My vacation is not nearly as interesting as Lizzie's nor are my photos as scenic or inspiring. Forgive me if I wax philosophical. The forest has a tendency to do that to me.
I set up camp alone on Friday evening. The day was getting a little long in the tooth, and I had to get the tent up, gather firewood, fill the kerosene lanterns, and start a fire before the sun went down. Then I just relaxed and watched the fire and the creek. It was so peaceful. I tried to capture the lowering sunlight in the leaves. I had a brief visit with a great blue heron. A snapping turtle circled the pond above the creek dam looking for goodies. A little mole shifted the leaves around in camp. Tez came down to camp to keep me company. She parked in the tree that I'm perched in in my avatar.
The cicadas were going into their desperation calls that they launch into when they know that night is approaching, and they know they don't have much more time to hook up. It wasn't until well after dark that my BF arrived with a glare of headlights moving down the hill
through the woods. We had hot dogs over the campfire for a late dinner.
In the morning he got called out for a work emergency, so I was left in solitude until afternoon. I did the breakfast dishes and sat by the fire soaking in coffee and enjoying the morning light sifting slowly from the canopy of the forest downward. Morning light is special.
It's funny. When I'm in the forest, I push all of the things that seem so important to the back burner. My mind eases, and I begin to ponder the silliest things sometimes. There was a mated pair of red-bellied woodpeckers that were moving about in the trees around me foraging. Their calls to each other were completely monotone and seemed to have little meaning. I mean, how much could be conveyed with those simple calls of two to four "words" that all sounded exactly the same to me? Here is a brief video of the call I was hearing from each of the birds as they moved around me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU3cBsxHcFw\
But, I began to think about it. It could have been a conversation much like this. (The asterisks are quick pauses):
"Hey. * Where * are * you?"
"I'm * here."
"What's * for * lunch?"
"Bugs * and * more * bugs."
"Good * stuff."
"You * find * food?"
"Found * nuts."
<pause>
"Where * are * you?"
"I'm * here."
My mind is a weird place when I'm in the woods.
After awhile, I test-drove a new toy that BF wanted for me to try. It's a little chainsaw that's even safe for me to use. It has an automatic cutoff so I wouldn't be likely to hurt myself using it. It uses the same 20V rechargable battery that I have for my B&D drill that has so many cool attachments. Got a lot of wood cut up and covered my mocassins thoroughly with sawdust. I like it!!
When BF came back, he wasn't feeling good for most of the day, so we just took it easy and did virtually nothing but talk. We did walk around to look at the dogwood whose leaves had gone pink and red. And I photographed some of the autumn flowers.
Dogwood:
White snakeroot;
Wild ginger:
We gathered a few wild apples that were so sour they made my mouth cramp up. They were yellow with dark dots like a Golden Delicious but only about the size of cherries. We also enjoyed a visit by a young walking stick. Here he is on BF's hand:
I began hearing thunder hours before I expected to hear it. But then, I hadn't been able to get online down at camp to get an upgraded forecast since the day before. I quickly had to stow gear that could be damaged by rain while my BF made cod and crab cakes over the fire. We finished dinner about five minutes before a bodacious storm hit. It was spectacular in the tent with frequent lightning and thunder that rolled reverberating down the solid rock-botttomed creek on and on and on. Have I mentioned that I love thunderstorms?
I wasn't able to go to sleep until the show was over. Didn't want to miss it.
Sunday morning we broke camp but left the tent set up for me to use more this week. BF bush-hogged an area for Terry's moving truck to park. He also put a new tire on Kermit for me and test drove it while I made a mocha brownie torte for my son's belated birthday celebration. We had a cookout down at his home site with hot dogs and brats, corn cooked in the husk, hobo potatoes, and chestnuts roasted on an open fire (literally - you can see a couple in the bottom of the picture). All the while, we were listening to coyotes howling and the elk which have begun their fall bugling.
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
Nuthin' like that in these parts.
