I ended up sleeping for most of the day today. I didn’t sleep well last night. Now, I feel groggy but well. I fear a late night tonight and my schedule is all out of whack. My medication can sometimes make me drowsy like that. It was much needed though and I feel good tonight and well rested. I am just concerned about all my gear I left in the field this morning. This is several hundred dollars of very nice camping gear. It is on private land and you do have to use 4 wheel drives to get there though so I shouldn’t worry too much.
Yesterday, I set up camp in a very secluded spot off in the pine woods a way from the pond. It was a very nice spot amid old growth pines; tall, huge pine trees that create great shade and deter any undergrowth. The soft needles on the forest floor made for a comfortable and nice area to pitch my tent. Then I spent an hour gathering up fire wood. The recent ice storm we experienced brought down many limbs and I used my little camp axe to chop up lots up kindling and limbs. It was still slightly green wood so I wondered how it would burn. I did find a few large old logs of oak and drug them back as well. I built a big teepee fire as outline in my US armies field guide but had trouble getting it to light. I finally was a wuss and brought out my toilet paper as a fire starter and soon had a good fire going. Green pine boughs do put off a great deal of acrid smoke though.
Then it was time for supper. I boiled some water and poured it into my freeze dried meal pouches and sealed them letting them steep a bit. For supper I had reconstituted spaghetti w/meat sauce and raspberry crumble for desert. It was very tasty and filling. Then I cleaned up and gathered myself around the fire to have a smoke from my pipe and to listen to the radio. The sun had begun to set and the sky was cast with beautiful oranges and pinks. You could hear the far off cries of crows and a barn owl. Then the leopard frogs and bullfrogs at the pond started their nightly serenades.
For the longest time, I just sat there mesmerized by the fire and put on more limbs to keep it hot. It would crackle and pop from the green wood and send bright, orange embers wafting up with the updraft. I occasionally I took a few stiff drinks from my bottle of southern comfort. Soon I was very comfortably numb. The big fire cast the whole area with an orange and pleasant glow. I reeked of camp fire smoke though; that smell of the ashes after you put a fire out by water was what I smelled like
Finally, it had come time for bed as the night was growing chilly. My warm sleeping bag awaited me. I took the two large oak logs and put them on the bright fire so they would burn for most of the night and then I picked up my trash and drug my backpack and gear into the tent with me. I added the rest of the wood to get the fire going roaring hot and prepared for bed. I took off my clothes, put on my thermal underwear and crawled into the bag adjusting the draft collar. I lit my little camp candle lantern and proceeded to read a novel. I lay in the bag for longest time without growing sleepy. I looked at my watch and it was after midnight. The crackling fire outside lit up my tent in orange flickering hues and it was comforting.
Suddenly the urge to use the bathroom hit me. “Well Shit!” I thought. I crawled out of my warm bag, put on my shoes, and grabbed my little maglite flashlight. I stumbled well away from camp in the dark and finally found a suitable spot and did my business. I then trudged back to my tent. By this time I was very chilly. No sooner than I had lay down and gotten comfortable I had to go again. (This is the not so fun part of camping.) I hastily put back on my shoes and went through the whole process on more time. I was experiencing a bad case of irritable bowel syndrome. I kept my fingers crossed that this would be the last time as it was darn right chilly outside. Can you just picture some white guy in his underwear making mad dashes through the woods to nature’s bathroom? lol
By this time, it was 3 am and I just lay their thinking. I could not go to sleep. The crackle of the fire was comforting and the soft breezes blowing through the pain boughs brought back a hundred memories. It was a pleasant moment of quiet contemplation as I went through my recent life in my mind. I finally drifted off to sleep.
This morning, I awoke well before dawn. The forest was eerily quiet and just lay there. I dawned on my that I had an appointment and a panicked. This thrust me awake and my mind raced. As sun as the sun had started to rise enough to illuminate the forest, I frantically put on my clothes, got in the car, and raced home. I made it with plenty of time to spare. My shot is paramount to my health and I couldn’t miss this. It would also deeply disturb my father as I have to go by his pharmacy to pick it up before going to the doctor’s office. This was just not a good ending to an enjoyable little jaunt into the woods though. At least the shot wasn’t that painful today.
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