The transition from living a sticks-and-bricks existence to mobile
life is much easier to blog about than vice-versa. When moving about the
country in the Brew Hut, I was experiencing lots of new things,
including challenges that weren’t always fun. Back at home, it’s easy
to go back to the familiar and the taken-for-granted. However, after
living on the road for more than two months, I am grateful for a few
things in Wisconsin that I missed while on-the-road.. Contrary to some
bloggers’ assertions, the West is not always best.
- Plentiful, delicious water. In large numbers, people have relocated
from areas of ample water to areas where water is scarce and becoming
scarcer. I can’t think of a time when we’ve ever had a water shortage
or rationing at home. I live on a private well that draws great-tasting
water from a deep aquifer 155 feet under the surface. The only water
treatment has been provided by nature–years of filtering down through
clay, gravel and rock.
- Clean air. Fire and smoke are part of life in the West. Air
quality can be bad. The sky is often hazy even in the mountains and
desert. Where I live in Wisconsin, we might have days where burning is
banned due to dry conditions of the forests and/or grasslands. But when
folks talk about bad stuff in the air, they are usually talking about
pollen/allergies, not smoke. I’ve never woken up at home to the smell
of smoke from a forest fire. I’ve never had to wonder whether a hiking
or camping trip might be interrupted or cancelled due to fire danger.
- Grass and other foliage. Now that it’s November, there isn’t much
green here either. But we still have grass (even if it’s buried under
the snow). I missed grass when I traveled this fall. Elvis the dog
actually had to learn to poop on sand out West. He thought that he was
doing something wrong at first. During the few times where grass was
plentiful, he would roll in it like the greenery was a long-lost
friend. Having grass to bind together the soil means that there isn’t
blowing sand everywhere too.
There are many other things in Wisconsin to be thankful for, but
these three items jumped out at me since my return. Obviously, I missed
out on some family stuff while I was gone. I am enjoying catching up
and renewing daily life with my wife and adult kids. My days are filled
with heating the house with the wood stove, baking bread and making
yogurt, stacking and cutting wood, hiking nearby trails, and reading
books and blogs. It’s a different routine than traveling in the Brew
Hut, but still satisfying.
For
Thanksgiving, we made a quick trip to Lexington, Kentucky for a
get-together with Julia’s sister’s family. It felt weird driving the
wheelchair van instead of the truck/Brew Hut combination. The header
photo shows Justin (and Elvis), along with my nephew and niece in their
lovely Lexington home.
I have no big trips planned until mid-January. That trip will bring
me to a new country with old friends. Until then, the blog will mostly
focus upon beer, coffee and local trails. The main deer hunting/gun
season ended on Sunday, so the woods will soon be safer to hike in.
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