Our first camping trip of 2022 took us to Red Bridge where Mother Nature served up a smorgasbord of weather. Over five days, we enjoyed warm sunshine, wild wind, heavy rain and three inches of snow! He tended the fire through it all, insisting on meals cooked over an open flame. I love his spirit of determination and passion for camping.
A Southern Flying Squirrel sailed from tree to tree as we sat around his campfire one evening. The tiny creature landed close and paused long enough for us to admire its big, dark round eyes and its white belly glowing in the light of the dancing flames. Days later, we watched a Hermit Thrush forage in the shrubs; and sightings of new-to-us wildlife make our camping trips even happier than we'd ever imagined they'd be.
Come with me into the woods where spring is
advancing, as it does, no matter what,
not being singular or particular, but one
of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.
— Mary Oliver, American poet
