pack it in, pack it out

so i'm helping with a winter survival camp this weekend.

trying to pack all that crap in one small daypack and an overnight bag is really tough.

things like extra batteries and lightbulbs, black garbage bag, that is the stuff that gets me, because i have to go to the store.

today is my first day off in six, and i'm tired. i just want to be home.

i slept as long as possible this morning, and i feel a bit adrift.

i don't like to be cold when i'm sleeping. went to one campout and it was the coldest night i've ever spent. my tentmates had all abandoned me, so i spent the night trying not to move from the residual warmth of the spot i was in.

so i'm taking layers upon layers upon layers. and that won't happen again.

we'll be hiking and i've not had a proper pair of hiking boots, but i've finally got some, if only they'd just arrive. (i know, not enough time to break them in) which is bad news, but i'll have another pair in the car and hope for the best. i'm imperfect, it's an imperfect life. i hope it will be well.

so the key is not to take too much shit, but to have enough of what you need to not need anything else.

no firebuilding this time, mostly survival shelters (debris shelters i think they are called), an emergency scenario (i volunteered for this leg of the camp this time so i could learn as well. there is so much i don't know, admittedly).

but i've needed to get out of my environment, and what better place, a mountain camp with gorgeous lakes and trails. all that and i managed to not get sucked into a den mom kind of scenario (i'd have to die, if that were the case). i just get to be a helping adult and independent of the kids.

huzzah!