Blogging: Slim to None

Well, actually more on the none side.

We leave tomorrow for an annual week-long camping adventure on a little island in Lake Michigan accessible only by boat, where only the tallest people (and that ain't me) can get a cell phone signal ...

I like to describe the wonder of this experience as Club Med, except no one serves you drinks in coconut shells with little paper umbrellas (unless we were to pack in our own and bribe the children to do the serving.) We go with a group, so we are on a cooking team responsible for dinner (faux pad Thai) for 50 on one night. Otherwise we show up with our dinnerware every evening, and food miraculously appears.

It's rustic: pit toilets, bathe in the lake, haul your water ... but once camp is set up, it is amazingly relaxing. And amazing sky-watching. Last year we watched the sunset and the moonrise simultaneously, and the Perseids meteor showers. Every clear night the Milky Way is breathtaking. These are things that I am so distanced from in my everyday life.

Essential gear for the week: good books, knitting, guitar, and hammock. Plus swimsuit, sunscreen, and shoes for hiking.

The big challenge this year will be keeping Georgia's (the dog) insulin cold all week. Still working on that one.

I'm sad that our eldest is choosing not to come this year, although she assures me that she will next year. And we're bringing our youngest's best friend, so that will be interesting.

I'm at the point in packing-procrastination where I look at the list and say, "I don't really want to go. Let's just stay home for a week." But that's not what I really want. This week is truly one of the highlights of every year; I can't believe it's almost here!