Taking simple pleasures in nature, in life

Going to my camp is something I think about pretty much every day.

I live in Raleigh, NC so it’s hard to get up to PA as much as I’d like to. I usually manage about four trips throughout the summer. It’s a little over 1200 miles, sixteen hours round trip. It kinda sucks. I hate driving on 95 and I tend to get speeding tickets…

As soon as I leave my house in NC I’m happier. I know where I’m going and that it will be a reunion with nature and all the familiar sights and sounds I love. Friends and family will visit and those are great times. No TV, cell phones, or other distractions to keep us from good fellowship around the campfire. And let’s not forget the mountain pies!

There’s always an element of the unknown, as well. You never know what you will see or hear at camp from a wildlife perspective. One morning last summer someone was standing on my neighbor’s porch and sneezed very loudly. A turkey across the crick answered him. Gobble gobble gobble! Coyotes will howl in the night and the elk will bugle during rut season.

The visually stunning landscapes are all around. The mountains, shale cliffs, the flowers, rivers and dams… It’s all there, untouched and unsoiled by man (for now). No skyscrapers or modern industry; Just the wilderness.

It is very quiet up there. When it gets dark, there is very little light. No glow of a city anywhere to be found. If you’re up there alone, you might literally be alone for miles around you for days. There is a main road right behind my camp, which I hate. There are a lot of motorcycles, dump trucks, RVs, and larger (loud) service vehicles that come out that way so it shatters the tranquility frequently. It’s the only thing I don’t like about the spot. However, once it gets late and the traffic dies down you can feel the weight of how alone you are.

There is no TV. My cousins have cable next door, but I avoid watching. I tend to spend my time fixing the slate patio stones, cleaning things out, repairing stuff, reading, cooking, relaxing with visitors, and overall care for the camp – Maintaining fresh water and keeping a fire going.

This might sound boring, and YES it can be. But then you find something to do. It is a place of simple pleasures. A place where I can look at the simple things we take for granted and be appreciative. It makes me not want things. I see I can live without stuff. I see what I truly need for life.

Taking simple pleasures in this world is something that has helped me. I used to be wasteful with money and resources. Not blatantly wasteful, just unaware. I wanted nice things – furniture, home decor, clothes, and all the other shit I didn’t need, as if these things meant something. They don’t. Now I hardly buy anything I don’t need. I save my money for a permanent homestead (to buy land).

If I can actually get internet this year at camp, that will be a game changer. My worlds will harmoniously collide, allowing me to do my work and still remain in the peace and simplicity of savage nature. As long as I can manage to avoid getting eaten by a bear, it should be a pretty good time. ☺