Should be a wetter week in Blue Mountain. Frank and Herman Parks are probably closed off until the weekend. That’ll put me at April 18th, but I might have to go to Mythopolis to help mom that day. Spring is progressing (!). I must think of how to use the Whitehead X-ing environment during warmer weather. I’ve created or traced the Contemplation Loop of the Crossing last August, I believe. Can I walk it more this summer? What about Concreek, which was a successful summer focus in 2012?
Living in the woods during the summer is not an option now. Maybe when I retire I can camp out again. But I have a history of this. In, let’s see, 1982, I lived from May through the middle of September in a tent in woods just west of Blue Mountain State College. Then in May or June 1984 I even built a kind of primitive teepee at another location near Blue Mountain, although I only “lived” there for a month. I stuck an umbrella on top to keep out the rain. Another stay in a tent ensued in August 1984 at roughly the same spot. I remember it being an extremely dry month, rare for August certainly. I have not taken pictures of these places for the blog. Maybe I should. Oh, there’s one of the tent location here (first 5 photos; but I didn’t produce any text for this particular post 😦 ):
https://bakerbloch.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/about-rl-01/
Michael Two created several habitats in the local parks, including what I call Michael Won in Frank Park (where I first met him) and then Michael Too as well on a ridge of Wealthy Mtn. in Herman Park.
And now someone is building a teepee at Whitehead Crossing — not Michael Two in all likelihood. Another parallel self? I think so in a way, in a manner. One of my goals before retirement is to secure a location for a woods cabin or shed or equivalent. Perhaps a teepee will suffice.
When I worked at Maynard Jackson’s Cafeteria in the Blue Mountain Mall during the mid-80’s, a number of my friends were living in teepees, an inspiration for my own more humble attempt. Toy happenings have kinda replaced the desired for forest living quarters. But where is all this heading, I ask myself? I’m going to retire not too soon but not too far off in the future. I’ll have more time for camping. The wife will probably not join me for many of these excursions. How about just *buying* a cabin next to the woods. It doesn’t seem the same. Still I must think of practicality.
The woods stays ended when Edna and I began dating in 1986. Houses became a focus. Eventually we bought one, where we still live. A big attraction was the woods to our north, west, south however, that I’d already explored a bit beforehand. This is the intra-hiking space I mentioned in a recent blog post, the one that has been deactivated by neighborhood degeneration. And with it, the dreams of a permanent home in Blue Mountain have evaporated too.
A key word: permanence. Perhaps Frank and Herman Parks can provide it instead.
Sunklands 