Out of one's ordinary

Last night my book club, the best book club in the world, went camping at Lake Chabot. Every time I get away for even just a night or two, I am reminded all over again of how wonderful (and absolutely necessary) it is to break out of one's routine periodically.

I crashed for a couple of hours when I got home because laying on the ground is not too conducive to sleep. But I had a lovely time and it was good to get away, albeit briefly. Before dropping my stuff in the living room and climbing into bed, I put on clean socks to protect my bed from my dirty feet because I was just too tired to take a shower at that particular moment. But afterwards I scrubbed the dirt and campfire smoke off as thoroughly as I could. I can still smell traces of campfire in my hair.

I really do love the smell of wood smoke. My clothes and my sleeping bag are still in a pile on my living room floor waiting to be washed. Whenever I walk through the living room I pause to sniff the smell unfamiliar to my current environs before I remember the source. I associate the smell of wood smoke with fall in West Virginia. I can remember the smell of bonfires and fireplaces that would start up in October and November at home. All I had to do was walk around Maple Lake and the scent would be all around as my feet crunched dry leaves under my feet.

While I was laying in the tent in the dark I listened to an owl hooting in the distance most of the night; it was lovely. We saw wild turkeys and deer, too, which I don't get to see so often these days.

On a tangentially related note, I was just communicating with a friend about the symbolism of the telephone. He just sent his phone number to the person he really, really likes for the first time. Even though they haven't spoken yet, we were contemplating the new meaning and significance your phone suddenly takes on when a person that you are genuinely excited about now has the capacity to call you. The phone can no longer ring without your heart thumping a little faster, even if you're not actually expecting them to call yet. And the longer the phone goes without ringing, the more torturous it is.

Ahhh...butterflies.