Freedom in a Can: Adventures with Hamlet

There is something so satisfying about getting completely naked in the forest on a Monday morning with absolutely no one else around. Our hike up the East Fork trail in Jemez Springs National Recreation Area leads us to the McCauley Warm Springs. Stashing our clothes on the edge of the upper pool, we ease in to the warm mineral bath. The sun shines through the Ponderosa Pine canopy sending rays of light through the understory as we relax into the moment. Soaking in hot water, in the middle of a beautiful nowhere, on a perfect day strikes a chord with me that goes all the way down to my DNA. This is precisely why we came to the southwest and to this little canyon in New Mexico. We used to have a house, with 3 bedrooms and a mortgage. When people ask us what we miss most about home ownership, we always answer immediately and in unison, “Our hot tub!” It is in fact the only thing we miss. Hamlet provides us nearly everything we need, including a sense...

That was freaky. I’m working on an essay in the dinette seat of our camper, when I hear a familiar sound.   This is the sound that I hear when the rear hatch of our homemade truck bed cover unsuspectingly crashes down on my head while I’m rooting around in the cooler.   It hurts; but this time it hasn’t gone “whomp!” on me or my wife who’s lying on the bed reading.   This strikes me as odd, because if we haven’t caused the whomp, and there’s no one else in the campground, who has? I grab my headlamp and mention to Shari that I thought I heard something outside.   My first thought is that an animal, most likely a raccoon, has tried to get into our cooler – it’s happened before.   I step outside and see that something is propping up the rear cover a few more inches than normal.   “That’s weird,” I think, as I raise the cover and find our hiking shoes sitting on top of the cooler, rather than their usual spot.   I look around as if someone is pla...