I could sleep outside indefinitely in anticlimatic

…weather permitting.

Tonight will be my first under a roof since Thursday of last week. These last few deep mornings, when I’d wake in the night, I’d see stars and clouds and the northern lights through the mesh above…before tossing on a robe, fumbling with my tent zipper, and stumbling out into the dark to take a piss off the edge of our campsite by the blinding light of the full moon.

After the trauma of the camping experiences I had when I was an adolescent- being flung into the Canadian wilderness for weeks, in the rain, down dangerous rivers with little to eat, and one traumatizing disaster after the next- it was nice to have friendly weather and take it easy somewhere, finally.

The water was 10 degrees warmer in the river between the light houses, so that’s where I’d swim, though the sea bottom there was unsettling. It was mostly sand, but then grew dark once the water was up to my waist- like the bottom was dirt- and it would squish and bubble under my feet as I pressed onward to where I could dunk. There was a murk to it as well, and some odd objects here and there. Gooey logs, stones, godknowswhats. On the other side of the breakwall the water was much clearer, but also much colder, and it seems my courage regarding creepy things in the deep unknown is stronger than my willingness to endure chilly water.

But, now I’m home. Listening to the dryer tumble. Thinking about work tomorrow and how nice my bed will feel.