A few feet outside the trailer a cool breeze fluttered on the rocky ridge I was camped on. I started thinking about changing the windows or roof vents so that I could feel a breeze like this.
This is an experience that a boondocking RVer can still have. Most people--including hookup-style campers--live in hermetically sealed, climate controlled boxes most of their lives.
Years ago most people savored a freshening breeze in summer on their porches. If there was no breeze, they made one with a swing. Each time the swing's speed picked up, their skin would sigh with relief. It was sweeter than breathing.
But back to our dilemna on the rocky ridge. In just a few hours dry heat went to wild winds and a plummeting thermometer. Fifty mph gusts were prophesied.
A forest ranger once told me that forests near the Mogollon Rim are problematic because the lava sitting on the sedimentary layers of the Colorado Plateau keeps ponderosas from developing good roots, which means they become sickly and fire-prone.
Yes, and prone to blowing over, too! I was camped on a rocky ridge and was surrounded by lightning-capped trees and blow-downs. I went around my trailer and focused on a couple possible trouble-makers. Look at the puny root system that held this tree up.
I did a little trigonometry to estimate the chances of one particular ponderosa pine smashing me in bed. It looked OK, but mathematical models have gotten a bad reputation lately, with all the mortgage shenanigans on Wall Street.
I walked over to a ponderosa pine and wondered if its root system was similarly stunted. It's not like I could feel the ground around its base heave on the gusts. But I could see its lower trunk waggle.
I grabbed the tree--hugged it, actually--to size up the danger. Perhaps that was just my practical excuse. It seemed like the best way to experience the wind. I felt like one of the sailors in the movie, Master and Commander, who has gotten a little more than his fair share of grog, and was leaning against the mast.
We hitched up and moved to a clearing.
The next morning started off with thunder and rain. I stepped out and couldn't believe it: it was snowing.
