the weekend in the woods...

A little bit of bittersweet swirled down the drain with the last of the campfire scent.
I was, at last, clean...but I loved our weekend in the woods.
: :
We arrived while the sun was still shining... and the oak draped with Spanish moss and air plants welcomed us, along with a little patch of golden light. The camp site was beautiful. The perfect place to spend a weekend with friends, just enjoying life.

Once we set up our new tent, we realized it seemed smaller in the great outdoors than when Eric popped it up in our living room. It isn't small at all, but Camden decided he would go ahead and set up his own tent alongside ours. I had never seen it assembled... and I loved watching him snap all the pieces together, knowing just what the next step would be. Before he adjusted the fly, he slid two strands of camping lights from his backpack and wound them around the tent poles.  I made him sit inside and wave to me when he was finished. I was amazed by him and a little sad that I hadn't seen it until now...

Our friends arrived after dark and we quickly helped get them moved in. Eric cooked dinner while John started the fire, and before long we were settled in to simply relax.

The laughter around the fire comes in all shapes and sizes. Nervous laughter when you hear an approaching raccoon, or the great guffaw as he races off with a whole sleeve of plastic cups. There is the out-and-out funny, the laugh-til-you-cry, and the kind that bubbles from inside out, with jokes years in the making. And always that why-does-the-smoke-keep-following-me-no-matter-where-I-sit laughter!

Saturday we set out to explore... we kayaked the river, we hiked the trails. We love visiting somewhere new because there is a fresh adventure around every turn.

My favorite part was the trees. The branches reached out and up and around the bend. Limbs were covered with Resurrection fern, brown and craggy. I wished it was green and lush, but was thankful to imagine the beauty in my mind and know that when the rains come it will be again.

We gathered again by the fire... feet up, eyes sliding closed until the laughter comes around again. As night comes, the kids huddle around the lantern and play a few games of Clue, and Eric starts the coals that will cook our dinner in deep cast iron pots. The guys walk down the path to chat with the Boy Scouts camping nearby just before dinner... and after, we play a few hands of Rummy. After round two of the campfire, we straggle into tents, tired from the good, good day.  

It is never easy to leave this place where the breathing, and the living, is easy. 

on the edge...

We camped this past weekend... and it was so nice to spend time doing nothing the some of the people I love best. As we hiked along the shoreline, Camden stopped to look out through the trees and I noticed that the toes of his boots were just beyond the drop off. He likes to reach out for the boundaries, test the edge. I feel a catch in my throat... thinking this is probably the last time we'll camp before he heads off to his next adventure.  He is poised, and ready, for flight.

reliving the fresh air

My toes were itching to run before the car came to a complete stop, and I couldn't keep them from tapping their own song as we pulled into the site. The doors flew open and there we were... Myakka River, site 12. One glance in Eric's direction was all that was necessary, and at his nod, we took off, to be reunited with Big Beauty.

She seemed a little smaller... or perhaps Cam has grown that much.  But Big Beauty?  It is still her name, and she wears it well. 

As the tent was unfurled, we were showered with sand... and memories of the last time we camped as a family. One year ago in St. Augustine, and just five months ago on the Serengeti! We worked together, the four of us, to pitch the tent and create a two-night home. Chairs were placed around the fire ring, rope lights were strung up around the picnic table... and the deep breath that filled my lungs was fresh and clean. 

Chicken 'n' dumplings simmering in the pot, laughter singing through the sunset, and just us.  All of it reminded me how much I really love to camp, of how little it would take to convince me to be an adventure girl...

camping lessons

I love to camp...outside...in a tent. There's just something about it...the fresh air, the trees...the laughter of my children. It's good to know that we can all have fun without the tivo (me) and the video games (them.) But it's more than fun...there are good lessons to learn out there. Cleanliness...the dirt...it'll come clean with soap...when you get home. There's really no need to repeatedly tell your son to go wash his face...it's just going to get dirty again, and when skin is damp, it collects more dirt. Patience...the marshmallows...after all of these years, I have come to the realization that they are really better when they are toasted brown slowly and melty inside, rather than charred on the outside and cold on the inside. I still like them charred, but I do like the melty inside. Security...raccoons...it doesn't matter how tightly you close up the food...they'll get it anyway...and they'd rather have donuts than fruit...hmmm. Solitude...being alone...it doesn't have to feel lonely if you're happy with your book & your doodling. Beauty...it's all around you...in the swaying of the tree top branches...the blaze of the campfire...the sweet sound of my husband's song...an eagle in the branches, watching her own babies. My own babies are growing so quickly...they'll be leaving the nest in the blink of an eye. But behind them, they will leave beautiful pieces of themselves in the memories of our play time together...