Coyote ritual
Whenever my wife and I leave on an RV trip, we always play our favorite LeAnn Rimes CD to celebrate our departure. But no matter what route we take out of town, development surrounds us for hours. In a sense, we don’t feel that we’re really on a trip until a second ritual takes place: hearing the sounds of coyotes.
Of course, we have less control over the second ritual. If we stick to freeways and overnight in RV parks for the first couple of days, we’re unlikely to be indulged. Even when we’re finally camping in the remote areas we love, the local coyotes don’t automatically serenade for us right away. Eventually, though, we hear them, usually in early evening. Sometimes we’re having dinner. Sometimes we’re already in bed. Then it comes—a high-pitched, mournful yipping and baying, often in a symphonic unison.
At last we know we’re really, really, really on an RV trip.
4 Comments:
We have coyotes near our house - in the middle of a very large city. It's amazing to step out on the front porch on a evening with a full moon - look to the right to see the skyline full of glowing skyscrapers - then hear the cyotes howling from the left. A strange juxtopostion for sure! So... I gues I feel like I'm always on the road - even in my own driveway ;)
By RVer, at November 21, 2006 11:11 AM
Unfortunately, I think you’re right about RVs not being popular among the “Rich and Famous” crowd.
This probably explains why when a neighborhood or community starts to become really “gentrified”; the local government starts regulating where owners can park their RVs; and finally may prohibit keeping one on the owner’s property at all, so that the RV has to be kept in a storage lot.
To me, “Gentrification” amounts to driving out lower income, but often honest working folks - so the real estate agents can re-sell the properties to a higher income clientele, at a much higher price. The tactic usually employs sudden large property tax increases. As well, there are usually new ordinances that greatly increase standards of home upkeep (and often, notably - motor vehicle condition, appearance, and parking) that ordinary people, who have to work for a living, may find hard to meet.
The little town that I live in has been experiencing an economic boom from a nearby government institution. The real estate agents would love to further “gentrify” this place so that they could pry the remaining retirees and lower-income workers out of their homes, and re-sell the houses to get a big sales commission. Sure enough, they are talking about prohibiting on-street RV parking. Part of the situation in this case may be that the county-run RV storage lot full, so they aren’t getting enough revenue. I park my motorhome in my driveway, but I’m sweating it out, hoping that they don’t decide to prohibit this as well.
By Anonymous, at November 27, 2006 1:20 PM
(Sorry, this is actually in response to "Aerial Survey")
By Anonymous, at November 27, 2006 1:24 PM
Yes...the very first time I heard coyotes was in Palo Duro Canyon just a bit South-East of Amarillo, Texas. Wow ! will always remember...as I was asleep...all of a sudden I hear this yipping sound and then becoming louder and louder as if they were chewing the tires of my rig ! It was an experience never to be forgotten to hear this sound in a pitch black environment ! SYDTR /Gilles
By Anonymous, at November 28, 2006 5:51 AM
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