I’ve just returned from ten days of housesitting in Creede, Colorado. It’s a twelve hour drive with no dilly-dallying, and I had been forewarned that internet access might be difficult. I had my my laptop plugged in by 6 am my first morning there and ran headlong into the reality of it: no TV, no radio, no internet, no coffeemaker. I felt a little panicked, so opened up my Sunflower account and read old emails.
I hadn’t yet unloaded the car, so sat on the front deck for a few minutes, pondering the idea of filling the tank and returning to Kansas. It’s a good thing the weather was chilly, which reminded me that one of my vacation goals had been to escape the heat. The neighbor kids, both under the age of ten, drove by the house on what appeared to be a 70’s vintage riding lawn mower. I waved enthusiastically and considered proposing an afternoon play date.
Instead, I headed down Deep Creek Trail for a hike and discovered a strong cell signal. Called my sister, who immediately recognized a note of panic in my voice and reassured me that ten days without internet access might be a good thing – very relaxing and all. That was comforting until I remembered that I’ll be missing The Tour.
Clearly, I survived my “holiday”, though I’ve developed a deeper sympathy for prisoners banished to solitary confinement. Actually, I settled in to a routine of several hours of hiking in the morning, followed by lunch, a snooze, and a couple of hours of writing, then a DVD, which was comfortable by the time I left. Next year, when I’m looking to escape the Kansas heat, I’ll check on airfares to major northern cities. Maybe I’ll check out Oslo in August…
Life, The Universe, and Everything 
Dear Egghead:
Rarely does solitary confinement include the use of a car or the proximity of a fine Mexican restaurant. Or, for that matter, the availability of a ukelele, regardless of its tuning.
Nonetheless it could be stark and forbidding even if one were to follow the highway sign that reads only “Pool Table”.
Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam – anywhere in the northern latitudes does sound like a better alternative, perhaps even Reykjavic.
Though anywhere you go you might be thinking “wish you were here”.
Foghorn