kindling
“Are weeeeeee???” Thalia started looking for her sleeping bag. “Are we — Are we going camping?!”
Nią scowled and tightened her sweater around her shoulders. “No.”
“Neighbor Dan is though… planning a big trip out west with the Boy Scouts…” Calliope felt grateful for art-full additions… She found a rogue piece of Christmas wreath and stray bark in the garage. “Yesterday he told us the troop is planning to ‘camp above the tree line’… said there’s nothing like seeing the unobstructed landscape… under an immense sky… from the top of a mountain.”
I do so love my early morning patrol with Henrietta.
When we cross paths with neighbors Dan, John, and Tony — along with their fourlegs — Riley, Gracie, and Addie, our day is brighter… despite January’s darkness.
Absolutely true in a scad of ways!
The mountain peak in the drawing immediately prompted (am I a player piano?) the song lyrics: “First there is a mountain then there is no mountain then there is.” Donavan popularized that but was inspired by Zen teachings.
Of course I concur with your neighbor about trekking that exceeds tree line conditions. I’ve only done so once, in Maine, and to get to behold the curvature of the earth as the background for a barren, rocky, bouldery terrain was indeed gobsmacking!? Contemplating the glaciation that deposited all the rocky material (time travel🤷🏽) was an extra thrill.
I really like your 2-D/3-D art! Is there a chance the Pac-Man moon is why “then there is no mountain?” That’s a lot of snow and boulders! 😬
Could Tal possibly tuck herself into some compartment of your neighbor’s gear for the upcoming expedition to Colorado? Not intended as an invitation to be a risk taker, just an adventurer. A few jumbo boxes of PopTart ‘S’mores could be easy sustenance while avoiding the frozen fruit pitfalls. Maybe even some Trail Mix? I’ll bet you could help her with that!🤔 😊
George Carlin: “Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?” 😁
...when they could just take the stairs and bring their own binoculars? Sounds like the scouts' approach!