Still Alive,

Yes, my kin and blogging buddies, I am still alive. Even after last week’s events. Last Friday, it was time for a rematch...the annual father and son’s campout at Caprock Canyon State Park. For those who have followed my ramblings long enough should recall that last year’s event was very eventful, thanks to Mother Nature [who voted her into office anyway?].

My two oldest boys are very resilient. I was sure they would harbor ill memories of last year’s failure to ride out the storm. They were just plain excited. Before we headed out the door, I checked the latest weather report...T-storms were on the docket. Silent curses and prayers simultaneously ran through my mind, creating their own mental storm.

We made the drive that afternoon and were amazed at the difference in the scenery. It was green. Not brown like last year. Last year included a fire ban. This year was blazes ho! Factoring in the fact that the increased precipitation equaled more bugs [primarily mosquitoes] I brought both repellant and pesticide. Death to blood suckers [tics too]! My tent was rapidly deployed, the boys ran around as boys should do in the wild. We had a nice helping of chilidogs and s’mores. The boys continued to run around, while the adults acted like adults; we sat around the fire and chewed the breeze, cracked jokes and swapped manly stories [not the perverted kind].

Just as we were headed to our mobile dormitory, the thunder began to roll and lightning filled the sky. Dread seeped into my soul...would this be 0-2 for staying the night? I was determined to wait and see.

The youngest of the two offspring was sound asleep within minutes. The other expressed his concern about the approaching storm. I tried to reassure him and said that if it got bad like last year, we would make a hasty departure. Then, I heard the wind approaching. Do you know what I am talking about? You can actually hear it move through the trees and canyons as it approaches. To my relief, the wind was pulling her punches [I suggest divine intervention cause other parts of the region has very strong winds]. Even the rain that followed was tamed and only lightly drizzled for a couple of hours.

The coyotes were a frenzied bunch. I have heard them many times in my life, but this night was amazing. It was like a coyote frat party. Hoopin and hollerin. It was a wild rumpus and I was wondering who the king of the wild things were.

We made it through the night! I even managed to get about 7 hours of sleep [which is like a new record for camping on the ground as an adult]. So the score sits at 1-1. The next morning the boys were back to running around [acting like wild turkeys of all things]. Camp was broken down, packed, and homeward bound we went, with positive memories to preserve.

ps. I am still not fully blog functional [posting to other sites is still off in the distance. Thank you for your patience and support].