When picking just where to park at a campsite, the natural inclination is to go for the spot with trees and a feeling of enclosure. The instinct goes way back to prehuman times. We want shelter. Or even the illusion of it.
The original spot. Mmmm, trees.
That’s what I did at my current location in Quartzsite, Arizona. I pulled up next to some trees and bushes, set up a table and chair in the space between, offloaded some space consuming containers and called it home. The trouble was, I was in the shade. Solar panels don’t like the shade. And refrigerators crave the electricity produced by solar panels. I begrudgingly backed the Rolling Steel Tent about twenty feet, out into the sun. There, problem solved.
Well, only partially solved. My panel got more sunlight but not really enough for the fridge to run well. These darned shorter days and lower sun.
The new spot. Mmmm, sunlight.
So this morning as the sun creeped over the eastern mountains, I saw that the area about a hundred yards away had sunlight while I was still in shadows. That sunny area was more barren. No vegetation to cozy up to except some cacti. But I had to do the technologically correct thing and move. I can always carry my chair over to the trees if I miss them too much. But I can’t un-spoil hamburger.
Good lesson for those of us, like me, who haven't yet had a chance to learn that by experience. Thanks.
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