As a kid I would take my pillow and blankets to the front porch to sleep. Something in me needed to be surrounded by air and trees, nighttime noises and a breeze.
For years we would go down to Big Bend National Park and camp in the wild, sleeping pads on the ground, the Milky Way our ceiling. I haven’t been camping in ages. Maybe because now I live out in the country, over a mile high elevation, and don’t have the need to escape town. My home is my refuge.
Nora came home for a two week vacation after a summer internship in Manhattan. Two days in she came down with a horrible flu. Fever for days, miserable. I surrendered my bedroom, with ac and tv, and cleared out the piles of junk that had accumulated in my outdoor “bedroom.” Broken chairs, wind shredded outdoor rug, ugly pillows. IKEA daybed shoved to the side.
Made up the bed and moved my evenings to my favorite place: the outdoors!
A couple nights were so clear and bright, the stars felt like a cushion above me. Shooting stars. Milky milky Milky Way. Several evenings so windy I had to cover my head with the blanket, a makeshift tent. The past few evenings so chilly I needed an extra blanket, and woke up in a fluffy grey cloud.
Thankfully Nora recovered, just in time to head back to her senior year of college in upstate NY. Last night I had clean sheets and a whole bedroom all to myself. No more piles of tissues, cough meds and tea cups.
Guess where I slept last night?
PS I miss writing in the blog. I regularly journal and occasionally post on FB. Always too many words and probably not the place. A couple of you old timers have reached out to me, asking for more.
Thank you for the encouragement. I love to write and share little snapshots of my world.
