The Start of Camping Season

I was glad I wasn't relying on my hammock. I wanted to try out a campground at Jordan Lake to get a head's start on camping season, to try out my hammock, and to scout out locations for sunrise and sunset photography, but it was overcast and there was nowhere to hang a hammock. Instead I lounged at the water's edge of Jordan Lake with McCrae and Ryder, bright orange tent staked in the gravel pad against the lake breeze.

McCrae tried to get a picture of me at some point: I was sitting in a camp chair on the lakeshore with a cider in one hand and a box of chocolate chip cookies in the other, with boyfriend, camera, dog, journal, sketchbook, and book all in arm's reach - all of my favorite things. Because of the chill wind I was bundled up in a puffy coat, gloves, and beanie, but I was absolutely delighted. This, friends, was happiness, and I was hard pressed to imagine any way to improve it.

I never got my sunrise or sunset photos; the cloud cover was so dense that it was hard to even discern which direction was east and which was west. The wind was so strong that the sea birds huddled on branches rather than fight for flight. The only exception was one osprey that took wing and wheeled crazily, buffeted by erratic updrafts. At night it rained heavily and the tent flapped loudly in the gale, but I was just glad to be outside. It wasn't the prettiest start to camping season, but it was at least a start.