Going To My Happy Place

I am typing at the kitchen table and the wind is howling outside. I’ve been working on ki readings and enjoying this Saturday at home. The cold, damp, blustery day makes me want to go to my happy place.

This is a location I am extremely fond of. I rarely, if ever, visit it in the winter time. I’m sure it still beautiful qualities though I don’t venture too far off the beaten path, save for fetching groceries or going to basketball games. In the summer time, this scenario changes drastically. When the weather warms, I start preparing for camping season. I think it’s in my blood. My mom has pictures of me as a wee little tike in the back of the pickup topper that we used to take to Merritt Damn. My brother and I learned to water ski before we could drive. Any spare day we had, we begged to go to the river or to the lake.

Of all the places in the world, one of my favorites is the Niobrara River. It's a place I return to as often as I can. I LIVE for camping. There’s just nothing I like better than to sit by the water, watch the clouds roll in and out, listen to the lapping waves and just BE. I sometimes take a book and music, but mostly I just sit. This is what I dream about all year; when the deck is covered with snow, when my hands are freezing from milking the goat, when I curse the wind for nearly killing my back door (it is REALLY on it’s last breath here), when I slip and slide and nearly fall on my can, I stop, take a deep breath and……………go to my happy place!

Maybe camping appeals to me more because it is not something I can do all year round. It is a limited season, which is why I don’t feel bad when I hit the road for the weekend and go hang out somewhere near water and do nothing. I could very well be at home doing something productive, but why? Why would I want to miss an opportunity that is not as easy to access in the dead of winter? I dreaming of going camping all year long and when those invitations arise, I take them, guilt free, no matter how much I think I need to get done at the 'ol homestead. We hook up "Let'er Buck" and point her north to the Niobrara. Life is GREAT.

So, let the wind blow, let the ice, snow and sleet have their way for now. I know it can’t hold up against the warmth of summer, fireflies and full moons that are alive and well in my heart. I’m dreaming of a cozy camper with a fire ring blazing nearby, a trio of guitars strumming along, good food, great friends, stories, laughter, flip flops, shorts and tank tops. C’mon Summer……..I know you’re out there. I love you. I miss you and I am ready for you to steal me away from Old Man Winter!