I’m sitting in Howie at the dinette, looking out the windows and typing. We’re in camp at the Hole-in-the-Wall campground in Mojave Preserve, California. Outside, the morning desert wind is blustery but not cold.

For the second day in a row, Karin and I have set ourselves absolutely no goals whatsoever, and it looks like we’ll continue to be successful in achieving those goals.

Yesterday evening we burned off some of our precious firewood hoard and celebrated our kick-back day. My cough continues to gradually subside, and this morning I awoke at 6AM, unheard of for me, and even reasonably rested.

Sun not yet risen, the dawn light bathed Banshee Canyon in soft pastels, a gentle precursor to the stark arc-lighting of the desert day.

The luxury of doing almost nothing is something both of us rarely experienced in our “former lives”. Working five, or six, or seven days a week (sometimes it seemed like eight) left little time for relaxation or reflection. More than that, the working attitude was something that dominated our lives, sometimes in very hidden and unconscious ways.

In this new lifestyle, we find that we have to studiously concentrate on letting go – – on having it be okay not to accomplish something. We try to spend some time not making commitments, not making deliveries, and not being accountable. Sounds horribly irresponsible, doesn’t it? We are basically trying to simply be aware of the universe and appreciate it, but without being immediately responsible for it.

We are ever so gradually learning how to let the Earth spin without our help – – at least for brief intervals such as yesterday and today.

But there sits Ralph right outside our door, ready and eager to do some more exploring. Clearly, it’s just not possible (or right) to relax forever.

Maybe we’ll go get stuck somewhere later today….