Last night I slept in the woods. It was a cool night and there was a full moon, so carrying a sleeping bag and a thermos of coffee, I headed to my campsite. Once settled, I built a fire and pulled up a chair to enjoy the evening. I watched the last bit of twilight disappear while sipping tea and listening to music. Some fireworks punctuated the night sounds of the woods, but it was so nice to be away from the phone, the TV and the temptation to fritter away time on the computer.
I began reading Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia which older daughter saw in production recently and described enthusiastically. Stoppard is so unbelievably clever and his dialog is crisp and witty. There is a running joke in regards to a turtle named Plautus (aka Lightning) who is used as a paperweight. One character tells Plautus to sit and another wants to take him for a run.
Sitting by the campfire, I thought about my summers at Girl Scout camp a jillion years ago. I recalled seeing my first kerosene lantern there. Now, of course, kerosene lanterns have been replaced by propane or some of the neat battery powered halogen jobs. Oldest daughter loved camp as much as I did. She still knows all the verses to The Cat Came Back. When youngest daughter went to camp, she did not like hiking everywhere, the bugs, the lumpy cots, camp food, and the latrines. Curiously she has since grown to love camping, back packing, and hiking. Just not the Girl Scout way. However, we are all in agreement that no campfire cookout is complete without s'mores. My newest venture is learning how to cook with a cast iron dutch oven over a campfire.
Earlier this week I finished a sweet, satiric and painfully poignant book called The Ministry of Special Cases . It was given to me by youngest daughter for my birthday. The setting is Buenos Aires during the dirty war of the 1970s when 30,000 people disappeared. The themes are far more universal: how people deal with horror, with the unthinkable, and the ability to live in denial. We like to believe that innocent people don't just disappear, but they do everyday. It is a beautifully written book by a young author who is wise beyond his years.
My other outdoor adventure has been blackberry picking. Both the wild berries and my domestic berry patch are producing abundantly. Yesterday I picked enough to make cobbler for dinner. I have some scratches on my arms where I got snarled in the brambles, but there were some bushes I just had to get to. I saw a turtle (Plautus, stay!) under one bush so I left a plump blackberry right in front of him. Seemed only fair since I had so many. This year's crop is very sweet too. There will be enough to freeze even after making a few more cobblers.
1 comment:
I'm so glad you enjoyed "Arcadia!" I think it's one of the best plays written in the twentieth century. Not a word out of place, and not a dull character in the bunch (though an insipid actress nearly ruined Chloe). I'm hoping that with the success of the miniseries of "Angels in America," they'll do a film or television version of "Arcadia." I'm already casting my dream version with Emma Thompson as Hannah. The final scene with the waltzing is pure magic. *sighs dreamily* If I can write a word that combines that many things that I find interesting, I shall be very happy indeed. :D
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