Okay, that was actually kind of cool. How do you get Amazon delivered when you’re out of town? Well, now I know. Amazon has blind dropboxes (in some locations at least.) The best part? Completely touchless too (not that I care about the COVID much, as I was vaccinated medically and naturally (and was still on a ventilator – long story,) yet the tech aspect of it was really cool. Walk up to the box, scan the barcard from the open email on your phone and in half a second “click”, a latch pops and a door swings open.
That isn’t how the day began though, just didn’t want this to be the first paragraph that gets shared on other medias.. here’s the bait and switch since you must have clicked the read more.. (lol, just kidding.. sorry for the dramatic build up on this. Grin.) So I’ve been pooping a lot and well in all aspects. I suppose that comes with eating better food and although it is hard to discern separately from everything else, I think I do feel better in some parts solely based on my new diet. Anyway, I have enough fiber and roughage now, that my morning routine is very routine.
Some mornings are a bit more rushed than others and the bathroom is a half mile away by car, up the hill by the bumpy dirt road. Every morning is different, yet I wake in my tent and need to dress, stand, get to the car (disconnecting the DC plug for the tent accessories, the antenna to the digipeater, and any AC connections I may have left out, back up and get up to the bathrooms at five miles per hour. Up the bumpy road. Some mornings are… close. Too close, clenching the cheeks as I hobble with my cane up the last sidewalk at the day use area.
One time the first week I got here, I walked into the restroom there and the only stall was hopelessly clogged- I had to walk back to my car and drive up to the established campground and use the formal restrooms (with showers) there. It’s a good thing that didn’t happen yesterday, I would not have made it that far. I barely made it into the stall and closed the door. And after today, I could now qualify yesterday as not a bad day in that department.
Today, I did not make it that far. I woke up in the tent after sleeping well, checked my phone and it was seven thirty or so. “Sat up” onto my elbow, unzipped the tent and reached for my (tobacco) pipe and lighter. I usually leave my last smoke of night in there instead of cleaning it out so that I can have a puff or two in the morning without packing an entire bowl. In any case, this morning that puff or two seemed to instantly activate something familiar: time to poop.
No worries, I put down the pipe, jeans already on (cold night, thirty five.. down to twenty eight tonight,) I reached for my shoes and started to swing my legs out. My left was nearly in operable in the chill air, completely seized and I had to lift it up and out of the tent to put my shoe on it, then the other foot and standing up and out of the tent (now knowing my left leg was out of the game,) and went to open the tent ‘door’. I say that in quotes last my self built tarp tent doesn’t really have door so much as a flap. At night that flap is bungled tightly to keep the warm in, yet is like a combination lock before eight am.
By time I made it to my car I was taking slow deep breathes and remembered the bumpy road the morning before, each memory of a bump made my belly queasy again. I reached forward and put my hand on the door handle and touching my car I had a simple realization. If I got into my car, I would be shitting in my car. It wasn’t a thought or a suggestion, just a fact. Like when you’re having one of those “the world is going to end” kind of days, then realize that yes, the sun will rise tomorrow. Like that. The sun will rise tomorrow and if I got into my car I would be shitting in my car.
Those were the facts of life and I like my car. It is a lot of things, yet it is not a port-a-john. I scanned my surroundings. The Rocky Bay Primitive Camping area, at least a mile from another person- other than the sole other camper at the moment on the other side of the bay. Not a person in sight. In the next moment, I realized two things. I would not shit in my car however, I was about to shit in my pants. I unzipped and dropped my pants where I stood, opened the car door so that I could grab my hand onto the door frame, and leaned back.
So… does a bear shit in the woods? Sooner or later, yes. Chain to indoor plumbing: broken.
Actually, truthfully, that chain was broken last year in the hospital. I was glad to use a bedside commode as soon as I could use a bedside commode (so much nicer than bed pan.) When I came hope in February, six weeks after my incident, I still couldn’t go upstairs to the bathroom (or my bedroom) until July. I got used to using the bedside commode I had purchased for home. I seriously considered bringing it for this very reason and if there was room, I would have.
Well, after having to literally clean up my own shit today, I have now purchased a new portable camping commode and am rather glad that I will no longer have to worry about the distance from this campsite to a restroom. That is going to make me sleep better tonight and rise a bit more peacefully in the morning. I can wake, relieve myself and have my morning tea without having to leave the warmth of the tarp tent.
Okay, sorry, that was probably too much information. Yet, there it is. My studio tarp tent now has a bathroom facility for number two. That was about it.. well a bit of shopping as I did go in town. I was going to stop at the Carlsbad Field Office, yet this time I checked the calendar first, it’s Saturday, so I’ll plan to do that Monday. It’s back to being a countdown week, the second week of my second stay here at Brantley Lake is coming to an end.
Where will I be a week from now.. or two? I saw on Facebook they’re getting snow in Northern New Mexico, yet I am ready for new scenery. I may jump over to the other side of the state, as there are a bunch more state parks over there. I hope they are all as loose as Brantley Lake- three weeks and still haven’t been approached or even talked to a ranger.
Wasn’t able to walk much today other than for the errands and shopping I did, the cold weather makes my leg and ankle curl in and tighten in place. There isn’t much I can do other than slow down and make sure I don’t twist my ankle and keep the weight on my cane.
Tomorrow is Sunday, a day of rest. A good day to make a list of what I want to get done the following week.
Time to rest.