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Pockets of Peace (POPS) are places a person can sit in the shade and be left alone for awhile. It can be a shady spot near a store, a picnic table in a greenbelt, a bench by a library, or anyplace a person feels comfortable sitting for a spell. Not that I know how to make spells or anything. I'll have to read more Harry Potter books for that.
It is difficult to find POPS in the desert, and that makes them more precious. A lone tree or bush where a person can get some shade will suffice.
After a couple minutes road noises start to disappear and the sounds of birds starts to appear. It used to be places like this would have bugs, but it seems like bugs are disappearing from the world.
This area is just a short distance from HWY 50 and just down a steep embankment from a Loaf and Jug gas station. These pockets of peace are all over Pueblo, and they are all over most towns. People might consider them threatening, but I've never seen anyone in them. I suppose if one came early in the morning, they might find some homeless person wake up. They want to be left alone.
This shady spot is invisible to anyone who would be looking from a distance, and anyone who walked by probably wouldn't care. It would be a good place to sit and drink some water with a sandwich.
Any kid worthy of the designation would love to climb this tree. Well, at least in past times. Now kids have other interests. I saw two meandering down the bicycle trail on their skateboards. I'd have taken a picture, but I don't take people's pictures as it may scare them in today's world. At least I don't take them from close up.
When my son and I backpack, we christen these POPS by making a cup of coffee. When a place is special, a person should sit for some time.
Afterwards, I got a drink at the Loaf and Jug. There were eight people getting gas, probably spending about $35 apiece for a total of $240. Their cars averaged about $20,000 apiece. There was $160,000 of metal there that would eventually rust. Repeat this maybe 20 times a day, and it starts to turn into real money. Money people have to earn by working. This shows the paradox of economics. If people don't consume, people don't have jobs. A certain amount of material possessions is necessary. What if everyone only bought what they REALLY need? Food, shelter, clothes, and minimal transportation. We could probably all work a couple hours a day. Now people work all day so they can sit around a couple hours a day.
My thought is to have a small place to live and turn the whole world into my living room. I could go to the library or many other places for free internet. I wouldn't need to stay long -- just long enough to type my blog and to charge the batteries on the Kindle Fire. Is this taking advantage of other people's work? I don't know. It's an interesting question, isn't it?
The virtual hike is still in the Nevada desert. California is drawing me forward only because it is a political boundary between two states made by people long forgotten by most. Each change in the road surface likely occurs at county boundaries.
I've decided to use a bivy sack if I ever real-hike this route. I've decided to travel as light as I can, but I'll need a cart of some sort for water in the desert. Now that I've put the need out to the universe, one will appear when I need it. I'd like to test the theory of a cart.
This afternoon, I took a 2.3 mile hike. It was 95 degrees. The heat didn't feel bad when I was in it, but I did feel some effects after I returned home. I'm going to have to start rationing water so I drink enough. That's part of the experiments.
The boundary between suburbia and prairie is only seven minutes away.
Someone from Denver is going to fix that for us. They will develop this area in the next few years. Maybe the housing bust will keep going and they will wait ten years, but it is coming.
I found this place of peace along the way. It doesn't look like much, but all it takes is a flat rock to sit on and some shade.
This is the view from the inside looking out. I sat there for a few minutes enjoying the shade. Although it was 95 degrees, the combination of the shade and a breeze made it comfortable.
There were no ants. There are no ants anyplace. Am I the only one to notice this?
This is the type of place I'd avoid if it wasn't near home. Don't need any ticky tacky neighbors calling the police and tell them I'm doing something like eating at a picnic table.
On the virtual hike, there are some hills and some things that look like trees. Well, they are trees for a couple miles. Haven't seen any of those in awhile.
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