Savoring All

When I was fifteen years old I informed my parents that one day I wanted to live in wilderness but wanted to have a music studio there, too. They told me that would require electrical power, and at that time the only way to have electrical power in wilderness required running a big, noisy generator during recording sessions. So much for that, I thought. Then with passage of time and innovations beyond my wildest teenage dreams, living in wilderness and having electrical power in that undisturbed peace and quiet became entirely possible.

So at the turn of the century the dream began to form and solidify so that by 2005 I was living and working off grid, full time, with more electrically-powered tech than I ever imagined I would need. And I dug it, a lot. I could record and edit and burn creations to CDs and DVDs and SSDs. I could also publish works to my very own web site on the World Wide Web.

And as living there ensconced in wilderness with tech gear galore stretched out into a second glorious decade and through retirement, I latched onto every newly released gadget which would both sustain and enhance the overall experience.

Now in rebuilding and regeneration mode after losing everything except life itself to fires sparked by U.S. government arsonists, it's fun to imagine what the next homestead can be like, and what new tech gadgetry might be applied to further elevate the process of living.

The technology is cool and fun to put to good use, and it has all served me well, but I must always remember to pause and look up and around to see what's going on in the natural world, and to breathe deeply, savoring all.