah it totally stunk when added on top of everything else that crapped out that trip (hint: water filter). It was time for an upgrade, and long overdue at that. A quick stop at Fryes and I was on my way with a new converter. Once I got to the river I spent a few hours before sunset hiking around and snapping pics. It was a great afternoon to spend paddling the Matilija. The river was ohhh so cold, but it felt great! Once it was dark I packed up my gear and headed downstream to a certain favorite semi-secret camping spot. I spent the night reading, playing in the fire, and getting a few more pages written for the infamous letter. It was definitely a relaxing Waldonesque evening. The next morning I felt refreshed and alive for the first time in a long time!
Tuesday April 8th
After work today the sun was shinning brilliantly. I decided to head out to the river up the 33 in Ojai for the afternoon. On the way I finally picked up a new sine-wave power converter. My other converter kept blowing fuses left and right and was totally unreliable. In fact the first trip w/ Sparky to Telescope I blew my last replacement fuse and could not recharge batteries for the entire trip. yah it totally stunk when added on top of everything else that crapped out that trip (hint: water filter). It was time for an upgrade, and long overdue at that. A quick stop at Fryes and I was on my way with a new converter. Once I got to the river I spent a few hours before sunset hiking around and snapping pics. It was a great afternoon to spend paddling the Matilija. The river was ohhh so cold, but it felt great! Once it was dark I packed up my gear and headed downstream to a certain favorite semi-secret camping spot. I spent the night reading, playing in the fire, and getting a few more pages written for the infamous letter. It was definitely a relaxing Waldonesque evening. The next morning I felt refreshed and alive for the first time in a long time!
Cold water but it felt so darn good on my poor dawgs! Yehaw!
Whoever gets this letter better feel pretty dang special!Day 38
Monday April 7th
Monday is laundry day. I have been super anal about clothes these last few weeks so I have managed to really cut back on laundry duties. Unfortunately I had stretched it way too far this time and there was no way I could go another day w/o clean clothes. Its like this: I have two packs, one for work and one for play. Immediately after leaving work I change into my play clothes and pack up the work clothes. Then I try to only wear the same pair of play clothes for a week. That way I don't get everything I own smelling like a campfire (obviously if I am w/ people for the evening I will forgo camp clothes for something a little less ripe). Then the next morning wash up and change back into another set of work clothes. Its pretty simple really and what with the exuberant prices of coin-op washing machines, it helps keep costs down.
Unfortunately I still had to spend a beautiful afternoon stuck at the laundry mat. Fortunately the Final Four championships were on the tele. Though I am not a big hoops fan, this years college tourney was pretty eventful. I had seen a few games and was mildly looking forward to the final game. Neither team disappointed and it was definitely an instant classic. The Kansas Jayhawks fought back from certain defeat, down by 9ish with only a handful of minutes left. The Memphis Tigers struggled to hold on to their diminishing lead, but a couple bad bounces and all of a sudden they, the Tigers, were only up by a trey. Enter Mario Chambers with what many will call the greatest shot in Kansas history. As the time ran out Chambers hits a long three to send the game into overtime. What a beauty of a game and it is not even over yet! Isabella must be crapping himself, and Peaches too-- both Kansas expats! The entire laundry mat had ground to a halt as everyone was clustered around the 9 inch TV. Kansas stormed back in overtime and totally decimated the deflated Memphis defense. The poor Tigers couldn't do a single thing right, the game was well beyond their reach at this point. Five minutes later the Jayhwaks were national champs and the Tigers were left to wonder how they let the championship slip away into the night.
By the time the game was over it was quite late and I was exhausted. Laundry at a coin-op can take a lot out of you believe it or not. I headed out into the VTA hills thinking of doing a few more long exposures. I set up the camera for what I had hoped would be a 20 minute shot. It was kinda chilly so I sat down in the car to relax. Oh and the hills were swarming w/ hungry grinning coyotes so there was no way I was going to hang out outside the car! Some time later I awoke to find that the camera was still going and it was pushing midnight. Dude I had totally fallen asleep without knowing it. I packed up the camera and curled up in the back of the car. To tired to care about being parked just a few feet off the highway, I was out immediately.
Monday April 7th
Monday is laundry day. I have been super anal about clothes these last few weeks so I have managed to really cut back on laundry duties. Unfortunately I had stretched it way too far this time and there was no way I could go another day w/o clean clothes. Its like this: I have two packs, one for work and one for play. Immediately after leaving work I change into my play clothes and pack up the work clothes. Then I try to only wear the same pair of play clothes for a week. That way I don't get everything I own smelling like a campfire (obviously if I am w/ people for the evening I will forgo camp clothes for something a little less ripe). Then the next morning wash up and change back into another set of work clothes. Its pretty simple really and what with the exuberant prices of coin-op washing machines, it helps keep costs down.
Unfortunately I still had to spend a beautiful afternoon stuck at the laundry mat. Fortunately the Final Four championships were on the tele. Though I am not a big hoops fan, this years college tourney was pretty eventful. I had seen a few games and was mildly looking forward to the final game. Neither team disappointed and it was definitely an instant classic. The Kansas Jayhawks fought back from certain defeat, down by 9ish with only a handful of minutes left. The Memphis Tigers struggled to hold on to their diminishing lead, but a couple bad bounces and all of a sudden they, the Tigers, were only up by a trey. Enter Mario Chambers with what many will call the greatest shot in Kansas history. As the time ran out Chambers hits a long three to send the game into overtime. What a beauty of a game and it is not even over yet! Isabella must be crapping himself, and Peaches too-- both Kansas expats! The entire laundry mat had ground to a halt as everyone was clustered around the 9 inch TV. Kansas stormed back in overtime and totally decimated the deflated Memphis defense. The poor Tigers couldn't do a single thing right, the game was well beyond their reach at this point. Five minutes later the Jayhwaks were national champs and the Tigers were left to wonder how they let the championship slip away into the night.
By the time the game was over it was quite late and I was exhausted. Laundry at a coin-op can take a lot out of you believe it or not. I headed out into the VTA hills thinking of doing a few more long exposures. I set up the camera for what I had hoped would be a 20 minute shot. It was kinda chilly so I sat down in the car to relax. Oh and the hills were swarming w/ hungry grinning coyotes so there was no way I was going to hang out outside the car! Some time later I awoke to find that the camera was still going and it was pushing midnight. Dude I had totally fallen asleep without knowing it. I packed up the camera and curled up in the back of the car. To tired to care about being parked just a few feet off the highway, I was out immediately.
Sleeping in the car, total rock star.
Technically it is the morning of Day 39, but who is counting.
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