camping: observations

[jfb]

1. The flashlight I keep in the car for emergencies is, it turns out, good only for very short emergencies.
2. At home, at night, I am well insulated from the world. I have walls around me, and I usually have sensory distractions as well--a book to read, music to listen to, until I drop off. Last night, after I shut out the lights and turned off the iPod, all I had around me was some plastic sheeting that breathed in and out, swaying slightly in the wind, and sounds of unknown motion inches away from my head. The world was too much with me.
3. I dreamed fitfully of a large reunion at (surprise) a campground. At the reunion I saw one of the women in my life I've not so much admired from afar as admired from nearby but never quite admitted to admiring. In my dream I didn't waste the chance to talk to her.
4. Whatever's wrong with my chest--my current guess is a pulled muscle--sleeping on the ground without a lot of pillows around to support my arms sure wasn't good for it.
5. Birds are really loud in the morning.

Comments

[copperqueen.livejournal.com]

I've never been camping by myself, but the noises you hear and the shadows you see in the dark can be chilling. I'd be frightened. Sharing your tent with someone else is much, much better (even if they snore or thrash about).

Another thing I've noticed about tent camping is that if you lay your sleeping bag down over a small twig, it will have grown to the size of a speed bump by the time you awaken. Fairy-tale magic.