Geminids Redux

Arizona sunrise

When I went on the road, I had no idea one amazing benefit would be dark skies by which to grow much more appreciative and aware of celestial happenings. Over the last fourteen months I’ve seen dozens of meteor showers, gobsmacking full moons, lunar eclipses and now the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.

Last night and this morning the coyotes are out and in full voice. I will take a gander towards the skies in a little while to see if I can catch a glimpse of the Ursids this morning before dawn breaks. The night skies always remind me that, despite how significant things feel in one’s life, in comparison to the vastness of the universe we are tiny little specks. How can we learn to reframe our challenges in that light? Our lives in that framing, are similar to the bright, trailing fireball I watched flame out in the east after sundown on Sunday – hot and furious in our living, sometimes eliciting awe and wonder during our brief trajectory when seen by others, but quick to disappear from sight. Yet our bodies, too, are made up from those same materials from beyond Earth’s surface; we are all stardust, from beginning to end!

I’ve had fun with native fauna in the area, for the most part. A little roadrunner repeatedly visited the area in Lake Havasu, and I was able to eventually get a decent snapshot.

Curious regular visitor

I still get a giggle out of what I call yoga bugs, or headstand beetles. This one noshed on scallion tops while I was eating my homemade pho.

Do I look scarier like this?

The one visitor I had temporarily sharing my space that was cute but unacceptable, was a pack rat. They are really big! Its favorite time to run around the bus was immediately when the lights went out, and also at around five a.m. when I had been sitting still at the laptop a while. Watching its travel pattern was interesting, but I needed my shoestrings and really did not want a nest in the bus! It had to be dispatched 😦

I spent the last two weeks caring for a friend who came down with walking pneumonia. Thankfully it was not COVID, but it was still a debilitating illness for a nomad and it brought to the forefront of my thoughts just how vulnerable we loners can be out here on the road. Thankfully we have phone networks to reach out for assistance and there is usually someone we know within driving distance. I can’t imagine how difficult that would have been in the past. While we tend to be off grid focused out here, technology can often be a blessing more than a bane for travelers! In fact, without it, I’d not be having these experiences and be tied to an office somewhere unhappily.

So I’m taking some down time, playing with art, reading, and beginning to plan my trip to see family for the first time in almost two years. I have time off coming up, so I may wander a bit, relishing camping in a few places that I’d otherwise miss due to the need to be ‘connected’ and available on a daily basis – who knows?

Till next time…!

~SE back in the desert