Tiny Trailer Mobile Office 1

I'm writing from my tiny trailer right now, enjoying the silence and environment, both enriched by memories of other solo camping outings saturated in tiny trailer camping solitude. The difference is that I'm still in my driveway, so the view out my window is not that of oak, hickory, and maple. Rather, it's a garden view of peas, lettuce, and the purple flowers of the chives. Not a bad view, actually.

My wife and I were going to camp some this week, setting up our trailer in the county park just outside of town, four miles from our house. However, the weather grew wetter and wetter, with the "non-raining" days (today being one of them) actually just being days of faint mist. Tomorrow will be the same, followed by a forecast of seven days of possible rain and thundershowers. Not impossible camping weather, since the temperatures are in the 50-60 degree range, but we've decided to stay at home

Another reason for staying at home is that Iowa has not only opened its campgrounds, the governor has also said the showers and restrooms will be fully open--in other words, back to normal. In my opinion, the COVID-19 numbers for the state don't support such a "back to normal" attitude because the numbers are still spiking. My wife and I will still do some camping this year, but we will still camp using the self-contained protocols. Governor Kim Reynolds, with each further opening of the state, says, "Oh, but be sure to be careful and keep your distance," but I believe the result of this experiment in opening early will be that of Sweden--yes, we'll get through it, but with many more deaths than expected.

In the meanwhile, my wife and I, and our children and grandchildren here in town, have established our safe "bubbles" of security as best we can and are living our lives looking to the future. We share some time together, are careful when we go out for food, and expect these practices will continue for some time. The governor yesterday said bars, theaters, and other public venues such as museums and zoos can open, along with some school activities. When asked why further openings were justified, the governor said that the state has the resources for an uptick in coronavirus cases, should a surge happen. She said the state's positivity rate is down, which is an odd thing to say. Locally, a 29-year-old woman had coronavirus symptoms. She sought a test at the local hospital but was denied--too young. She went to Iowa City, was tested positive and put in a room. Test kits have to be used as little as possible locally because so few are available. Of course positive-tested individual numbers are down!

So I sit in my tiny trailer, knowing that my wife and I will be camping in some of the lesser-used campgrounds when the weather is fine and it's the middle of the week (if that makes any difference with the kids out of school). Meanwhile, we have a quiet writing room, a meditation room, a playhouse for the grandkids. We're in pretty good shape. I plan to transplant my zucchini starts tomorrow, along with eggplant and cherry tomato starts.

I'll enjoy the cloudy day today and tomorrow, and keep dodging all those raindrops that I know are coming. Sometimes you just have to look at the sky and make your own decisions, never mind what those people on the TV are saying.

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