I made it to Lick Creek Summit to spend the night on Friday. I had to drive in the dark for a bit, but I knew the spot I wanted and I got there just before 10 pm. There was a port-o-potty up there, which wasn’t a bad thing. I was glad I wouldn’t have to dig any holes if I needed to poop in the morning.
I quickly made my bed for the night with my tent’s ground cloth, three foam pads (two next to each other for a bottom layer and one on top), my sleeping bag, and Stinky (down comforter). It was very nice not to have to inflate a sleeping pad. I read a bit before going to sleep and a deer wandered by. But other than the occasional deer, the night was utterly quiet. Not even insects buzzing or birds chirping or squirrels complaining. It was a peaceful night.
I drove the rest of the way to Big Creek on Saturday morning. There was some beautiful light going down the summit, but also some annoying light once the sun rose enough to shine right in my face. The angle of the light nearly turned my windshield opaque, which was super scary on the narrow roads with steep dropoffs.
Big Creek was just what I needed. In the life, it is a good to serve others. But one cannot always be the one to serve. On this trip, I needed to be taken care of. And I did my best to let my people there take care of me. I consumed food made with love. I also got a lot of writing done, and I brought books, and presents. Mark and Sally played music Saturday night, and it was beautiful.
I wanted to go hiking, but I ended up not doing it. I wish I could have stayed there all week. Or all month. But there are some things at work that I need to handle. After going to a family zoom at the lodge on Sunday, I drove home.
Today’s been hard. I am having trouble focusing. Partly because I’m thinking about two years ago and where I was then, in the hospital watching Ambrose’s body slowly fade. Learning that he was dying. And partly because I’m having physical issues. Plus the sky is filled with smoke and there’s a fire raging around some of my mountains.
But I did get to the Washington County Fairgrounds today and checked in my photos. I kept apologizing for not registering online and someone told me that I didn’t need to do that. Which is right. And I got my ‘punishment’ in that they misspelled my name on the tags (Jeane instead of Jeanne), but that wasn’t my fault. It was because the person who wrote down my name wrote in cursive and the person entering the name into the computer couldn’t read cursive. I’m okay with the typo; it’s mostly my name.
I have an appointment tomorrow with a doctor to consult about whether I need a scan for my stomach issues. I hope that the visit goes well, but I suspect I’m going to be told to reduce stress and “eat better” and probably lose weight because that’s just how things go when women have pain, isn’t it? But the doctor is a DO, so maybe that won’t happen.
I’m leaning towards not going to Boise on Friday to see the Emo Kids. I would like to go, but I also don’t want another long drive. And I’d like to spend some time at the fair this weekend, at least to see if I got any ribbons for my photos. I think I got some good ones this year, but I don’t know what the judges will like. The Hells Canyon photo might do well; I caught the reservoir in a state of mirror stillness.