Starry Nights and August Hail

I've just returned from four days in the wilds of British Columbia. Well, not exactly wilds -- there were still flush toilets, cars about ten metres from our tents, and alcohol and food to spare. However, on the other hand, I spent my days by a fire, outside in the unseasonably cold weather, and heard reports of bears browsing through nearby campsites -- so it wasn't exactly urban, either.

Once again I marvel at the ability nature has to rejuvenate me. I knew I needed to get away for a while, and I was certainly right. Even with 'car camping' being less of a wilderness experience than the canoe trip I really craved, it was so refreshing to just be somewhere where the very basics of life (food, shelter, warmth) became all that was necessary, and the sometimes exciting but often overwhelming modern conveniences of tv and email and supermarkets faded away into the distance. I scrambled up mountainsides, gazed in awe at more stars than I've ever seen before in my life, found out just how cold glacier-fed streams are, and hiked along the ridgeline of a mountain in a hailstorm on the last day of August. This among a whole spate of doing not very much at all, which was just what this over-busy extrovert needed.

I'm happy to be back to the land of hot showers and email and warm spaces, not to mention Regent courses and Vancouver friends and phone lines to friends afar. But damn, was it ever good to get away.