Bundling up inside your cozy, plush sleeping bag never felt as good as it does during the chilly nights of December and the colder months marching forward. It’s during times like this you feel particularly proud that you chose a sleeping bag rated for a slightly colder night than the weather station had predicted. So while the frigid air outside of your tent is hard at work putting a sparkling layer of frost on everything, you lie inside your perfect nest, warm and comfortable and without any concern whatsoever.

At least until you realize you’ve got to pee.

Oh well. You take the good with the bad, right? A lot of times though, any excuse to get up in the middle of the night is a good reason to restart the fire and embrace the very thing you’re normally hiding away from when you’re snuggled down in your bag.

In those dark early morning hours every single thing out there feels a bit surreal and it’s a lot of fun to wander aimlessly, soaking it in like a dream. As the host here, I get a lot of that same effect when I wake up in the night and leave my trailer to wander outside, away from the crackling wood stove and out under those freaking incredible stars, man. Much of the time I have Sandy Dog with me but sometimes I’m unchaperoned by Her Highness and allowed to explore on my own.

When you’re walking around in the quiet Winter darkness, bundled up in warm clothes and armed with a flashlight the property truly is your oyster. Sit down in the soft dirt, lean against a tree and finish reading that paperback book you’re in the middle of. Or maybe you’ve wandered out onto the nature trail under the stars listening to the coyotes yipping in the distance and you’ve found a rock that makes a perfect chair – so you pull up a few old pieces of wood, light yourself a crackling campfire, and search your phone to find out when and where you’re supposed to look to watch the next meteor shower. Or perhaps you simply enjoy the sound of your footsteps and the tinkling of the little metal tags around your dog’s neck clinking together.

No matter how you like to spend your time outdoors, here at The Spark you can be sure you have a host who absolutely loves knowing you’re out there. You are the entire reason I have made this place, after all! So anywhere you find yourself out here, day or night, you are welcome to be.

So pack warm and get yourself out here! Try new experiences! Explore outside your comfort zone! This is your home away from home and I really can’t wait to have you out. 🙂 And by the by, don’t be alarmed by the snow which is shown in the picture here of one of the Sitting Spots. That pic is from last Winter – we haven’t yet had the pleasure of a snowfall this time around just yet but certainly it’s in our future!

Never hang your hammock higher than you’re willing to fall!

Clifford the Dudeist and Sandy