Day Three

"Way up in the sky the little birds fly while down in the nest the little birds rest. With a wing on the left and a wing on the right the little birds sleep all through the night. Shh.... YOU'LL WAKE UP THE BIRDIES!! The bright sun comes up, the dew falls away, good morning, good morning the little birds say."

If you didn't sing along with this morning's song of the day, then I am highly disappointed in your camp spirit! Actually that is what I woke up singing to myself at 7am. Partially because I was excited for today, and partially because there were a few little birds waking up in the tree just above me. I'd say that's a pretty good alarm clock.

Yesterday on my way back home I took a detour, which I know doesn't surprise anyone. For those of you who attended my undergraduate graduation, and the party for it up at school, I drove down towards that lodge. I took some more pictures, which should be appearing shortly. It was a beautiful day out; mostly sunny, with large cottony clouds floating along. The kind of clouds you find animals in.

I was inspired to go on a hike, though when I asked one of the staff at the campground, she didn't have any ideas for me, so instead I jumped on my bike and took another trip around the campgrounds. I'm currently compiling a few more panoramas, which should be posted later today. At the campsite I cooked up dinner; a delicious burrito! I have a lot of leftovers, which will be helpful when I start either becoming busy, or lazy, and don't want to cook much.

Last evening, around 10pm I drove to the beach (too dark and far to bike), and laid out on a picnic bench taking pictures of the stars. I think they turned out pretty well, and yes a lot of the credit needs to go to my mom who helped me figure out how to make it work. It was a gorgeous night out, with the moon illuminating the sky. Tonight there is supposed to be a meteor shower, so I'm excited to hopefully take pictures of that.

This morning I decided to go for a hike, on a path following the river not too far from my campsite. The hike started off well. Fog hung low on the river, like a velvet cloth; heavy and engulfing. The path was thin at places, and in the very beginning crosses over a large pipe (about 12 feet in diameter). In the woods there were signs everywhere stating the safety precautions necessary due to the dam upstream. The water rushed by, rapids and whitewater. It was difficult to take pictures through the thick foliage, but I managed to snap a few from the path. No more than a quarter of a mile down the path I managed to twist my ankle pretty sharply. I had rolled it a few days earlier when packing up the car, so it was already weak. At this point I do feel I need to allow my parents to say "I told you so!!". They wisely told me not to go hiking alone. But I had only planned to go a half hour down the path and then back. Needless to say, walking was incredibly painful, but I managed to walk back to my car. I was a bit disappointed, though the walk kept the muscles stretching, so I didn't swell up too horribly. I am now, but not then.

There's a gift though. Due to the shortened trip I came back to the campground much earlier than I had planned. On the first day at camp my father asked one of the staff at the park to please make sure I was doing alright. Yes I wanted to biff my father upside the back of his head, but his heart was in the right place. Anyway today I was able to have a long conversation with Hannah (the park staff member) about hiking, the stars, music, books, etc. What a wonderful way to start my morning.

Sometimes what may seem like a hinderance, a bother, and painful is actually a gift. The blessings we receive when least expect it, and most need it.

Our quote of the day holds within it something I've always believed to be true: "When it is darkest, men see the stars." -Ralph Waldo Emerson