June 7, 2019. I love sunrises so much that I’ve gotten used to getting up at o’dark:30 just so that I can get down to the dock in time to catch them on most mornings. This morning it was 4:22 a.m. Even when it’s cloudy, such as today, daybreak is very interesting to watch.

Getting from our campsite to my usual perch on the dock is actually a straight shot across the road, through a grassy area and down 48 steps. But ever since last week when I very nearly stepped on a snake in the grass, I’ve stuck to walking on the pavement, which takes twice as long. That, being on the lookout for poison ivy, and dealing with a lot of chigger bites and a few ticks are just a few things I’ve come to accept as part of living in the woods. Spraying with Repel has become as ordinary as putting on deodorant.

Area B of the campground—where we live— is the most secluded, and except for the hill where a handful of seasonals keep their campers all summer-long, most of the campsites are primitive. Cell service is extremely poor And even worse when our seasonal neighbors are here. Connectivity to the internet is uncertain. It takes forever for a page to load, and then there’s always a chance the whole thing will crash.

There are a few places in the campground that receive a much better signal, but they’re located closer to the beach or the activities shelter, areas that are busier and congested. So, what we lose in connectivity is made up in living on a rather secluded cul-de-sac surrounded by whole lot of Mother Nature. We make do.

Three college students are interning at the campground this summer, and two of them are sharing a trailer with their supervisor, who is not that much older than them. Remember the TV show, “Three’s Comany?” 😄

Among their varied assignments is planning weekend activities for the kids. As far as I can tell (having taken our grandkids to some), they’re doing a great job, doing rock painting, making crafts such walking sticks and bird feeders, a scavenger hike, a whiffle ball game, and corn hole. The interns are here for two months and then they’ll go back to their respective schools (Murray, Lindsey Wilson, and Eastern Kentucky U.) for their senior year.

It’s interesting to listen to them talk about their hopes and dreams and plans. Even their uncertainties. It’s been a long time since I was their age, and I laugh thinking about how I thought I knew it all back then, just because I’d graduated from college. Living life taught me so much more than academia ever did.

I had the credentials to be a teacher, but I taught formally for just two years. Life changed and opportunities presented themselves. Turns out I’m a risk-taker as well as impulsive.

The combination of the two led me to making choices that cumulatively have translated into one helluva life, from living on a boat (twice!) to being wiped out by a hurricane, just to mention a couple. I wouldn’t change a thing, even if I could.

Most people I know have lived in the same place their entire lives. Most people I know have worked most of their lives doing more or less the same thing. I used to measure myself against “most people” and doing that only made me feel different, distant, and definitely disconnected.

It’s taken a good part of 65 years for me to learn that even now, life never turns out the way I think it will, and certainly nothing like I thought it would when I was 21. That what life really is is a series of choices and opportunities and the challenges and consequences that come with it. That’s how it’s worked out for me anyway.

Dave and I were musing the other day that we had no idea a year ago that we’d be workamping here at Land Between the Lakes this summer. This time a year ago we were living in a trailer park near the state hospital, where drug deals and ambulance sirens were commonplace. We had just traded in our 5th wheel for Felix, our motor home. How things have changed!

Our boss asked Dave yesterday if we were going back to Texas this winter. We plan to, but as a good, old friend always used to say, our plans are cast in Jell-O. We’re enjoying the moment and the uniqueness of being in this place, right here, right now. Chiggers and all.

Actually, we’re relishing this calm before the storm…July 4th is just around the corner and campers are predicted to start coming in as early as mid-June to stake their claim for a campsite for the holiday. Fair warning to those considering camping over the 4th. It will be crowded everywhere!

Until next time…peace!

Maria