On Becoming Harriet Bighorn
My wife Julia and I are thinking about our next trip. My way of getting ready for a trip is just leaving. Julia makes lists. One of the things on her list of things to do before heading out is, “Teach Pie and Magneto to pack and remain calm even when the pack saddle flips under their bellies or they see a bull elk or a mountain lion.”
In Praise of Salamander Water: Part 1: The Dry Tap
“There’s no water in the kitchen sink,” my wife Julia told me recently and I knew it was one of two things. Our water comes from a spring behind our cabin. Either a salamander or a crayfish had gotten stuck in the plumbing or the cistern that gathered the spring water was empty.
It’s my birfday and i’m sittin’ in the holler ponderin’ my next move.
Pony Sunday: How to Exercise Three Mules at Once
Recently, my wife Julia and I exercised our small herd of three mules and one pony all at once. I thought you might enjoy a few photos of how we did it.
Usually, when you think of saddle riding, you think of a person sitting in the saddle riding… Continue reading
Happy New Year 2022
Happy 2022. Here are a few photos from ’21 that made me smile. I wish you all the best in the New Year.
Bernie
Smell the Laundromat: Two-month Roadtrip in a 1923 Model T
My wife Julia and I were driving around the campground looking for a place to park our tiny gypsy wagon trailer. We drove by a black hot rod Ford parked in a camp site, and I thought, “I’d like to meet those people.”
How We Got Here
Julia and I were on a… Continue reading
When Land Burns and Rivers Run Dry: A Rafter’s Story
My wife Julia and I walked by a large green inflatable raft sitting on a trailer under a redwood tree. A man was sitting in the boat, stowing gear. He was tan and lean with a trim beard. “Is that your little wagon?” he asked and pointed to where our tiny gypsy camper was parked. We told him it was. “I love it,” he said. The man said his name was Mark.
Fire, Drought, and Crash: Julia’s Letters From the West
“Before we hit the deer in California we hit somebody’s carburetor in Idaho.” excerpt from one of Julia’s emails to friends
Julia and I are exploring the West in our small car and homemade gypsy trailer. We went west looking for the perfect place to start our next long-distance saddle journey. We knew the West was burning up, drying out, and running out of… Continue reading
Total Vehicular Destruction in Two Acts
Act One. The Blowout
It’s after dark, I’m driving, and the caffeine jitters are kicking in. My wife Julia and I are heading across the desert in our Subaru Crosstrek, towing our tiny red gypsy wagon. We’re outside Idaho Falls, pushing through the night to get to Hailey, 130 miles away.
Me Hue Man: New Name, New Tattoo
She stepped out of the night and came over to where Julia and I were chatting around the picnic table. Our homemade gypsy wagon trailer was parked next to us. It was hard dark, and the woman’s long black hair covered her eyes.
She said, “your wagon is so cute. I’ve been thinking about building a teardrop.” A teardrop is a small trailer, often homebuilt, that has… Continue reading
