In our quest to take advantage of every weekend, we chanced an April camping trip in Oregon.
Turns out, we're lucky we did. Last weekend was absolutely perfect!
Clear skies. Warm (and even hot in the afternoons). And quiet.
Yes, quiet. Where was everyone? They were definitely not in Mt. Hood National Forest.
Granted, we did pass by a few campers and wilderness explorers on our way in and out of the forest. But some how we found a spot where no one else was looking!
Down a dusty, worn, potholed road off of NF 46, we found harmony and solitude. Our only company being ourselves, our dog, and the occasional bird.
We relaxed.
Surrounded by green pines and sun all weekend, we read, we laughed, we napped, and we talked.
The afternoons brought Caesar salad wraps and chips.
The evenings, a camp fire from gathered sticks, hot dogs, and (of course) S'mores!
The solitude was great for the soul. We had escaped from our daily lives and our daily routines. Gone were the stresses of work. Here we could do absolutely nothing, but still feel refreshed and at peace.
The night sky was completely free of clouds - and bugs. We laid out an air mattress, staring at the ceaseless number of stars as they revealed themselves through the black abyss.
The moon glowing brightly, had us up out of bed and in the road marveling at the clarity by which we could see our surroundings. Our shadows danced as we basked in the world's wonder.
Though our sleeping bags and blankets fought off the creeping chill, at 2 a.m. (and cool 29 degrees) we made our way back to the car's engulf - for a cramped and uncomfortable night's sleep.
Morning brought the snaking sunlight back to the forest. Eventually giving us renewed energy to...make French pressed coffee! (Yes, we're those type of car campers. Though to be fair, we were testing out our backpacking gear - and I must say the JetBoil worked perfectly...)
On our way home, we stopped at a steaming natural hot spring. Just off the side of the road and (to our surprise) and unused! Alone, we waded into the river. The mix of mountain snow melting (beginning its long journey to the ocean) with the bursts of 200 degree sulfured hot water (bubbling up through the rocks under our feet) was an unforgettable sensation.
The rarity of nice April weather was not lost on us. This would eventually pass. Replaced with rain and clouds, as summer has not yet arrived. But even the fleeting opportunity to marinade ourselves in a sunny weekend, helped to satisfy our winter cravings.
The only question I have now is...what will next weekend bring?
Yours in exploiting life!
Quinn
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Friday, April 18, 2014
Friday, March 21, 2014
Friday Reading: Escape on a Workday
Happy Friday! Below is a quick writing sample from my journal. I'm trying to grab a few minutes (5, 10, 15 minutes) when I can to toss my thoughts onto paper. It's really quite liberating. I will share more as time passes.
After re-reading the below passage, I'm wondering if I'm the only one that thinks like this. So many colleagues go about their daily rituals. Are they wanting to escape like me? Or have they given up the fight? Did they ever want to fight in the first place? The notes end abruptly, but it's given me more thoughts on how I want to approach my life.
Yours in exploiting life!
Quinn
________
Do you ever get that sick, nauseous feeling when you think life is passing you by?
I did. Again. Today.
I'm sitting in my office. Surrounded by paper, pens, people, cubes, meetings - and all I want to do is bolt and find something exciting!
I hope it's just that it's Friday. It's been a long week of back to work after vacation.
I can hear the coworker in the next office on a conference call. I can hear both sides of the call. The whole beginning was talking about how many conference calls everyone is on. How do we get anything done if we're always in meetings? Answer: We don't.
We're supposed to delegate, but how do you have time to do this? You work more hours. You work late. You come in early. You work weekends. To get ahead, to be in more conference calls, have more annual reviews (don't get me started on these!), more time in an office.
Life is passing us by! What are we working for? Is it worth it?!
We need money to survive, but at what cost? We go home exhausted, sit on the couch, and watch t.v. Too tired to work on ways to get out of the rat race.
The constant need to do better, for a boss, who is just trying to do better for their boss. So we don't get fired. Because we're worried that we won't be able to pay our bills without the job. The money stops and how do we pay the rent, how do we pay for food, how do we pay for the car?
We're worried, so we work more, harder, digging ourselves in deeper.
Spending more money on entertainment and items that give us pleasure for the few minutes we an enjoy them (before working again). We spend money on a nice house. We spend money on a nice car, we spend money on nice clothes and expensive meals.
We have fleeting minutes of pleasure in exchange for our hard earned money. But then we get caught.
We spend more money to make ourselves happy then we're actually earning!
We put items on credit. We purchase a house/car with big loans. We now have monthly payments for items that are slowing diminishing in their entertainment/'wow' factor. So we need another fix!
But that will cost more money! So we work harder, more hours. Do better. Impress the boss, boss' boss, to get a raise, a promotion - which brings more hours of work/stress. So that we can afford the new, bigger, better, toys!
And we can't lose our jobs, because we wouldn't be able to pay the on-going payments for both our new and our old toys.
We're stuck. A rat in a cage.
We look out our windows into a foreign world, for a few minutes between conference calls.
We look at the hills, the trees, the sun. We wonder what it would feel like to wander those hills, in the trees, under the sun in the middle of a workday. Just a random Wednesday.
We feel guilty just thinking about it. It's not normal, we should be working during a workday. That's what weekdays are for. Everyone works. You can't wander in the hills during the day. That's for the weekends - between the work you've brought home - to earn money, to pay for the enjoyment of life!
But is this life?
Is this living?
Can it be different?
Break the cycle?
No! That's wrong! Don't think like that!
No one breaks the cycle. This is how the world works!
Really? Yes, you have to earn your money - put in your 'time' to enjoy life once you retire (on a small retirement income). You'll enjoy life then. Travel the world. Wander those hills, in the trees, under the sun during a random Wednesday. When you're old. You'll probably need a cane to get up the hill. If the tree root trips you, you'll probably break a bone - since you're old.
After re-reading the below passage, I'm wondering if I'm the only one that thinks like this. So many colleagues go about their daily rituals. Are they wanting to escape like me? Or have they given up the fight? Did they ever want to fight in the first place? The notes end abruptly, but it's given me more thoughts on how I want to approach my life.
Yours in exploiting life!
Quinn
________
Do you ever get that sick, nauseous feeling when you think life is passing you by?
I did. Again. Today.
I'm sitting in my office. Surrounded by paper, pens, people, cubes, meetings - and all I want to do is bolt and find something exciting!
I hope it's just that it's Friday. It's been a long week of back to work after vacation.
I can hear the coworker in the next office on a conference call. I can hear both sides of the call. The whole beginning was talking about how many conference calls everyone is on. How do we get anything done if we're always in meetings? Answer: We don't.
We're supposed to delegate, but how do you have time to do this? You work more hours. You work late. You come in early. You work weekends. To get ahead, to be in more conference calls, have more annual reviews (don't get me started on these!), more time in an office.
Life is passing us by! What are we working for? Is it worth it?!
We need money to survive, but at what cost? We go home exhausted, sit on the couch, and watch t.v. Too tired to work on ways to get out of the rat race.
The constant need to do better, for a boss, who is just trying to do better for their boss. So we don't get fired. Because we're worried that we won't be able to pay our bills without the job. The money stops and how do we pay the rent, how do we pay for food, how do we pay for the car?
We're worried, so we work more, harder, digging ourselves in deeper.
Spending more money on entertainment and items that give us pleasure for the few minutes we an enjoy them (before working again). We spend money on a nice house. We spend money on a nice car, we spend money on nice clothes and expensive meals.
We have fleeting minutes of pleasure in exchange for our hard earned money. But then we get caught.
We spend more money to make ourselves happy then we're actually earning!
We put items on credit. We purchase a house/car with big loans. We now have monthly payments for items that are slowing diminishing in their entertainment/'wow' factor. So we need another fix!
But that will cost more money! So we work harder, more hours. Do better. Impress the boss, boss' boss, to get a raise, a promotion - which brings more hours of work/stress. So that we can afford the new, bigger, better, toys!
And we can't lose our jobs, because we wouldn't be able to pay the on-going payments for both our new and our old toys.
We're stuck. A rat in a cage.
We look out our windows into a foreign world, for a few minutes between conference calls.
We look at the hills, the trees, the sun. We wonder what it would feel like to wander those hills, in the trees, under the sun in the middle of a workday. Just a random Wednesday.
We feel guilty just thinking about it. It's not normal, we should be working during a workday. That's what weekdays are for. Everyone works. You can't wander in the hills during the day. That's for the weekends - between the work you've brought home - to earn money, to pay for the enjoyment of life!
But is this life?
Is this living?
Can it be different?
Break the cycle?
No! That's wrong! Don't think like that!
No one breaks the cycle. This is how the world works!
Really? Yes, you have to earn your money - put in your 'time' to enjoy life once you retire (on a small retirement income). You'll enjoy life then. Travel the world. Wander those hills, in the trees, under the sun during a random Wednesday. When you're old. You'll probably need a cane to get up the hill. If the tree root trips you, you'll probably break a bone - since you're old.
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