Friday, October 26, 2007

After purchasing some necessities, I arrived at Caddo Lake State Park early on Monday afternoon. I was on the front end of the cold front, which I have learned after many years of watching the Weather Channel, usually means rain. But in a place like Caddo, heavy rains usually means you can stay dry under the canopy of Cypress and Pine until a big wind blows through and shakes the water off the trees, which happens about every two minutes.

So I set up the tent, got in it, and slept one of the longest, most peaceful naps in recent memory.

The next couple of days were spent walking, sitting in front of a fire, and reading. But mostly, a lot of just sitting and being quiet. I needed the past few months to leak out of me, and that's what I tried to facilitate. The great thing is that I had the entire park to myself. This is the advantage to being childless-- You can take your vacations during times when normal vacationers are at school and work.

Utter silence is what I was surrounded by, and it was healing.

I finished reading A.J. Jacob's The Year of Living Biblically and began reading Wendell Berry's Jayber Crow. Look for posts about both soon. In the meantime, here's some pictures. (They actually aren't from this trip, but from a trip I took earlier in the year. I found the roll of film when I was cleaning out the Talon to part ways.)





4 comments:

april. said...

this makes me really excited to go camping at colorado bend state park. do you know anything about the place?? i miss nature. i guess its everywhere....but not really.

Anonymous said...

Craig,
The place is beautiful! I know what you mean about the silence & beauty being so deeply healing & refreshing. I completely concur! Thanks for sharing the pics.

Liz

Craig said...

April,
Colorado Bend is amazing. I was there a couple of years ago hiking along a trail when I stumbled upon four or five deer, not 15 feet away. We both stopped in our tracks for a good minute, just eyeing the other, wondering who was going to make the first move.

Unknown said...

How I wish I could take a vacation like this. I sort of feel nervous to go camping by myself. I am, after all, 25 years old and not an altogether strong woman. I sort of wonder if I would put myself in an unsafe situation if I went camping by myself. Nonetheless, it sounds wonderful. How very transcendental of you.