Autumn Camping Logistics

We're back at Laura Lake in the Nicolet National Forest.  Gary will be here until the campground closes on October 12.  I'll be here except for the weekends when I have to return to Seymour to direct the choir at the United Methodist Church on Sundays.  

Autumn camping requires certain logistics we didn't think much about in the summer.  Now we listen to the weather radio morning and evening and plan accordingly.

Yesterday, the weather forecasters predicted cold weather, so I went to bed wearing long underwear, my head covered with a knitted stocking cap I'd picked up at the thrift shop at Wabeno.  Instead of percale cotton sheets we used heavy duty fleece sheets and topped them with a blanket and a quilt, with a second quilt ready if we needed it.  We didn't, but probably will tonight with frost on the way. 

We slept well except for the quiet.  The sandhill cranes and loons have decamped and the chorus of frogs is no longer chirping amorously.  Perfect silence for someone used to the continual noise of a small town is strange.  The total dark of the north woods is also disconcerting.

This morning, our weather radio gave us the news that it would be raining beginning at noon, so after breakfast I headed out for a hike to the bog.  The day crew was now busy, so the quiet was over.  The belted kingfisher chattered his chagrin every time he missed a minnow.  A bevy of mallards floated by the shoreline until they saw me and took flight. 

Two adult eagles were resting on the short until one of their offspring spotted them.  The juvenile screeched the eaglet version of “Mommy, Daddy!” and flew to them but his parents immediately flew off.  It's time Baby started feeding himself.  Humans talk about it being time for their children to leave the nest.  Eagle parents solve the problem by leaving the nest themselves. 

(I see more and more adult humans doing the same by putting their houses up for sale, forcing their freeloading  children to find other places to stay.)

By the time I reached the bog, raindrops were falling on my head, but this was a warm and gentle rain, so I didn't hurry home. I listened to the "gronk, gronk" of the ravens and the soft tapping of the flickers. 

When I got back, Gary was staking down camper and cook tent with extra rope. 

The weather forecast now is for 30 mile and hour winds.  “High profile” vehicles are warned to stay off the road from 3:00 pm on.   I am off to find a library where I can send this post because I don't want to be driving after 1:30 pm.  My car is steady in high winds, I learned that on my trip west this summer, but I don't trust the logging truck, Walmart semi and recreational vehicle drivers who will almost certainly ignore that advice. 

Note:  I made it to Laona and the public library which is part of the high school.  The place is filled with teenagers in weird costumes.  It seems it is homecoming week.  With their help and the help of the librarian, I finally am on line. 

Now to dash home!