Preparation

I am really excited. I have been getting ready for a camping trip this weekend. I have gone through all the camping totes, washed the camping dishes, and cleaned out the back of my car for the inevitable stuffing. The cats are nervous. They KNOW they are being left at home. I would not mind bringing one or two of them along for the fun, but we are bringing Mojo and that will just be too much chaos for one weekend. Between having Mojo and a four year-old along, that should be just the right amount of chaos.

So camping . . . and fishing. I am bringing along the reflector telescope I got from Joe for Christmas to take advantage of the dark skies up there. I haven't even used the scope yet. Oh yeah, did I mention fishing? Maybe some easy hiking and some wildlife drives. We will be fishing, too, by the way. Campfire dinners!

Well, it looks like the monsoon is going to abandon us for a few days for this trip. It does make me a little sad. There is NOTHING like a good thunderstorm up in the mountains. I went camping with a couple of my coven sibs about three years ago up at Gooseberry Reservoir and one day we had about four or five monsoon thunderstorms come through. It would thunder and rain, we would hole up in the tent for about a half hour and then the sun would come out again. Wait two or three hours and then repeat. On the second to last storm, we got hail. Not just bb sized hail, but marble or nickel-sized hail which punched holes in the plastic tent windows and let the rain run in on us. Okay that last part was NOT fun, but the lightning and thunder was amazing. Sometimes the monsoon is not so violent. When I was up there with my parents a few years ago, it was overcast all day with periodic showers. It was just damn peaceful and pleasant and cool. Down at home the temperature was 105 degrees that day while we might have gotten to seventy. The fishing kind of sucked, but I was just soaking in the rainy and cool vibe.

So I will be gone for a few days. I hope everyone has a great Pioneer Day. I really wish that a lot of native Utah Pagans would get over their Mormophobia on this day and embrace it for the opportunity to connect with ancestors that it is.