Shirtless Sabbatical﻿

Shirtless Sabbatical

10/27/2016

I write from a dingy hotel room in Grants Pass, Oregon. I woke up early yesterday in Middletown, Connecticut, after having given an all-day workshop for Wesleyan University faculty the day before. Flew home yesterday, packed, and then left campus this morning for a lovely six-hour drive through the rain. Tomorrow I’ll begin a writers residency with the Spring Creek Project at the Andrews Experimental Forest. This is a two-week residency, and from here I go directly up to the North Cascades Institute in Washington for a month-long residency there.

Only problem is that I don’t have any shirts. Well, that’s not technically correct. I stopped at the Eddie Bauer outlet in Reading, California and bought three flannel shirts to hold me over until the other shirts can be shipped to Oregon.

What a world we live in! A hundred years ago, three new flannel shirts could get a fellow through the winter. Now I’m hoping to make it until Monday. And I’m not all that worried that a dozen fresh shirts can be delivered to a remote outpost in the Willamette National Forest near Blue River, Oregon. No, they don’t have cell-phone coverage there, but surely FedEx or one of those outfits can reunite me with my clothing.

A couple years ago I read the journals of the Corps of Discovery Expedition better known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition. When those fellows needed a new shirt they would shoot a deer, tan the hide, and then sew themselves a new shirt.

A shame they didn’t have FedEx back then!

2 Comments

Carol Farnsworth

10/29/2016 07:00:24 pm

It's amazing how much needs to be packed for a two-week trip when your husband is writing a book. You need books, binoculars, computers, cameras, rain gear, sleeping gear, and tons more.

If you go to a place that does not provide food service, you also have to plan, shop, cook, freeze, and pack for two weeks of food. Thank heavens for freezers and amazing coolers that can keep milk and meat cold for a few days while traveling to the site.

Who would have thought that after filling the truck with 6 weeks of gear, that the shirts were still hanging in the closet? I am so glad I work for a company that wants me to focus on my work rather than the details of taking care of my daily life. I was able to take the box of shirts to the 'Ship it' center and they handled the rest of the details for me. All I have to do is pay the bill.

Whew!! Crisis averted.

absolutely!

10/29/2016 08:36:02 pm

It's amazing how much we remembered to pack. Snow chains, thermal underwear, field guides, GORP, spotting scope and tripod, chargers, beard trimmer, Kindle, notebooks, two pairs of waterproof boots, two pairs of rain pants, spare glasses and sunglasses, a spiral ham, two pairs of binoculars, first aid kit, nail clippers, headlamp, leatherman tool, field desk and chair, sleeping bag and pad, camera gear, sunscreen and shave kit.

Shirts? A minor detail.