Orange alert

Orange, there is a theme running through this journey, I'm quite the most colour coordinated continental traveller. Its coincidence I'm sure. Ironic really when the most hated part of my working day was a trip to B&Q (Home Depot, for you Americans) with its heavy focus on orange.

Of all the preparation, aesthetically pleasing and harmoniously matching was not one of the essential criteria. However I can’t help but notice that it’s all come together, mainly when I'm looking at my sleeping bag airing on a convenient tree or post

or when my pants are drying, hanging off of a sun drenched indicator. Even the schedule is playing its part. With over 11 hours of near equatorial darkness I usually, especially when camping get my essential 10 hours of sleep a night, my body just knows when the night is going to get light, although usually there is a cock crow to confirm this. The first thing I see through my fly net apart from some frustrated mozzies, when I raise my head off of my sheepskin detachable seat cover (it supports my arse all day and my head all night) is an orange sky, the first traces of light.

I always try and position my tent so I will get the optimum morning view even if it means my head is slightly downhill from my body.

This predawn positioning can sometimes educe night time indigestion, (heart burn=fire=orange) that however is usually solved with a midnight snack. Don the headlight (which indecently has a switch and strap of the orange colour) and indulge in some silent pannier rummaging. It’s my equivalent of a night-time fridge raid; past the pot noodle, under the protein bars, before the boil in the bag dehydrated emergency meal, lurks some soft and tasty perishables that would simply be wasteful not to eat before dawn. A cup of chai and a peanut butter (orangeish) sandwich, then I sit cross legged in my tent eating, drinking and watching the stars and the fire flies, or shooting my laser torch at distance objects is a fun little insomniac pastime. If I'm feeling particularly studious I can get out my Spanish book which coincidently is also orange.

So it started with the tent, used not abused, a consignment shop bargain. In my nocturnal hours I sometimes try to improve on the design in my head but I can’t, its brilliant especially after my last few trips in my portable Gore-Tex coffin. There are so many more activities I can do in this ‘two man’ tent. It has orange highlights and when I was given my Kelty sleeping bag in the name of sponsorship it too has a strong orange theme; so my bedding and interior tent decor is perfectly matched. I have an inner sleeping sack, its red, but was given to me by an ex girlfriend who is now married and her last name became Garfield, like the cat, who is of course, orange.
But it didn’t stop there. My M&S underwear 4-pack has different colour waistbands (they are perfect for travelling cus I can use a different colour each week and not get clean and unclean muddled up, it also avoids the double check with a close nasal encounter). So I have a distinct orange waistband on my second favourite pair.

If that’s not enough it continues with a Spanish dictionary, my bikes sponsorship stickers, ratchet straps, my disc lock stretchy reminder lanyard, the stripes on my Merrell trainers, and the rusty scratches on my tank. Even bungee cords, which fasten behind orange indicators.

OK I'm scraping the orange barrel now but with the orange trees (the fruit, not autumnal), the dawn skies

and the low charge indicators on my electronics, I'm now subconsciously on orange alert. This is a shorter than usual post, I was thinking of making it a poem but I chose a subject matter that didn’t really lend its self to rhyming. Just thinking about it I could become deranged...ooo wait I think I've got one.

Let’s hope the theme stops before the jaundice kicks in. Hummm KTM