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A View Into My Universe

Many or most people are more adept with their cell phones than I am; they do all sorts of activities and tasks with them. I personally find the small “keyboard” frustrating, the voice to text feature hilariously ineffective and rely on my laptop for anything major, including blogging! So, I was away on a camping trip and somewhat off the grid and didn’t write a single word. Being out in nature provided many highlights though. I was delighted to watch a couple kids in the campground playing soccer with their dad. I smiled at a group of men trying to play volleyball without a net. While walking around the state park, I exchanged “hellos” with other campers sitting around their fires. John took a nap while I finally finished “Theo of Golden.” It was a struggle for me since I dislike being forcibly “inspired” aka emotionally manipulated. The book wasn’t horribly written but it was over-written, predictable and SO sentimental. I figured out the big reveal early on and wasn’t impressed. Yet I’m glad I read the book because there were nuggets of wisdom in it; I look forward to discussing those at least.

John and I had gorgeous weather the first day and chose a quiet campsite away from everyone. Due to his Discover Pass, we camped for free! As always, John provided the best food, including French toast, eggs with bacon and cheese, loaded baked potatoes, mini tacos, fresh veggies and salad and my favorite, hot dogs cooked over the fire. Luckily, we also did a lot of walking. 🙂

Kanaskat-Palmer State Park is right by the Green River which is aptly named. This part of the river is Class 4 water though, so it’s not appropriate for swimming or boating, unless you’re an expert. The people on the shore were mostly enjoying the sun while their kids threw rocks into the water. Some, like John, were clambering over big rocks. I’m not graceful nor do I have good balance, so I stayed put!

The current was strong and I’m sure the water, coming from the mountains, was cold. I didn’t test it. 🙂

The other direction of the river was a little less turbulent!

During our walk through the woods, we spotted many trilliums. They have a unique structure of three. Their presence signals a healthy forest environment.

Although they start out white, trilliums turn pinkish purple as they die. It’s interesting that they become more beautiful at the end of their lives, isn’t it?

On our way home, we stopped in Black Diamond to look around and also visited Flaming Geyser State Park. The geyser used to be quite impressive but now it’s just bubbles in a pond. John didn’t want me to be disappointed, so he brought his lighter and produced a small methane geyser.

All in all, it was a very successful trip; John and I got along well although he did mostly everything. I offered to help and sometimes he accepted, in spite of my inability to do the tasks exactly as he wanted or envisioned. John is kind and thoughtful, but also a bit controlling, as I noticed when he reorganized the items I had put back into the refrigerator. LOL My contribution was paying $130 to put diesel in his truck!

Tonight I’m looking forward to watching Season 2, Episode 3 of “Deadloch”–what a crazy black comedy! It’s very over the top but with fascinating settings in Tasmania and Darwin, Australia. I’ll also nibble on my Chocolate Macaroon brownie from the Black Diamond Bakery, an incredible place if you’re ever in the vicinity. And Mari, who was traumatized about her stay at the vet (wild with rage and wouldn’t eat), will undoubtedly sit happily in my lap.

Comments

40 responses to “Elsewhere”

  1. Doug M Avatar
    Doug M

    Margaret your outdoor photos are beautiful, what a nice camping trip! The food sounded delicious too, thanks for including that… 😋 I could’ve sworn you were leaving today, not returning. I’m sure Mari is relieved!

    1. Margaret Avatar

      I had to go back to the boarding area and put on long thick gloves to extract her from the “cat condo,” really more of a cage. 🙁 She was frenzied with rage and didn’t recognize me in her fear. I felt so awful and it sounded like I was murdering her! We did have a great time and wonderful food, thanks to John. I just hope he doesn’t feel like I’m useless; I do offer to help out with things but he would prefer to have them done his way. I get that!

  2. Marie Avatar
    Marie

    Sounds like a wonderful trip! The river sure is pretty.

    1. Margaret Avatar

      It was a gorgeous day!

  3. Maureen Avatar
    Maureen

    What a nice getaway with John. It sounds like a very pretty park. Poor Mari!

    1. Margaret Avatar

      We saw lots of water and trees plus mountain views on our way to the campground. Very scenic!

  4. Jay Avatar

    A relaxing sounding respite. I really like trillium. We have them in Michigan where my parents live. If I recall correctly it was illegal to pick them as they were endangered.
    Mari will forgive, eventually. You would think they tortured her.

    1. Margaret Avatar

      I’d never seen any before, so we had to do some research on them. Trillium don’t regenerate easily and it takes many years for them to grow so you’re not supposed to pick them.

      1. kayak woman Avatar

        I once abetted The Trillium Bandit (my mother) in a trillium digging up operation. We were way out in the woods on a 2-track but she was so nervous about it, you’d think she was about to rob a bank 🙂

      2. Margaret Avatar

        I don’t know about Michigan, but it’s illegal to pick trillium here on public lands or in parks. I don’t know what the punishment/fine is though.

      3. kayak woman Avatar

        It is illegal in Michigan. My mother was well aware of that and it was totally uncharacteristic for her to break any kind of rule 🙂 As it turned out, her trillium plant did not thrive…

      4. Margaret Avatar

        My mom was also very law-abiding, but I remember a clandestine trip into the woods to find a wild dogwood tree. The one we “stole” didn’t survive.

  5. Luftmentsch Avatar

    I’m glad you had a good trip. I don’t like doing stuff on my phone either, especially typing. I never blog on it. I’m quite good with computers, but terrible with phones for some reason, maybe the fiddlyness (if that’s a word, which it isn’t!).

    1. Margaret Avatar

      I do sometimes respond to comments on my phone but have rarely blogged from it, maybe twice? I agree about the fiddlyness and vote for that as a word! It describes the situation perfectly. I just read about the stabbings in London and hope you’re OK. The world has gone crazy. 🙁

  6. Michael Avatar

    Margaret, your photos are beautiful. Trilliums don’t grow here in Virginia (or at least I don’t think they do as I have never seen one), but I remember them from growing up in upstate NY. Like you, I don’t use my phone for anything detailed as I hate the tiny keyboard. I use my laptop all of the time, and since it is a mac, it is synced with my phone so I can even send texts via my computer. I am sure Mari was glad to see you!

    1. Margaret Avatar

      With all our moist woods, I think we must have a lot of them, but I’d never noticed them before. John is very observant about pointing things out and then wanting to know all about them. I dislike the keyboard and the sense that I’m missing information on the edges. I have a Windows laptop although I also have an old iPad hand me down from John’s aunt. Mari has been SO happy!

  7. AC Avatar

    What a beautiful spot and, apparently, you ate well too.

    1. Margaret Avatar

      We ate too well! I keep telling John that I’m not his size and can’t eat the same portions. 🙂

  8. Siobhan Avatar
    Siobhan

    My beloved cat Milo sends his sincere sympathies to Mari – when he sees his cat basket it means one of two things , the vets or the cattery , both of which he despises
    But I could not go away and leave him with neighbours popping in to feed him – he enjoys company and would I fear go looking for me
    Your few days away look and sound magical . And your pictures were glorious
    Siobhan x

    1. Margaret Avatar

      She wouldn’t leave my lap last night and is obviously thrilled to be home. Mari wouldn’t leave (she can’t) but she also might get lonely and destructive. I don’t want that either. It was a good number of days to be away and although I was chilly yesterday, Sunday and Monday were great!

  9. addofio Avatar

    I think I’ll pile onto the “I hate doing things on my phone” theme. Of course the tiny keyboard is part of it, but I’ve also noticed that, when out of desperation I tried to check the weather channel app or Facebook on the phone, the number of ads that interfere with the process is orders of magnitude greater than on my iPad, which is my go-to device. My theory is that they are trying to hook the younger generations, who by reputation at least use their phones as their default device.

    My heart twisted at your description of picking up Mari. Have you tried finding a pet-sitting service instead? My friends in Stockton found a woman who would come to their home to feed, water, clean the litter box, and even spend time sitting with their cats, talking to and petting them. Of course, Mari might be freaked out by having her home invaded by a stranger, too!

    1. Margaret Avatar

      I have used a pet service but don’t know if they would be able to give her any companionship. I doubt that she would allow it. I think I need to find an alternative though. I don’t get many ads on my laptop either unless I go to a site with them. On my phone it’s often difficult to navigate around the ads and I often feel like I’m not seeing the whole screen. That worries me especially with making any kind of reservation.

  10. sillygirl Avatar

    I only recently learned you don’t pick trillium – I always picked just one for my bathroom. We are watching Astrid – finally – and really enjoying it. So now we have Deadloch to look forward to having watched another series that took place in Tasmania. Love foreign series – they have different outlooks in their stories.

    1. Margaret Avatar

      Deadloch is a crazy ride! Too much swearing for me, but funny and quirky too. Trillium take something like 7 years to grow, so they need to be left alone. They have such an unusual flower.

  11. Ed Avatar

    For me, going on vacation has always been a welcome chance to unplug from society, not only the people I know around my home, but also the phone, television and now more importantly, the internet. I’m sure I could figure out how to blog and update social media using my phone but I enjoy the chance to catch up on reading and living in the moment instead of focusing on the world around me.

    1. Margaret Avatar

      Although we did have cell service (we often don’t), we mostly stayed off our phones, me more than John. My book was an actual paperback so that helped. We could focus more on the beauty around us without the distraction of technology!

  12. Linda Avatar

    Margaret, your photos are gorgeous. Being in nature is therapy for me. Taking walks outside, seeing and hearing the birds, and any other creatures I come across. I also love being near the water.

    1. Margaret Avatar

      We are almost always close to water and trees in Western Washington; we’re awfully spoiled! There were lots of birds too and I wished that I knew more about which ones. Different songs and “conversations”–fascinating!

  13. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    You spent a few lovely days camping in beautiful woodland areas. Having the river adds greatly to the scenery. John must like to cook, and I think that is a very fine attribute. A good cook likes complements and your praise surely means a lot to him. (If you are anything like me, you happily hand-off any and all cooking.) Praise, encouragement and thank you work well.
    Mari likes her routine, and she seems to be a 1-person kitty which makes the cat hotel hard. She’s likely happy to be home and all is forgiven.

    1. Margaret Avatar

      John, although very comfortable financially, is a bit of a penny pincher, so me paying for fuel was big for him. Then I didn’t feel like I was mooching. Since I offer to help and do what he tells me, I don’t worry much (a little though) about the amount of work and cooking he does when we’re camping. Mari is definitely a one-person cat and her beloved is me. It’s sweet but can be difficult at times too!

  14. krueth Avatar
    krueth

    What a beautiful park to stay at and walk in. Lovely pictures
    Poor Mari. I’m glad she was happy to be back on your lap again.

    1. Margaret Avatar

      It was idyllic weather and a lovely setting! I love our state parks, especially in the off season when they’re not as crowded. John’s camper is very comfortable. I wish Mari had been happier in her cat condo. I don’t know what to do about boarding her on other trips now. Sigh.

  15. Betty Renfroe Avatar
    Betty Renfroe

    Your flowers bring to mind the holy trinity to me— the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It makes a beautiful representation.

    The good food and scenery is inviting to me. I see why you miss days with John when he was busy helping the less fortunate.

    I don’t like books that are too syrupy but when my library get Theo for me I’ll try it. Paper Girl is very depressing but I’m wading through it. It’s really about how the very poor in our country have moved in core beliefs to align with the super rich. I see this in Christians. It’s almost too sad to read about. They were sold a “bill of goods” and have bought it!

    I use an iPad and my phone. I have a laptop but the other device is handy. My big fingers cause mistakes. So…I’m saying I’m smarty than what I post. I’ll see the errors after I’ve sent the post, but that’s too late.

    1. Margaret Avatar

      As a matter of fact, trilliums are associated with Christianity and the Holy Trinity. The blooms and leaves are in sets of three. It’s nice to get away, in spite of the difficulty of leaving Mari. John has never had a pet as an adult and doesn’t really understand the bond or worry. I hope you enjoy “Theo” more than I did. I didn’t hate it–just rolled my eyes a lot. I need a real keyboard for any actual typing.

  16. sundancecompany Avatar

    It sounds like a perfect, grounding escape. I love your reflection on the trilliums—finding beauty in the end of life is such a poignant way to look at it. I’m so glad you enjoyed the fresh air, the mac and cheese, and that the ‘Flaming Geyser’ was at least good for a little fire-starting magic. Hopefully, Mari the cat has forgiven you for the vet visit and is back to her usual lap-cat self! Mrs. Shife and I discovered Deadloch last year and loved it. We just started season 2.

    1. Margaret Avatar

      It was a lovely trip! Mari is very forgiving once we get home; it makes me think she loves my (her) house more than me. Season 2 is a WILD ride!

  17. Pixie Avatar

    Our Bagheera is similar to your Mari I think. Bagheera is terrified of the vet, screaming like a child, and I’m guessing a cattery wouldn’t be much different. We get a house sitter who stays here and walks the dogs as well. Bagheera doesn’t need to be petted, but does enjoy it, but mostly she just wants to stay home. Are there any old students who would pet sit?

    The camp site looks lovely. If John doesn’t let you help, he can’t complain. It’s a rule:)

    I checked out Dead Loch and we have a new series to watch. Thank you!

    1. Margaret Avatar

      The boarding facilities are essentially like big cages and Mari is a free-range cat. She doesn’t like anyone except me and for some reason, my Book Club ladies. I’m thinking about a pet sitter. I don’t really like the idea of a relative stranger in my house though. I agree about the rule! He can’t complain if he doesn’t ask for help or let me do things. Still, it makes me feel useless sometimes.

  18. Midwest Mark Avatar

    I was so excited to see trilliums on my recent hike in the PNW! I did not know they turned color like that when they were dying, though; I always just assumed they were a different variety of trillium. You learn something new every day!

    1. Margaret Avatar

      They start to turn pinkish and then purple; we found some in clusters with all three colors–spectacular. John, being the curious sort, had to look up the information. I thought the same as you!

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