The Pine Tree State

On Thursday evening, AJ and I drove up to Maine. We didn't get there until 2:30 in the morning, but it was well worth the long drive. We chatted with Woody and Audrey (our hosts) for a few hours, and finally fell asleep as dawn began to break.


We spent all of Friday on Peabody Pond, except for a sandwich break. Several hours on a canoe will leave you with some serious sea legs, FYI. We fished and drank and drank and fished. The boys caught big monster bass, the girls hooked monsters that broke lines. Everyone caught something, though, so no complaints.


After the (gorgeous) sunset, we paddled around by moonlight before finally heading back to land. The night ended with Ramen noodles, card games, and shooting stars.



On Saturday, we loaded up the trucks and headed out to Lake Sebago, where we'd spend the next 24 hours camping. It wasn't our usual brand of camping -- each campsite was right up next to its neighbor, there were dozens of RVs, a playground, running-water bathrooms, and showers. Not exactly "roughing it". Despite the abundance of "conveniences", we made do with what we had, and had a pretty good time at that.


We got one more beautiful Maine sunset over Sebago. The moon was even brighter that night, complete with a rainbow moon dog as the clouds passed by.

The next morning we trudged home through rainy New England. It took more than eight hours to get home, due to slow traffic and construction. Not to mention a plethora of accidents along the way. Now, as I sit in my cubicle in water-logged NJ, I'm already thinking about my next trip back up North.

Another Full Moon Sky, Through the Trees and Filtered Light

"All good things are wild and free."

— Henry David Thoreau

Weekends have been good to me, especially this past one. We camped in Harriman for a night. Despite the cuts, bruises, and bug bites that decorate my legs, I'm rarely happier anywhere else than I am in the woods.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.

                                                                               — Henry David Thoreau

After camping, we ventured back to central NJ for a Somerset Patriots game and fireworks. I love baseball, but I'm not usually interested in minor league play. Luckily for me, the game turned out to be pretty exciting -- the Patriots came back in the bottom of the ninth inning to win it. The fireworks were pretty good, too.


The following Monday was the Fourth of July. I had to work, but I was able to do so remotely, from a friend's backyard. If you HAVE to work on the most patriotic holiday there is, your assignments better fall between jumps into an in-ground pool and sips of beer. I know mine did.


There's a lot of summer left -- I expect it to be filled with plenty more camping, baseball, pool, and BBQs. And hopefully some new adventures, too.

We're Only In This For The Ride

The past week has been a taste of what the rest of spring, summer, and fall have in store. I've been drinking frequently, but not enough to get sick. I've been eating lots of delicious food all over the place. I've been with friends every chance I can get.

I've been buying camping gear with abandon. Sunday was the first real hike of the season, in Harriman State Park up in NY. I hit Watchung a few times before that, but they were shrimpy two or three mile hikes. We did around six in Harriman, with lots of uphill and downhill climbs. I feel more at home in woods I've never been to before, than I do in most places.

I want every weekend to be roofless, from now until December.

Camping in the NJ Pine Barrens

Over the weekend Dan, Robert, Teresita and I went camping in Wharton State Forest. I've never camped in the Pine Barrens before, so it was interesting to say the least. It was almost a two-hour drive, which was filled with bad attitudes and stress. Despite the problems, we made it to the registration office and somehow found our camp site. We were rather disappointed by how small the designated camping area was, but we didn't really have a choice.

We set up the tent and built a fire. It had been an exhausting day, so we fell asleep relatively early. I woke up early the next morning, mostly because Dexter was whimpering to be let out of the tent. I snapped a few nice pictures of the area, before we were bombarded by 20-something boy scouts and their leaders/parents. There was literally a caravan of minivans filling into our already small camping area. We waited for Teri to arrive, feeling quite bitter.

We left our camp site Saturday afternoon to hike in another, less populated area. We trudged through about five miles of the Barrens, stopping for lunch and an occasional rest. Dexter ran loose through most of the hike, and did quite well. He knows to stay close to us and his recall is getting better.

We saw a lot of pretty and unusual sights. A lot of the streams we passed were black in the deep areas, blood-red near the shallow shores. Teri explained it was cedar water, which forms "when water is allowed to stand in highly acidic soil with a high iron ore content. The iron ore discolors the water, and the acid deters the presence of microorganisms which might otherwise proliferate and clarify the water. Cedar water can also develop when trees with highly tannic leaves, such as oaks, neighbor a waterway and drop their leaves into the water, causing it to discolor with time. Lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams can all develop cedar water." (The more you know!)

We returned from our hike and gathered more wood. Rob built a fire, which Dan and I maintained. Rob and Teri made a dinner of chicken, potatoes, string beans and carrots in foil pouches. After eating, we grew tired of the listening to the boy scouts (they were now having some sort of award ceremony), and decided to pile into the tent. We enjoyed another one of nature's gifts, got silly and snacked heavily.

We slept through a chilly night and morning, which I survived quite well thanks to the 50-pound dog on my legs. Again I woke up before everyone else (except Dexter) and decided to hike a little. I walked him around our camp area and caught a glimpse of a steaming stream, with the light from dawn making everything sparkle. It was one of those awe-inspiring moments and as cheesy as it sounds, I was completely happy. I stood for a few minutes, with Dexter anxiously tugging to move on, breathing in the clean, crisp air. It made the whole trip worth it. My only regret is that I didn't have my camera on me to capture the moment. But it's OK, perfect memories can live on without photographic evidence.