I read somewhere that we rifle through roughly 6,000 thoughts every day. Now I’ve got no idea how accurate that is, but somewhere in some study, that’s what it said. I wonder if the study counts for recurring thoughts? I’ve got tons of thoughts every day, just like you. What should I eat? What’s the weather gonna be like? I wonder what ma is up to right now? What should I do this weekend? But there’s a recurring thought for me just about every day, “I wonder where I’ll sleep tonight?”
I truly never know. Sometimes I’m in a bed at the barracks in Wyoming, maybe a hotel down in New Mexico, or a field in Nevada, I could be sleeping in some old fairgrounds parking lot, or under a mountain star filled sky in Colorado, if I’m lucky the bugs aren’t even out. Hell maybe I won’t even be sleeping tonight at all! Regardless, just about every day that I wake up between May and October, I usually don’t know where I’ll be resting my head for the night. And for me, that’s okay. It keeps life interesting, that’s for sure. Some folks might need that fluffy mattress and more than enough pillows, but for me and the 23 other individuals that I spend my summers with, a blow-up sleeping pad and a 0° sleeping bag oughta do the trick (okay maybe sometimes a tent is necessary if the rain shows up or the breeze slows enough for the skeeters to come out). To be honest, we usually don’t care much where we’re sleeping after a day of work, so long as we do eventually get to bed.
One of my very first posts on this blog was titled The Thrill of Uncertainty and in it I explained how at that point in my life, nearly three years ago now, I was more than okay with not knowing what the next chapter of my life was going to look like. What I wanted at that time was for each day to be something new and exciting, something unpredictable. Not just to live life “going with the flow” in a sense, but to intentionally flow where I go. To create a life where uncertainty was almost guaranteed and experience life in its rawest form. To seek a bit of adventure you could say. I was living life with a gentle, fun loving curiosity towards whatever came my way. And I’d like to think that I’m still living that way; with an excited sense of curiosity greased with a little gratitude.
That said, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’ve always been fond of the old western books and shows. I admired the grit and soul that it took to survive the days where modern comforts were still a fantasy. Where people were at the mercy of Mother Nature, among other things. To be honest, sometimes I think I was born too late, and I kinda wanna see what it would take to live in a similar manner. So I sought it out. If you know me well, you know Lonesome Dove is my all time favorite book. And I admired the way Augustus McCrae lived his life, and I imagine many men lived theirs in a similar manner in those days. Seeking out the pleasures in life, being a true, honest man, living off of the land, and getting a job done when it’s time for it to be done. Of course he had his flaws, but hell don’t we all? I s’pose the best we can do is try our best each and every day, and then try to do that as many times in a row as we can.
Anyway, here I am, three years after writing about the Thrill of Uncertainty, bedding down on a cool early August night somewhere in southwestern Wyoming, under a moonless night sky trying to live a little better than yesterday. In terms of that uncertainty that I was seeking, I’ve found a job that challenges me in more ways than one, that keeps each and every day unpredictable and exciting. A job where we actually try to corral Mother Nature, how crazy is that thought!? Here we are, totally at the mercy of her, yet we try to corral and control her. It’s wild. To me anyway. But
best of all, I’ve found a gig that allows me to meet and become friends with some of the coolest people I’ve ever known.
Our thoughts dominate our reality and if that isn’t enough proof to convince ya of that, I don’t know what is. An added bonus- sometimes I can feel the history in the places we travel to. Sometimes I’m in the places that I’ve read about and I can see what those folks saw. Sometimes we even stumble across arrowheads used God knows how long ago. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder who laid their head down in this field before me and what they were thinking and going through. And I’m excited to find out where I’ll sleep tomorrow night, and who came before me there as well. Guess that’s just the thrill of uncertainty.
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