“Sternwheelers left the festival early this weekend due to threat of flooding.”

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.””  Joshua 1:9 NIV

This time last year, I had just wrapped up my first Sisters on the Fly event that I hosted here in West Virginia...WV Riverboat Rendezvous. It was timed to coincide with the Sternwheel Festival in Marietta. There were twenty-three women in attendance and we had a blast! Lots of activities from riding a stern wheeler over to Blennerhassett Island to touring a Victorian Mansion to learning how to clog while listening to WV’s Number 1 Fiddle Player. We churned homemade ice cream and had an old fashioned weenie roast. We took a tour of an abandoned oil and gas town. The weather that weekend was fabulous. No rain, reasonably cool weather, and a wonderful campground made for a really fun weekend. 

All year, I toyed with the idea of doing it again. While it was indeed a lot of fun, it was a tremendous amount of work. Every time I thought about getting started organizing it, that still small voice said, “No, not this year.” I was afraid I was disappointing others who might want to gather again this fall, but I just couldn’t shake the thought that it wasn’t meant to be this year. If I would have forged ahead and not listened, the event would have come, not only on the heels of my hospitalization last week, but also a wicked bad storm hit over the weekend. Our rain gauges, both at the Ponderosa and at the farm, were topped out at six inches and overflowing, so who knows what we actually received? The point being…I listened. I was told no. And I abided by that. 

“Rain, rain, go away…we still camped and had fun!”

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”  1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV

I had an absolute blast this week camping with the Girl Campers! Even when it started raining and didn’t quit. Even when I got cold and wet and hadn’t had a shower since Tuesday. Mr. FixIt came up and that was icing on the cake. But, as you can see on the weather radar, home was getting slammed as hard, if not harder than the campground up north and that puts our basement at risk of flooding. So, my sweetie was up and kissed me goodbye at five o’clock yesterday morning. On his way down the hill from the campground, he had to stop and move a tree that had fallen across the road. Then there was a rock slide near the house that held him up a bit. But he made it home safely, for which I was very grateful.

I managed to get a little more sleep then joined the rest of the gals in Gail’s fifth wheel. We laughed and ate and knitted and had a blast. In the middle of the afternoon, I took a little snooze and when I woke up, I was cold and damp and there was no Mr. FixIt around to warm me up. I looked at my watch, calculated the time and distance from home, and figured I could be there and showered before dark. I threw my stuff in bags, dragged it out in the pouring rain, and loaded up the truck. I was soaked to the skin by the time I was finished, but as soon as I made my goodbyes, I got in the truck, took off my wet coat, and cranked up the heat and I was dry and toasty in no time. I got home just at dark and as soon as I had the important stuff unloaded, I took that long, hot shower and felt like a new woman!!! There is one thing that does NOT go with Girl Camping…whining. And I was getting dangerously close to it! Steroids make me agitated and I didn’t want anyone to be subjected to a temper tantrum. 

“Civil War Reenactment”

“They will stumble repeatedly; they will fall over each other. They will say, ‘Get up, let us go back to our own people and our native lands, away from the sword of the oppressor.’”  Jeremiah 46:16 NIV

When you find a park you love AND you’re great friends with the Camp Host AND there’s all kinds of fun things to do there...you have a winning combination. Beaver Creek State Park is near East Liverpool, Ohio so it’s a good three hour drive from the Ponderosa. The Girl Campers meet here in the spring and again in the fall for an event we call “What a Hoot” in honor of all the owls that live in the Park. Our fall gathering is usually a couple weeks later than this, but we decided to gather earlier this year to take advantage of the Civil War Reenactment Weekend. 

“Civil War Reenactment”

“Dehydrated baby copperhead…you always learn something new at Girl Camp!”

“Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.  Proverbs 9:9 NIV

Edit: A kind reader shared a post from another page warning this is the time of year when baby copperheads are born. They arrive with venom and are ready to defend themselves. Even though they are small, they can pack a wallop so be extra careful rummaging around in damp flower pots and under bushes. Watch out for your pets and teach children to move outside toys with a stick first...these little guys can be hiding anywhere!

I tell you what…coming to camp with these girls is as close to summer camp as you can get at the sweet age of 65! Yesterday was so chill…I slept in again, had a leisurely breakfast, stretched out in the afternoon, then joined the girls for appetizer night. Mike, the Park Naturalist, came over at five and gave a talk on providing habitat for photographing birds in the winter time from inside your home. Then there was archery. After supper, we went through his two big boxes of bones and pelts and played guess the animal. This little mite in my hand is a dehydrated baby copperhead! He was very fragile and was found this way in the woods.

“A 1967 Avion is my home away from home this week!”

“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.””  1 Corinthians 15:33 NIV

One of my favorite things about camping with other women, besides laughing till you’re silly, is touring the wonderful vintage campers that the gals bring along. This is an 1967 Avion that belongs to my dear friend Gail Bable. Gail is the camp host at Beaver Creek State Park in East Liverpool, Ohio. Every year, she hosts the Girl Camper in the Spring and Fall at “What a Hoot!” So named for the many owls that call the park home. 

“The Dorothy Jean - a 1967 Avion, only belonged to my friend Gail’s aunt.”

“Vintage Coleman Coffee Set”

“I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.””  Psalm 55:6-8 NIV

As I was driving up to the campground yesterday, every mile passed filled my heart with a lightness I haven’t felt for many months. Was it getting away? A little. Not FROM Mr. FixIt...but TO my dear camping girlfriends. Some of whom I haven’t seen in a year. 

I think the most noticeable difference was…I actually FEEL good. I haven’t felt great since last February or March. And I know I can’t prove this, but I think the antibiotic they gave me for this lung episode fixed my gastritis. It’s the first time in months I’ve been able to eat without feeling ill afterwards. And no stomach pain. I won’t jinx it by trying to figure it out. I’m just grateful it’s better. 

“The leaves are beginning to change and you know what that means? Fall Girl Camping!!!”

“That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’ ””  Exodus 16:13-16 NIV

I’ve been doing everything I can to be well enough to join the Girl Campers for their fall outing. I was pretty worried last week and over the weekend as to whether I would get to go or not. With the help of my doctor and my Girl Camper friends, I am all set to go on a road trip today. Now, before you go all “mom” on me, let me tell you my plans.

First, I’m not pulling a camper this time. My dear friend and fellow Girl Camper Extraordinaire has kindly offered her vintage Avion for my use for the next week. For those of you unfamiliar with the Avion…it looks very much like an Airstream, but not shiny. I am so excited to get the opportunity to stay in a vintage camper! And this cuts out all worries of having a mechanical breakdown on the way to or from the event.

“Breathing good air after breathing through a wet sponge is such an incredible feeling of health!”

““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  Matthew 11:28-29 NIV

When I was a teenager, one of my biggest joys was to make my mom laugh. Mom had a difficult life. She had a son with a developmental disability and a husband who drank too much and was not around. And then...she had me. I wasn’t a bad kid, mind you. But I am convinced I had ADHD and was quite the handful...always into something and using my smart mouth to my disadvantage at every turn. So, when I got old enough to discover I could make her laugh, I did so at every opportunity.

Somewhere along the way, I realized when she laughed hard, she would go into a coughing fit. It’s normal to have some coughing after laughing hard as the nerves that control laughter are the same as those that control coughing. As a clueless teenage, that only added to the mirth, but as an adult, I now realize she had a “reactive airway”…a non-medical term that is kind of a placeholder for asthma that hasn’t been diagnosed. 

“I love Psalms.”

“Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,”  Exodus 23:25 NIV

Remember that song? You never realize how sick you were till you feel better. My medication list just got longer...for the next twelve days, at least. But it’s a small price to pay at this point. 

I went to the farm yesterday to look for something and do some laundry. When I walked up on the back porch, I noticed the cats had left a Ritual Sacrifice to the Food God. This one was of the rodent variety. Not sure of the significance, but it is their way of showing love…however icky. At least it wasn’t one of my pretty songbirds. As I was feeding Boy Cat, he shot past me and made a bee line for the driveway. I knew he was after something and soon he came back proudly carrying a frog to present to me. Of course, as soon as he set down the frog in front of me, it took off. I managed to shoo that cat enough to give the frog a chance to make his escape and soon Boy Cat was happily munching on his real supper.

“2,000 Days”

“(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)  Job 8:9 KJV

For a long time after losing Mr. Virgo, I marked the timeline of my grief by significant dates. The first anniversary without him came just three weeks after he died. That was a tough one. First Halloween marked when we met. The first time I celebrated his birthday alone was terribly sad. First Thanksgiving, first Christmas...the list went on and on and I was convinced when the first “angelversary” of his death came around, I could turn a corner on this grief thing. Needless to say, that didn’t happen.

The seconds were worse for me than the firsts. Because, the first year I was in a fog. The second year I was awake and he was still gone. It was deeply painful. It was desperately lonely. I was exceedingly angry. Each day led me forward, ever so slowly, toward…what? Healing? Peace? Acceptance? It wasn’t easy. Somewhere along the line, 1,000 days passed and I wrote about my experiences along the way. Still marking the calendar of grief.