Getting Away

Our NH get-away was canceled due to bad weather. We were scheduled to spend three days playing in nature. My parents own a camp in a small development nestled within the boundaries of the White Mountain National Forest. It's a 1960s-vintage mobile home with an addition that has sat where it is for who knows how long. My parents bought it about twelve years ago. It's off-the-grid = no electricity. But we do have propane which feeds lights, a refrigerator, a stove, heaters for when the wood stove is over-kill, even a water heater. We also have a generator to run the well-pump. All-in-all it's a pretty cozy place.

When they first bought it, back before we had kids, my husband and I went up nearly every other weekend. We installed the water tank and plumbing, such that it is. We helped clean up what was left by the previous owner. But mostly we played. We went for hikes and mountain bike rides, we went frolicking and tubing in the river, we snowshoed and cross-country skied. We lay around relaxing and had many, many campfires.

I love being out among the trees. I need to get out there. When life is overwhelming I go for a walk in the woods. I take a deep breath and let it all go. I haven't been spending as much time in nature as I would like, as much as I feel I need, in the past ten years.

I was looking forward to getting up there this weekend. But Mother Nature had other plans. An ice-storm walloped northern New England. It didn't seem prudent to drive into the aftermath of such a storm, when line crews are struggling to restore power and emergency crews are trying to clear roads. Besides, we lost power here at home too, and a fierce cold front was predicted. We decided to stay here and tend the homefront.

So we've been re-creating NH for our kids. An 18-hour power-outage was not too bad, but it was also enough. Our home isn't set up for being without electricity the way the camp is. Pookie doesn't understand when all her favorite activities are unavailable. She spent yesterday desperately begging me to turn things on. I spent the day trying to explain why I couldn't make things all better for her.

Today we took them out to lunch, and then did some shopping, just like we might have in NH. That wasn't our greatest idea. I don't like malls and shopping that much mid-day, mid-week, off-season. A large mall on a Saturday two weeks before Christmas is pretty much a nightmare for me. But Dee Dee wanted to look for earrings. We humored her. Then we ran away from all that consumption, and went out for icecream for dessert.

So what's missing from our get-away? Well, we haven't spent nearly as much time outdoors as we would have up there. Though I did head out this morning to take some pictures, and I plan to again tomorrow - for as long as I can stand the cold (it's predicted to be around 10F at dawn). And I haven't escaped from all the responsibilities of home the way I do up there. I can't figure out how to get around that one... So I wait until we get my husband's schedule for January to pencil-in our next retreat, then I'll cross my fingers for good weather and good health.