In from the road……

I had a good camping trip last night. I got a ride over with Charles to the mill pond in Waverly and fished most of yesterday afternoon and camped way up in the woods to distance myself from the water. (I had a night of camping hell one time that I wrote about and learned never to pitch your tent just a few feet from the pond. Animals kept me up all night long including one very large snake that slithered a few feet from my head as I lay in my sleeping bag.) There is a small stream nearby and I filtered some water and caught some crawfish just for fun.

The fishing was great yesterday. I had a can of night crawlers and every one was gone by dusk. Every time I would throw my line in I would get a hit and the cork would sink under the surface. I ended up catching over ten bream and releasing all but two good hand-sized ones.

I cleaned and cooked the fish for supper. Cleaning is such a messy job and I walked over to the stream to do it. I coated the fish in some oil and cornmeal and then fried them till they were golden brown. I took the leftover corn meal and added some dehydrated onions and a pint of buttermilk and made some hushpuppies also. I just spooned the batter into hot oil in my frying pan till they were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. I had planned ahead and brought two whole lemons and used them to season my fish. It was delicious.

I love that feeling of being totally self sustaining. Be able to catch my own supper and clean and cook it. Most people never realize that the products they eat from the grocery store were once living things. They would be appalled at seeing a cow slaughtered or any other animal as well. We are so removed from that step due to modern technology and conveniences.

I laid on top of my sleeping bag last night and read by candle light. It was so peaceful and comforting. It was damn hot and humid though. It wasn’t till after midnight did the temperatures get comfortable enough to sleep. It was too hot to sleep in my sleeping bag so I just slept on the outside of it. I took off my tent’s rain fly and could see the stars through the leaves on the trees as I laid there in my tent. The sound of tree frogs and bullfrogs echoed across from the lake as I lay there.

Around 3am EST, I got up to take a leak and shake the dew off the old lily and scared a group of deer. The snorted and screeched off into the woods making one hell of a racket. This always scares the shit out of me and I stood there with my heart racing unable to use the bathroom until I calmed down. I wish they would do that cause out in the dark in the middle of nowhere they sound so insidious and not the gentle creatures they are. You mind can play tricks on you out in the woods like that.

Well, I am home now and will have to sleep indoors tonight. I am going to crank up my air conditioner after it gets dark and crawl into my soft, comfy bed. I am spoiled by a bed now as sleeping on the hard ground makes my back ache in the morning. I did it for months on end and got used to it one time. When I first moved into this apartment I would sleep on a comforter or on my sleeping bag on the floor. My, have times changed. Good afternoon and be well.