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I admit it. One of my attractions to solitude is the free pass it provides – a free pass from should. When you live in solitude, no one cares if you’re naked or nocturnal – as long as you’re self-supporting (sometimes tough in solitude) and not bothering anyone (extremely easy in solitude). Why would anyone [...]
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I looked out the front window this morning just in time to see two grad students fitting Griz with a tracking collar before he recovered from the effects of their tranquilizer dart. Then I woke up. But I know what prompted the dream: yet another hermit researcher found this blog and hoped for an interview with [...]
I’ve decided to take the month of August to remind myself of life without blogging and Twitter. I haven’t been a very active blogger (or Twitteur) over the last couple of months anyway… …the hermit needs a break – again. In reality I’ll probably only get about a week of solitude out of the deal. [...]
We’re having what passes for a heat wave here in Western Washington – temperatures in the nineties and low 100′s, plus high humidity – a combo as rare here as home air conditioning. We don’t need AC often enough here for most people to justify the expense and installation. Of course, portable air conditioners are flying off the shelves this week. Weather – a sure-fire economic stimulator.
The oppressive heat is predicted to continue for a full week before that pleasant Pacific marine air finds its way back home. I know what I’m describing as “oppressive” is no biggee for you tropics and desert dwellers, and those of you where summer equals humidity – but we’re not used to it.
Griz and I adapt to heat the way humans have always adapted in their natural state: less or no clothing, get the chores done in the cool morning, cancel most movement in the afternoon, and rev up again in the evening after the sun goes down. We also have lots of water. The streams are dry, but the well isn’t. We can stay as wet as we like. Wet hair cools the brain.
This hot weather stategy has reminded me how lucky we are to live in seclusion with a schedule of our own devising. Solitude has many perks – spontaneous nakedness and freedom from clocks are this week’s stars.
Yes, I’m just trying to be provocative and I presume that is also Professor Christopher Peterson’s intent when he uses the phrase “there are no happy hermits” in his U. Michigan psychology lectures. But I’m quite certain I’m not the only happy hermit in the world, so I’ve decided to come to the defense of [...]
Griz and I are lean on Christmas traditions. Christmas loot for the “next generations” is often mailed rather than delivered in person. The Christmas festivities in which we do participate don’t occur every year and rarely on Christmas Day.
But even in those years when I do no other Christmas decorating, I like to make a wreath for our gate.
It’s my way of honoring the beauty and sentiment of the Christmas season. I don’t define myself as a Christian, but I consider Jesus Christ a great spiritual teacher. Any religious tradition that celebrates peace, love and compassion is a positive thing; and humankind needs all the positivity it can muster.
Ironically, when we first moved here in 1995, we had no gate. But as the population increased, transitioning the area from from rural to suburban; our long, gravel driveway (with no buildings visible from the road) became more and more inviting to random “explorers.”
At first we didn’t close the gate all the time, let alone lock it. Now it’s locked all the time - when we’re home and when we’re not - a sad symbol of changing times.
The circular shape and evergreen component of wreaths symbolize the eternal cycle of life. Perhaps the reason I like to put up a wreath each year is to sustain my fragile hope that eventually we’ll change direction – cycle back to a time of fewer gates and fewer locks - a time of peace, love and easy trust – the legacy I believe Jesus Christ had in mind.
May the hope and loving peace of this holiday season sustain you through the coming year.
Here’s a ho-hum autumn sunset through the stand of deciduous trees in the southwest corner of our property – about the best we get of visible sunsets.
Our evergreens, many of them 50 and 60-year olds, are great for the year-round privacy we value; but they do deprive us of those unobstructed sunsets so everpresent in our sailing days. When you live aboard on the West Coast, you are often a part of the sunset. I do miss that.
Such is the nature of life – there are always trade-offs to be made.
No Most Memorable Hermits list would be complete without Dick Proenneke (1916-2003) whose hermit life can frequently be viewed during PBS pledge-drives. “Alone in the Wilderness” tells Proenneke’s story of life alone in Alaska, relying on simple hand tools and his own physical labor to build his cabin and sustain himself with little outside assistance – no small feat [...]
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He lived with his goats in a primitive cabin off Horn Creek, deep in the forest near the Harts Lake Loop Road, Pierce County, Washington. He would occasionally hitchhike into McKenna for groceries – his source of income was unknown, possibly a meager pension. Bearded, with a worn felt hat and old sweater, I never [...]
