What do you do to celebrate the holidays when you’re a solo traveler? You find other solo travelers to celebrate with. Most of my core group isn’t in Quartzsite right now, so there wasn’t a camp feast here like there was last year. I missed it anyway because I was super sick, so I was determined to make something work this year. The solution was easy — go to the Lit Cactus.
Patrick, who started the thing, never liked holidays very much because he usually ended up alone. During his first season in Quartzsite, he invited anyone else who was alone for Thanksgiving to come to the Lit Cactus so we could all be alone together. This was shortly before my own arrival here for the first time, but it was a great success and part of what led to the Lit Cactus becoming the desert phenomenon it is today. As Patrick is fond of saying, “Nobody is a nobody at the Lit Cactus.” Without a group of our own to assemble a spread, we decided to simply head over there.
People are quite ingenious about how they live on the road, and cooking is no exception. The spread was just as tasty as anything I’ve ever had at someone’s house, and with so many people contributing there was a wide selection. All the usual suspects were there (turkey, potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce, etc.) but there was also an amazing chicken curry. By Patrick’s estimation, about 200 people attended. I got to catch up with a bunch of friends I don’t see regularly who were there, as well as bring one of two new neighbors Birgit invited to camp with us (the other missed out due to a communication failure). It was her second day living on the road. Talk about starting off with a bang!
After the meal, as the sun went down, they lit the fires, and the Lit Cactus turned into its usual low-key hangout. Drummers started to play. A guitar came out, followed by a didgeridoo. I hung out and enjoyed it until I got cold, then headed back to camp.
It was a good time, and certainly not a lonely one. I have a lot to be thankful for, including my desert friends and the community here. I’m thankful that I’m able to live this way, go where I want, when I want, and boldly go where I have not gone before. I’m thankful that what’s turned out to be the best chapter of my life so far has literally risen from the ashes of an apartment fire I’m thankful that I survived. I’m thankful that I can do this on a low budget and not give all my time and energy to a company that doesn’t appreciate me and will toss me away at the first sign of economic trouble. I’m thankful for Lister, my constant companion who has been with me for the past nine years of “interesting times” in my life. And, of course, I’m thankful for Smokey II, which will be my home on wheels for many years to come, and the circumstances and people that helped make that happen.
Smokey Da Van 