Weekend In The Woods

It's a new day.

Funny how that keeps happening.

I did enjoy my brief time in the forest, although if I'm being truthful, there were too many humans for my taste. A group camp-out seems to invariably lead to much too much processing about how to get the next (whatever) taken care of, and not enough time by the river.

I'm more of a get-in-there-'n-get-'er-done kinda girl, and damned good at building fires. So, that's where I put most of my energy. That and preparing food, which most didn't eat because they were vegetarians (Vegetable Aryans?) of one stripe or another. What a bunch of fuss-budgets. Female cquaintances of my dear friend Phyllis, I am reminded why I prefer mixed company. All-women outings provide a bit too much feminine energy for my tastes. We need the guys to keep us in balance and give us something to laugh about.

It was good, though, to be surrounded by tall trees, a flowing river, and stars|stars|stars. And to see Oregon's countryside and a few of the ruddy-necked inhabitants that tend to congregate in small Oregon towns, for perspective.

We slept in 3-sided huts with huge hearths at the entrance. Relatively comfortable. Delightful to fall asleep with a fire sizzling and popping and radiating deep orange heat. I'd say the campfires were the highlight of the trip. Definitely.

I was glad to get home and to find a few more orange and red tomatoes on my 2-dozen tomato plants. They are inching along in their race with October. Enough to have my fill every day, but not enough to freeze for winter ... so far.

Ever-hopeful est moi.

Now, about that camping gear ... .

image:

Cliff-Edged Tree, Columbia River Gorge
©2010 Lora R Fisher