A Strange Storm

The past couple of days had been sunny, light, and full of activity. Lying on the bottom of my canoe in the middle of the lake had been relaxing enough, and had allowed me to get lost for a time in my own thoughts. Onshore, however, there was never much of a shortage of things to do, and I had spent most of the time setting up the camp site, gathering firewood, and swimming. It had begun to rain just before nightfall, and I had been half way through telling the wonderful story of my dog Ebenezer, who had managed to achieve the prestigious rank of Triple Eagle Catcher, when I heard a crash in the forest just behind the camp. It wasn't unusual to hear the odd animal or lurking human deep in the woods, so I paid it no mind - or at least did my best to pay it no mind. It didn't take long for my imagination to run wild.

I had already been camped here for a few days now and had seen no signs of any dangerous animals nearby, but that wasn't stopping me from conjuring up some wild stories to avoid sleep. My wife tumbled into my tent before we had a chance to move into our prepared campsite, wrapping herself so tightly around me that I was sure no one had ever loved anyone as much as she loved me. It was a feeling that stayed with me for the rest of the night, escaping me only in that last deep sleep between consciousness and dream. Deliriously tired, I arose early to find that the rain had passed, and all the clouds were gone. I took my time digging out, climbing out of the sleeping bag, and bundling up, expecting that the rain would return at any moment. I stepped out of the tent to find that the rain had apparently passed almost overnight. The sun was shining, and the forest was alive with sound and color.

My wife and I broke down camp and packed up the canoe. We made our way through the forest, stopping along the way to enjoy the freshness of the morning air. The sky was blue, the trees were green, and the wildflowers, red and purple, were in buds still. There were birds and fish and fish and frogs all around us, and we were entirely content with the world of nature surrounding us.

After a nice little hike through the forest, we arrived at the sandy beach near where we had put our canoe in yesterday. A quick dip in the lake was enough to freshen up, and we were soon on our way. Three hours later, we arrived at our new campsite. It was set off into the woods just a bit, and remained much more secluded than the camp in the first days on the lake. Once we arrived however, we agreed to part ways for a bit. My wife took the empty canoe out for a quick trip to the other side of the lake, and I took my fishing pole and set off into the woods. We had decided that we would stay here for a few weeks before moving on to our original plan of camping on a river at the end of the lake.