Let me tell ya, that first night at Pappy’s Place was definitely a restless night of sleep.
I mean, who can sleep when you’re in the middle of nowhere, spending your first night on a piece of land that is brand new to you?
Earlier that day, I had pulled through the gate for the first time and finally seen the property I had spent so much time dreaming about. I had walked the clearing, imagined where everything might someday go, set up my hot tent, gathered and cut enough firewood for the next few days, cooked supper, and watched the sun disappear behind the hills across the western holler.
Eventually, though, there wasn’t anything left to do.
It was time to spend my first night at Pappy’s Place.
My First Night Off-Grid in a Little Bungalow
That cot turned out to be one of the better things I brought with me. Besides keeping my sleeping bag—and me—off the cold ground, it made a pretty decent little sofa.
So there I sat, sipping hot chocolate and eating graham crackers with peanut butter while the fire crackled in the little wood stove.
My battery-powered lantern hung from the peak of the tent near the south end. I had decided that would be my entrance and exit so I wouldn’t be opening the tent toward the north and letting cold wind blow straight into my little bungalow.
And when the breeze settled down, I could hear the woods.
Owls.
Coyotes in the distance.
The crackling of the wood stove.
Some people might hear those sounds and think they were alone in the middle of nowhere.
To me, the owls and coyotes were singing a melody of peace in the woods.
Pretending I Was Going to Sleep
Eventually I stretched out on the cot, crawled into the sleeping bag, and pretended like I was actually going to get some sleep.
I’d doze off for a little while.
Then I’d wake up chilly.
That was my clue.
Time to put a few more pieces of that firewood into the stove. Apparently there was no thermostat included with this heating system. If Pappy got cold, Pappy needed to get up and feed the fire.
I think I went outside several times that night, too.
Not because I needed anything.
I just wanted to look.
There was absolutely no light pollution anywhere around me. The stars looked like diamonds scattered across the sky, and the moon provided just enough ambient light for me to wander around the clearing.
I don’t even know what I was doing out there.
Maybe I just wanted to see the place one more time before I could finally let myself go to sleep.
The thermometer kept reminding me that it was cold.
Really cold.
Eventually that was enough persuasion to send me back inside the tent, back into the sleeping bag, and back onto that cot.
This time, I fell asleep.
And I slept good.
Good Mornin’, Pappy
Around 5:30 the next morning, I woke up.
The fire needed fuel, but something else was on my mind too.
Sunrise wasn’t far away.
I got the fire going again and started a pot of coffee.
Once it was ready, I took that cup in my hand, stepped outside into the brisk morning mountain air, and headed toward my chair.
But I didn’t just sit down.
I deliberately maneuvered that chair until I had the best possible view of the sunrise that was coming quickly over the hills.
And I made it just in time.
As I sat there waiting, there really wasn’t much that needed saying.
Thank you, God, for this moment, this land, and this opportunity.
Then the sun began peeking over the hills and through the trees.
And I swear it said:
“Good mornin’, Pappy.”
I smiled.
“Good mornin’ to you too.”
Sitting there with that cup of coffee, watching the first sunrise after my first night at Pappy’s Place, I knew something.
It was going to be a wonderful day.