I’m not planning on working from warmer climes in the camper this winter for the first time since the winter of 2022*. Last night, that had me thinking about the winter that is soon to come, because my mind always turns first toward dwelling on doom. But doom-thinking sometimes leads to (mediocre) poetry:
Well seasoned
In winter
I move through the world
with ankles and knees that crack in the brittle air
The water of my body
thieved by winter’s parched throat
Where in its ravenous hunger
I whistle past its snow white teeth
My thinking behind sticking around is based on several things. Thing 1 is that traveling and working from a trailer is actually kind of hard work. There’s a fair amount of planning that goes into it, and since I am absolutely not a planner, there’s a fair amount of stress that comes from not planning.
With Starlink satellite internet (really the only game in town until Bezos gets his competitor up and running sometime in 2026-27, at which point we’ll be able to choose which billionaire with a spaceship to give our money to), you need to have a clear view of the sky, and you never quite know until you get where you’re going if that will be the case (though Google Earth and campsite photos give you a solid idea). That contributes to some anxiety, because I can’t not have internet; if I become an unreliable employee, this all likely goes away. And I take pride in being, if nothing else, an all-around reliable person.
Thing 2 is that driving around the country towing a trailer with a pickup truck gets expensive, even if you drive the most “fuel-efficient” pickup truck that was on the market in 2020. I get 22-23 mpg on the highway without a trailer, but that drops to about 11 mpg with a lightweight (3,200 lb) camper. The last three winters I’ve driven an average of more than 6,000 miles each trip, so gas costs add up (and it’s obviously not great for the environment).
Thing 3 is that I bought a pair of cross-country skis in 2021 and used them for one winter, and by the end of the winter I was really getting into it. There are all kinds of groomed trails at state and regional parks in Minnesota (a state that really values its parks!), and so I was seeing some beautiful and wild winter scenes that year. I miss that. I also really like driving in snow for some reason, but that’s not Thing 4.
Thing 4 is that I hope to publish a book by the end of 2026, which is to say (almost certainly) self-publish a book by the end of 2026. It will be a compilation of some of my favorite poems, essays, short stories, new stuff, and what I’d call Jack Handeyesque interludes, all from my life up to this point, age 48, a number I reached a few days ago. My plan is to write and/or work on that book every day for the next 365 days, having begun on Oct. 8. I also quit drinking on Oct. 8, and will resume drinking on Oct. 7, 2026. I will miss you, cabernet, my comforting friend.
By putting it here, I hope to make it real and hold myself accountable. So, I’ll be here by my fireplace this winter, my laptop on my lap top, not driving anywhere with a little house on wheels, but instead driving my little mind around inside my own stationary home.
Today is day 4. Below are some photos from a trip I took to Maine last week. My friend Justin made a series of commemorative t-shirts.
*There is always the possibility that I just blow town without a plan.
Bonus: Song I have been listening to on repeat for the past few weeks.
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