I highly recommend tent camping whenever you can find places and ways to do it. I sleep more restfully outside than I do inside, probably due to the fresh air and stars!

You don’t even need to go anywhere to enjoy tent camping if you have a front, back or side yard (or a porch) that can accommodate a tent.  A screen tent is ideal, because you will feel like you’re “wild and free” but mosquitoes and other wee beasties can’t get to you.  And you can take a pet (or a good human)  along, whenever the mood strikes you.

I’ve been sleeping in my back yard for at least three weeks now except for two nights when it rained. The forecast here in the Pacific NW is dry for the forseeable future, so I plan to keep tent camping for as long as I can.

Charli and Miss Kitty pop in and out during the night to say hello or to sleep for a while with me. (I leave a little bit of the tent door unzipped so they can do that.)

Last night Charli got frisky and “paw-y”. I thought she had carried a mouse or shrew inside to play with, but its potential presence didn’t bother me. This morning I looked for whatever she was pawing at, but didn’t find anything. So, either she carried it back outside the tent or she was imagining things (“catching a chimera”).

Somewhere Out There…

There’s just something about being out in nature that soothes the human soul.  Nature makes its human subjects feel small enough that our concerns fade away, or “die back” to more manageable sizes.

The scents, sounds, and direct connection to the earth revitalize us. If we experience it without radios, cellphones, white light flashlights, and other electronic devices, we become as close to our first ancestors’ most positive experiences as we can. The good news for most of us is that we don’t have to worry about where our next meal is coming from. Or which wild beast may be on the lookout for sustenance in our suburban and rural back yards. We just have to lie there in a comfortable position and deescalate from whatever the day has delivered for us to mull over. It’s easier to review our challenges from a more objective, relaxed, and compassionate mindset.

I highly recommend pursuing some “wild time” even if you have to drive somewhere to find a tent camping spot.  I’m going to miss it when the soggy season returns and I have to pull up stakes for several months…