Camping Weekend
sooooo, i was able to convince john and stephen that it would be a good idea for us to spend a weekend out in the woods with no food and no hair dryers (more a concern for stephen than for me – and less so every day). we found our way up to the greater clarksville area loaded down with camping gear water and books. the hike in had us almost jogging to cover the three and a half miles before nightfall. we almost made it. instead we got to set up camp in the dark. i took a quick bath in the river before turning in for the night.
why did we need to adjust our location? b/c that first night there was another group camping there that had taken up all the waterfront property, leaving our little tents all crammed together as if they were huddling for warmth.
the place was amazing, and while we did get visited by a few more “sight seers” than we might have liked (thanks to a new and apparently very fat-person-accessible trail) it was incredibly peaceful and beautiful there.
stephen decided by mid-day that he should probably get a bath as well. i decided to capture that decision for
posterity.
i spent a ton of time on a big rock up above the waterfall. it was a great spot for yoga and for reading. now would be as good a time as any to mention what i wanted to get out for the “guys weekend”. i wanted some time away from my life and from my activities that had effectively become my life. i’ve been thinking about the direction i was heading and what was important to me and where i wanted to be 5 or 50 years from now. i’d been praying for clarity in my career and my personal life and just looking to find some clear direction but felt like i was NEVER providing any time to listen for answers. i was putting no effort into figuring out the kinds of things that should shape the rest of my life. sooooo, we got away for the weekend.
i read two books (“the Jesus i never knew” and “what Jesus meant”) and also took notes on Thessalonians for an article that i’m submitting to Slate.com as a sort of “application” to write a column for them. btw, i can’t recommend the first book enough. the second is good as well, but “the Jesus i never knew” is phenomenal. thanks to emily for giving it to me. that along with song of solomon (another gift from her) have been the two things that have had the most profound impact on my life in the last year.
soooo, anyway, this little seedling was growing on a rock outcrop up where i spent my time reading. i liked it, so i took its picture. there’s nothing artistic or metaphoric about it to the best of my knowledge.
here is a team photo from the second morning. notice we’re still looking to be in pretty decent shape. you can compare or contrast that to how we looked after our hike out
a shot of the base of the waterfall.
here’s a shot of the whole waterfall scene. i was really squatting pretty low to take this one. : )
here i am trying to keep my pants from flying off while john is snapping a photo. if the photo had been snapped a half second later, this blog might have garnered an “r” rating. stephen laughs
anyway, as promised, here’s the pic after we got back to the car. 48 hours with no food followed by a very vigorous one and a half hour hike with a pretty heavy pack leaves you looking like this…..
btw, charles’ tip to anyone who hasn’t done it before on how best to break a fast. what you should NOT do is drink a TON of gatorade and then go to agave and eat a giant steak and a lot of chips and salsa. apparently this is not the way to ease your body back into solids. that advice costs you nothing. until next time!
