Well, having decided, and upon the advice of friends (see comments to yesterday's post), to indulge my inner child, Lana and I camped out in our back yard last night. We pitched our tent behind and to the right of where the fire bowl is in the accompanying picture. We had a fire first, of course. And the weather was so nice that we left off the tent cover so that both sides, the roof, and most of the back were open to the sky. There's a mesh, of course, to keep out the mosquitoes.
It was perfect sleeping weather, just cool enough to need a light blanket so that we could feel all cuddly warm, but with only a little wind. Camp cots were our one concession to semi-adulthood. These are wire mesh cots that we bought, and slept on, for several months during the Katrina evacuation. They fit our tent perfectly and, young as my inner child might be, his outer hips are still those of a 48 year old man and hurt when he has to sleep on the ground.
The whippoorwills serenaded us all night, and there were several other night birds in action, as well as a number of tree frogs. I was hoping to hear coyotes howling but they didn't seem to be indulging their inner wolf last night. I heard a variety of dogs bark, and I figured that many of those barks were directed at wild things passing through in the woods. I heard a few rustlings in our own woods but didn't catch a glimpse of anything.
All in all, a night well spent. I'm thinking of doing it again tonight.
That sounds REALLY fun. And whippoorwills, too? Awesome.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part was waking to ALL the birds singing! So beautiful. I slept like a BABY out there. Let's do that more often. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun idea! We used to "sleep out" in the back yard all the time as kids. It never occurred to me to do it now. Although I think I'd also vote for a camp cot--one of many lessons Katrina taught me.
ReplyDeletethe Tiny dynamo has promised to haul my aged carcass up and down the sides of much more remote mountains come the spring, and I figure tenting will be involved.
ReplyDeleteYou've just made me look forward to it... :-)
Ahh, yes, camping weather. As I write this I say it in some type of deep tone. It's the animal inside. The one that knows we have short windows of cool nights in the south. This is camping weather.
ReplyDeleteLast year when my son and I went to New Mexico for a week living off the land in the moutains we stayed at a hotel on our way back. The shower and indoor plumbing were welcome, but I couldn't help but feel trapped afterwards in that hotel room. So I went outside and just sat looking up at the stars.
Great idea just setting it up in the backyard. Hope you guys do it again tonight.
Wow! I think you should do it more, judging by the pic. Back to nature - that's the way back to sanity.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it was best not to see what rustled so close by in your woods....perhaps...
ReplyDeleteSeriously, we camp out any chance we get. But what's really fun is when I set up the tent in, yes, our back yard and have a camp out with my oldest daughter, who is four now. We toast marshmellows, make up some sloppy smores, it's a blast. Then I read her something I wrote up before hand for the occasion. Nothing spooky, though, not for a four year old. I made up this character she likes, called Sammy the Otter. Sammy is a girl though. Sammy goes on all sorts of adventures. IT's a really good time, and I can't help but feel like a kid again. It's amazing.
Now there's something I haven't done in a long long time ... camping ... even if it's just for one night and in the backyard. I'm afraid I'd scare away all the wildlife with my snoring.
ReplyDeleteThat's your yard? Impressive. If I stretch out width-ways in our yard, my feet hit the fence and my head hits the side of the house. But, that's okay. The closest I come to camping is opening the bedroom window while I sleep.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should get out and do the camping thing. We slept in the tent again last night. It was just as good, if not better.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great! Beautiful picture!
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