Wandering Artist's Journal

A few days ago I came across this snow flower (Sarcodes Sanguinea) in the woods near Donner Lake. They emerge in late spring, and grow without chlorophyll, instead tapping into an underground network of water, sugar and carbon transfer.   I felt like this was the perfect visual image for this past year. Many of us are emerging from the pandemic, or thinking about it, with reservations. Having been a very social person prior to lockdown, I had a hard time adjusting to solo life. I think the only thing that kept me sane was the almost constant change of scenery inherent in van life.  But then something shifted a few months ago. And the prospects of returning to my old way of life no longer appealed to me.   It was hard to articulate, even to myself.  Luckily, Tim Kreider is a word person, and he has articulated it beautifully in his recent Atlantic magazine article called, “I’m Not Scared to Reenter Society. I’m Just Not Sure I Want To.”   Give it a look if you’re...

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” ―  Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Taking off to tour the country in the midst of a world-wide pandemic might not seem like a great plan, but it worked out for me. I was already living in my van. Would I really be any safer if I was parked in the same spot every night? I couldn’t think of any good reason why that would be true.  I’m glad I went to California first, to see a few good friends, before things got much worse. I spent a lot of the summer in Nevada, the Dakotas, and Wyoming. Most of fall was on the East Coast, then as the weather started to turn cold, I hung out as close to the southern border as possible, before returning to Reno just in time for a big snow storm.  With m...

I woke up in Reno a few days ago (Friday, March 20th) after a harrowing drive over Donner Pass, through a snowstorm. It felt like Paradise here, compared to the Bay Area. I was in Redwood City for seven months. The less said about conditions near San Francisco, the better. My feelings were exacerbated by living on a construction site (where my brother was working - he took good care of me, but still . . . ) and over 4 weeks of serious illness (undiagnosed, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Coronavirus.) I went to Europe for a couple of weeks in February, to see some good friends. No, I didn’t do any touristy stuff and pretty much avoided the big cities. It was wonderful to connect with people I love. My van is still not completed but it’s functional and it’s starting to look & feel cozy. The kayak is stowed inside, and so is everything else I own! In any case, the major work is done and I’m ready to move on. But once again, events outside of my control are reining me in. Ren...

Coming to you from my internet cafe. Only open from 4am-7am. I’ve been in Redwood City, CA for the last few weeks. My brother is a full-time RVer and he’s agreed to help me finish the van buildout. Since I got here the van buildout has gotten more expansive, involving a lot of electrical substructure, maximum insulation, a big air conditioner, solar panels, a rooftop passive solar water heater, a shower, and so forth. I’m realizing this phase of the van buildout is going to take longer than I had anticipated, and the plans going forward are in flux. I have a feeling I won’t make it to the East Coast this Fall. I’d like to spend the Winter in LA, but I’m not making any plans until I get a better handle on this current process. This process is challenging. But then, Life has been challenging for the last several years. Living in a van under construction is different in the specifics but not in the physical, mental, emotional requirements. The good news is that I’m still up...

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi ( So Passes the Glory of the World) A couple of weeks ago I visited the site of Hobart Mills, north of Truckee, CA. I enjoyed the natural beauty of the area but didn’t see a ghost town, or much of anything else to indicate a thriving town of 1,500 people with schools, a hospital, and a lumber mill once existed at this spot. There were two competing memorial stones at the trailhead, one erected by the Clampers , who keep reminding us of who/what has passed: Coincidentally, early that morning, I’d just finished reading Yongey Mingyur Rimpoche’s book about his decision to sneak out of his monastery (he was the abbot) to spend the next four years wandering, penniless and anonymous, in what he considered a “retreat,” to deepen his meditation practice. He was unprepared and almost died in the first month but he considered it a premium learning experience that permanently altered his views of life and eternity. And he kept going. Like most people, ...

Most of the rest of the continent has been dealing with unprecedented killer heat for the last week or so. Here in the high desert, it’s the usual summertime killer heat. I don’t do too well in heat - have been having increasingly frequent heat-exhaustion episodes and occasional heat-collapse. In the past, I attributed my ability to survive here to the invention of, and access to, air conditioning.  Now, I’m developing other strategies. The whole  world looks different when you no longer live in an air conditioned building. Some part of my brain is on constant alert for shade. Especially shady parking places. I’m starting to accumulate a mental file of reliable spots. I have thermometers in the van and the difference is:  Outside, ambient temp- 97 degrees F Inside with no shade- 120+ degrees F Inside with shade- 85 degrees F This morning, I left my nighttime parking spot and moved to a Starbucks parking lot with a shady area  big enough for ...