I’m not sure where I first came across Chicago’s St. Luke’s Lutheran Bottle Band, but they’ve given me years of enjoyment. Every two years, the Band gets back together and does a concert to benefit one cause or another. This year marks their 40th anniversary!

This next recommendation probably comes to me through the marvelous Australian writer AC Flory, also known as Meeka. I think I’ve shared it before, but it bears repeating. Backpack Bed for the Homeless sells these awesomely awesome … well … backpack beds. They roll up into backpacks and they unroll and anchor to trees and stuff as full-body beds, with mosquito nets for the hot weather and heat-holding blankets for the cold. They’re like teeny-tiny sleeping houses. You can donate toward supplying homeless people in your own country or in any country, and you can buy them for yourself and your camping friends!

And now, in case you aren’t already glutted with Bottle Band videos from their YouTube channel, I leave you with this:

A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Someone who isn’t used to it has to sleep outdoors.

MA