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March Retreat Marks End
of Winter
For
25 years now, we’ve ventured up to camp in early March
for no good reason other than to celebrate the
possibility of spring and to mark the end of the time of
frozen earth and wicked winds.
Miss Kentucky hopped into my Jeep wearing camo pants
and hiking boots, while brother Stab and his wife Sandy
Seven crowded into the vehicle with our two cats, Austin
and Pooh Cat. Bachelors Queen and Mr. Cool were already
at camp when we arrived, followed shortly thereafter by
Winnie and Digital Richard.
We feasted on egg-and-bacon kolaches for breakfast and
Winnie’s exquisite vegetable soup for lunch, before we
all ventured out to hike the woods and trails above the
Allegheny River.
Stab broke the ice (literally) on fishing for the year
by wandering down to the fishing hole below the culvert
at Deer Creek without lures, flies, or bait. A piece of
turkey and cheese on a #10 hook sufficed, though, and
soon the first brook trout of the year came to hand.
By late Saturday afternoon Winnie and Digital had built
a fine hardwood campfire out back, and we all took turns
stoking and storytelling and enjoying the calming vision
of the fireflares late into the evening, when the Big
Dipper and Orion constellations illuminated out of the
coal black sky and reminded us of what night was
supposed to be like in the natural world. We slept like
babies in the quiet wee hours and woke up refreshed and
ready to plan our next trip to camp.
~ Don Feigert, 03-08-10
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