I'M ALIVE!!
I am back guys! I am really sorry that I was not able to get online to let everyone know what happened to me. It's a long and sorted story, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible.
First off, shortly after my last post I lost my smart phone off the side of a cliff and it ended up in a place I could not get to. So that prevented me from being able to get online. Meanwhile a couple from California bought 200 acres that ran alongside the dirt road that starts the journey up to where I was located. It is the last "residence" going up the mountain and they decided that they would throw a gate across the road to prevent people from going up and down the mountain... because they felt they were entitled to do so and they wanted the mountain for themselves. This angered the locals something terrible. There was a big hoopla about it and eventually, about a year later the locals got the county to designate the road as county property and the gate came down. But right after the gate went up I was traveling down the mountain to get supplies and ended up at the gate. I got out of my truck and started walking up to their drive and this lady comes running towards me, with a sidearm strapped on and two Pitbull's in tow. I thought oh boy, this should be interesting. She asked who the hell I was, and how I got on the other side of "her" gate. I explained who I was and what I was doing up there. She stated that there was no longer anyone allowed up there and that I would have to move somewhere else, and that if I didn't she was going to call the forestry people and have me evicted. I don't have to tell you this didn't sit well with me after being up there for several years, on my own, not having to answer to anyone and now this crazy lady from California was turning my life upside down. It took all the self-control I had not to get my gun out of the truck and take her out right then and there. But, as a free man I didn't want to spend the rest of my days lock up! Meanwhile I had contacted my grown children back in Texas to let them know about my phone and that I was ok. They were really missing their dad and begged me to come back to Texas. I pondered this along with the situation with the sociopathic lady and her gate and decided my journey living as a mountain man had come to an end. So I packed up everything and moved off the mountain. I found a lady who had just bought a lot of acreage not far from Las Vegas (New Mexico) and she wanted to buy my tent and goal zero equipment in order to start a commune on her property. So I sold her that stuff and prepared myself for the move back to Texas and back to society. I don't have to tell you this whole thing was difficult for me. As someone who has had an on again off again problem with cigarette smoking this triggered the need and I succumbed to the urge and started down that path again, unfortunately. That in turn put a halt on my pipe smoking and after I got back to Texas I continued down that self-destructive path until recently when I gave them up and started smoking my pipes. I was able to get back online, and back to pipesmagazine and back to this thread all thanks to Kevins help.
In retrospect, my journey as a mountain man was the single greatest and most profound experience of my life. It was all I hoped for it to be, not counting how it ended. But after spending so many years taking care of my Dad, it healed me like nothing else could. Ironically, when I was up there I thought if anything major happened, like a PANDEMIC, then I was in the perfect place to weather the storm, but that didn't occur until AFTER I got back to society LOL. Living again as people do in society was difficult for me to adjust to, which is why i was on the cancer sticks so long. But after getting through this pandemic whole and safe, and moving in with my oldest daughter and her husband I slowly was able to get back to living. My problem now is trying to find work. Even tho I have a BS degree from Texas A&M University, when your 63 and have been out of the workforce for many many years nobody want to hire you, except to flip burgers or be a Walmart greeter. I've been actively trying to find quality work for over a year and nobody wants to take a chance on me. But, thank goodness for my pipes and all that goes along with that hobby. It calms me down and allows me to weather this new storm in my life. I want to say again that I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this thread, and I'm sorry but grateful for the concern many posters have shown. But all's well that ends well. I'll try to answer any questions yall may have, otherwise, I see you around on the forum!
Monty
