Abbreviated, because I’m on holiday, and here, because traditions are important: straight from iPhone notes to you, auto correction and all, it’s Friday in the wilders of New Hampshire.
Just like Google Maps
Funny thing about intention: you set up a destination, and it chooses whatever route it finds to be the most efficacious. Your wishes and desires be damned.
“Oh, you wanted sunny? I was focusing on the reset!”
The Reset
Oh yeah. My intention for this holiday to begin with was to get the family away from the familiar. Put us in circumstances that would disrupt ourdaily routines enough to allow us the opportunity to push the reset button.
Like sleeping in a tent with no pressing reason to get up at any particular time, aside from discomfort, which cuts both ways: there’s nothing about sleeping on the ground that makes you want to linger in the sleeping bags except that they are so damned uncomfortable that the quality of sleep was quasi at best. And then there’s making up for all those early mornings in “the real world”.
And yet today, after 2 days of sleeping in past 10, aided by the rain, which we will get to soon enough, I rose unbidden into the cool of morning, set up the camp stove for some green tea, and lit the citronella candle to preserve some small portion of my blood reserves from the onslaught of mosquitos so hungry from the lack of opportunity precipitated by 3 days of solid rain that they didn’t bother waiting in line, they just gang rushed my ankles, arms, and head and set to sippin’.
How do you light a campfire in the rain?
So long story shorter, yesterday it never stopped raining. The locals are all joking about building an ark, as apparently it’s rained 29 of the past 31 days up here, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this past month’s extended deluge precipipitates a bumper crop of little Noa’s and Noah’s in 8 moons’ time.
And if you have never tried it, I’ll let you know straight out that camping in the rain is advanced training for positive mood regulation, and that the phrase itself is going to enter my lexicon for those times when nothing goes the way I want it to.
“Oh man, I feel like I’m camping in the rain”.
And also for those times when nothing goes the way I want it to until it turns out better than I could have planned!
“Woo hoo, it feels like I’m camping in the rain!”
What the hell am I blathering on about?
So apart from the ever changing weather forecast (”Tomorrow the weather is going to be better” “That’s what you said yesterday!”), yesterday as I mentioned was the day of all rain all day. Let’s see, we had showers, drizzle, downpour, frog strangler, and the ever popular nice weather for ducks, although even the ducks were in hiding yesterday.
And yesterday was the day to light up a fire, toast some weanies, and go to Story Land. Three strikes and you’re out, as they say. So after much huff and puff and struggle with the Yogic Attitudes, we drove into North Conway.
We had hot cocoa and chai, we met several lovely shop keepers and somehow or other we managed to wander onto Diagon Alley where I discovered s fabulous wand with 3 stones made from the fallen branch of a Rowan tree!
Well, I thought that was the peak of my day. It was a magical moment and a magical find in a magical shop which turned this wet wet wetness into a magical day.
That kid’s gonna be a star (He already is!)
Then we discovered the 1790 Homestead Restaurant. Which is as homey and tasty as its name. And which sponsors a live open mic on Thursday nights. An electric open mic. Drums guitars and all that rock and roll.
And so Rowan went nuts! He played the drums. He played the guitar. He danced like a madman. He td everyone that he was four! And he adopted the owners 16 something son Jake as his new friend.
What was that about silver linings?
And so we finally headed back to camp and fell asleep to the sound of drip drop pitter pitter pat. And dreamed sweet dreams of camping in the rain.
And what about the fishin’?
Well, the sun is shining, we’re off to Story Land, and fiddle dee dee, tomorrow is another day. I’m sure we’ll have some tales of the one that got away.
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