Fighting Sloth and Indolence At Anza Borrego Desert State Park
©Bert Gildart: Unless you have high Christian vales that look askance at sloth and indolence I believe many might appreciate our current situation. At the moment we are camped (free) in our Airstream in the BLM section of California’s Anza Borrego Desert State Park, using our solar panels to absorb all that energy from the sun that so characterizes the desert. We’re at the base of a mountain, which this image doesn’t show.
Free camping at Peg Leg in Anza Borrego State Park. All you need are a few solar panels and access to water, which the park provides. Our Airstream is second from the very rear on the left.
On our portable outdoor cooker we are preparing lots of fatty foods, immersing our feet in the warm sands — extracting them mostly to rise and replenish my gin and tonic — Janie’s glass of wine. Otherwise we rise only when guilt sets in and then we try and write a Christmas card, keep up with various assigned magazine stories — or write my travel blogs. Temperatures in the day are in the mid 70s.
Aside from the indolence, which is extremely hard to overcome, we’re actually camped in Peg Leg and really trying to accomplish great things. I need about a month, maybe six weeks to catch up. At least that’s the goal. But Peg Leg is a delightful place to simply hang out, and the surrounding country provides lots of activities, when you can muster up the energy. Before long, I’m sure the prospective thrill of seeing incredible sights will spur us on, for in previous years, we’ve so enjoyed the activities that characterize Anza Borrego Desert State Park.
LURE OF THE DESERT
Anza Borrego is one of the nation’s largest of all state parks, known for its populations of desert bighorn, incredible geology, its Native American artifacts, and for Marshall and Tanya South, a couple who attempted to live off the land in this park while struggling to turn out magazine stories and books.
Though successful as artists, the couple could not make their Spartan life style work and, ultimately, it ended in failure, with the couple separating after a 15 year attempt. But it could not have all been bad, as their three children emerged to create conventional lifestyles for themselves that were, by most accounts, very successful.
After we settle in a bit, and after our energy levels return, I expect we will strike out for the many areas in this beautiful park that we have not yet explored. Until then, we are content to continue our lazy lives, waiting for a sign that it is time to rise. Right now, the gin and tonic is helping me bridge that chasm.
Nature Notes: Several weeks ago I photographed Fajada Butte in Chaco Culture National Historic Park. The butte is famous for its solstice markers, which were recognized as such in 1982.
Known for its solstice markers, Fajada Butte in Chaco Culture Historic Park acquires a spiritual appearance at night, which is appropriate -- as it served as a paragon of astronomical indicators. Night photo taken at BELOW ZERO F temperatures, so I didn't linger for the much preferred longer time exposure.
Though visitation to the markers was subsequently restricted, today high-powered spotting scopes, permanently positioned, help visitors appreciate the marker’s presence. So, too, do night-time viewing activities, which as a photograph, tends to impart spiritual qualities to the massive edifice.
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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:
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