Camping Weekend

I was really looking forward to this past weekend.  Darrell and I were finally going camping in his new camper.

                                                  AGENDA
           1:00 Darrell gets off work
           1:15 Jump in truck pulling camper and head for Rend Lake
           3:30 more or less: Arrive at Gun Creek Campgrounds
           4:30 Start campfire and cook wienies
           6:30 Watch sunset on lake
           7:00 Watch old movies in camper
           11:00 Bedtime
                                      Next Day
           10:00 Eat breakfast
           11:00 Hike around campground
           1:00 Go to Art and Wine Festival
           1:15 Drink wine and view art
           2:00 Drink wine and talk about the art
           3:00 Drink more wine and view more art exhibits
           4:00 Drink more wine and eat BBQ
           5:00 Drink more wine
           6:00 Art and Wine Festival ends. 
           6:15 Go back to campground and sit around campfire.
           6:30 Watch sunset
           7:00 Sit around campfire eating some mores
           8:00 Still staring at campfire.  Too much wine
           9:00 Watch old movies
           11:00 Bedtime
    Head home early next morning for funeral of friend.

The best laid plans are often spoiled and so it was with ours.  Saturday went pretty well as planned but around midnight it started raining.  It rained for 22 straight hours. I was beginning to look out the camper window for Noah, thinking the second great flood had arrived.

Obviously the Art and Wine Festival was rained out.  As I reflect back on this weekend I am struck with a profound thought.  I have fought getting old with a passion and yet I realize there is no way around it unless I am ready for an early grave.  I'm not.  I love my life.  Here is one of the wondrous things about this age: I am able to appreciate the experiences whereas I was unable to in my youth.  I understand why a common saying is that youth is wasted on the young.  I was so busy running around like a chicken with its head off that I didn't take the time to savor the beauty that surrounded me.

This weekend I witnessed the most breath taking sunset I have ever seen in my 61 years.  Yes it is possible that I saw a prettier sunset sometime during my life but I don't remember it.  This one I will always remember.

Darrell and I stood on the shore of Rend Lake quietly watching as the large reddish orange sun slowly sank behind the trees lining the circumference of the lake.  The clouds just above the sinking globe of fire looked like snow covered mountain tops and the sun was reflecting on the smooth lake.

Rather than staying in the dry camper the next day bemoaning the fact that our plans were ruined by Mother Nature we ventured out to see what adventures we could find.  Yes we did find some fun adventures.  First we checked out the remaining soggy tents at the Art and Wine Festival.  Happily we found a small handful of vendors braving the weather.  We drank wine and walked around the wet grounds talking to the artisans about their arts.  It was a very relaxed atmosphere.  If we had been there the day before we would have been pushing our way through a crowd of people vying for a view of the art.  Okay, we missed most of the exhibits but it really didn't matter and the vendors were happy to see us.

We then drove to Mt. Vernon for lunch, a movie or some shopping. We had lunch but never found a movie house and no new stores to shop.  We found something better.  We drove past an industrial park in search of something to do.  Suddenly we saw two large does and a fawn walking near the road.  They stopped and watched us for a couple of minutes, not appearing to be one bit afraid of us.  They took us in as if we were animals at the zoo and they were amazed at how different we were from other such animals they had seen.  Finally they tired of staring at us and returned to their home in the small patch of woods adjoining the industrial park.

In my youth I would have been much too busy, too wrapped up in my petty problems to enjoy the beauty I witnessed this weekend.  I am now realizing that one of the most crucial practices in the quest for a satisfying life is seeking out beauty and making the time to savor it.  I had to get old to finally realize this fact.