roughing it
First of all, the coffee shop that I'm in right now charges you $5 an hour for wifi. Isn't wifi one of those things that we're just granted these days, like air? Seemed a bit ridic to me, but anything for you guys. Anything $5 and under.
I'm telling myself that I have earned this $5 coffee, and $5 wifi, because of the time that I spent in the wilderness last weekend. I've become a master of rationalizing arbitrary things by somehow connecting them to 'sacrifices' I've made in other areas of my life. For example, six marshmallows before bed is okay as long as I rode my bike to work that day. Or a cab to work is fine, as long as I didn't go out to eat the night before. I call this city logic. The things that we 'city folk' think are reasonable, or average, are in fact overindulgent and excessive. Oh well. We earned them because we don't have things like driveways or drive thru Starbucks, right? Go ahead, order those Stuart Weitzman 5050 boots for a cool $650, ( they really are perfect ... http://www.stuartweitzman.com/store/item/itemid=96317&gclid=CN6WmeHz5cACFbTm7Aod_UsATA ), you need those to transition from day to night on a whim, while going from a commuter to a cocktail enthusiasts without having to go all the way back to your apartment to change. See? City logic...
Hence, the importance of the camping trip that I took this past weekend to a remote island on Lake George, in upstate New York. Four couples packed our bags with far more crap than we would end up wearing, gathered our headlamps, and stocked up on hard booze to head into the woods. Our arrival went less than smoothly, being bright-light-big-city people we seem to have forgotten how dark it would be in the middle of a 32 mile long lake at 8 pm in September. Our fearless captain and skipper handled the rocky sea arrival like pros, complete with fully soaked clothing and flip-flops lost to the bottom of the lake...
Post our near-death experiences, we were fully mellowed out by the fire with drinks in hand, discussing all of the million dollar ideas that will have us sitting pretty one day, just as soon as we come around to getting them patented (props to one camper on achieving trademark status on hers, you overachieving bitch). The night was cozy by the fire, complete with a backdrop of a beautiful moon and actual coyotes howling in the distance, along with human man coyote howls that sounded even more beautiful than one could imagine.
Day two, rain. Perfect. Our manly men built an actual home out of tarps, so the day was saved, and day drinking commenced. There might be nothing better than having absolutely nothing to do in the middle of nowhere than consume massive amounts of red wine, with intermittent shots of whiskey. Conversation begins to take interesting turns in these situations, and drinking games take absurdly long amounts of time to get through (which is definitely at no fault of the females becoming oddly engrossed in deep conversations). What better way to head into dusk on the lake than with a competitive game of Capture the Flag on an island splattered with roots and stumps on every pathway? You'd be surprised, or maybe not, by how intense that game can get. I found myself clinging to the side of the island with my face pressed into moss, telling myself "You are in the Hunger Games. You are Katniss. Do not get tagged out by your boyfriend. You will die." Obviously, my team won. Also obvious, I did not capture the flag myself, but I'd like to think that my distraction tactics (AKA getting tagged a lot), helped our cause. GO TEAM. Fully bruised knees well worth it.
We ate like kings all weekend, complete with a sack of meat, potatoes, and all the fixings cooked in a tin foil pouch right in the coals of our fire for our farewell dinner. There was no shortage of snacks (needed them.), or creative s'more combinations*. We went to our tents exhausted with bellies full. The morning came all too soon - waking up to a camp site when you're 20 is a little different than when you're 30. Hangover definitely stronger, however there are far fewer cans to pick up off the ground - give and take I suppose.
It was bittersweet leaving our temporary home to head back to the real world. I take that back, it was bitter. There is definitely something to be said for uninterrupted time with good people in a place where you're forced to look up from your phones, talk, and get creative with your entertainment (did I forget to mention the Girls vs. Boys 'team building' activity of getting across the "lava" from a giant rock to a platform, while only using one object from nature? Boys won. Bastards. Your legs are longer.) I'm already counting down the days until our third annual trip next year. Until then, I'll try to keep my phone out of my hand more often, and appreciate the people that I'm spending time with, and the beauty of a flushing toilet and running water. We are lucky, you know.
Have a happy Tuesday Xo
