Ahhh, the desert

I'm parked on some BLM land near the VFW just north of Yuma, AZ. I've camped here numerous times over the years, and I feel comfortable here. I know that if I can get a place behind that hill, the road and train noise is reduced a little. And that tree is the one Chloe likes to climb. So we're happily here for a week or so.

Last night I was again awed at the quiet of the desert. That's one reason I like to bookdock, it's so quiet out here. There are a lot of rigs here right now, maybe 50 or more, but at night all you hear is the silence. No water heaters, no water pumps, no generators, no road noise, not even any barking dogs. Just quiet.

Okay, I'll admit if that crazy crop duster is working past midnight, that can spoil the whole mood. I've seen them flying at night, but not here, yet, anyway.

I was surprised at how calming the quiet is. I can feel myself relax in a way I hadn't the whole time I was parked at the Chandler Elks (no offense to the Elks). When you're in the city, you hear constant background noise, however distant, and I think that adds to the general stress level. I remember my neighbor in New Jersey telling me that on September 11, 2001 when all the planes were grounded, she noticed the silence as being the absence of that background noise she was so used to. She said it was strange, too quiet. Made her uncomfortable. I guess some people just don't like silence. I love it.

Have you ever slept somewhere that quiet? I remember clearly the first time I did. In 1999, even before I went fulltime, I was traveling from Albuquerque to Roswell, New Mexico. I chuckle now to think how new and clueless I was. I had a Trailer Life Campground Book (that WAS a long time ago, when I thought I needed it), but it didn't list any RV parks between me and Roswell. I actually thought all RV parks would be in the campground book!!

So I pulled off the road at a picnic area, and decided to stay the night. There was almost no traffic on that road, and no trains within earshot. Nothing manmade in any direction except the road. I could certainly believe something from outer space could crash out there and no one would ever notice. That was the strangest feeling, the silence so loud. Every once in a while the cats would look around, wondering perhaps if they'd gone deaf. It was a new feeling to me, and I just loved it. I slept better that night than any in recent memory.

That profound quiet is one of the things I look forward to when I boondock. Of course, there are other things, too. The darkness, the night sky with its millions of stars so bright. But that would be blogfodder for another day.