We went for our annual camping trip with friends this weekend. I was getting dressed in the tent when I heard Georgia holler louder and louder. "porkypine! Porkypine! PORKYPINE! P OR K Y P I N E!!!!"
I stumbled out of the tent in my underwear because I could tell from the building hysteria in her tone that there really was some creature nearby. Sure enough, this dear ambling porcupine was waddling past our campsite, in no hurry at all. At that moment the ranger showed up, I thought maybe she was on porcupine duty so I told her, breathless, "There's a porcupine! I'm in my underwear. I ran out of the tent because I heard her calling." I hopped into my pants while she politely nodded and then asked me to move my car out of the road. I chased the escaping porcupine enough to grab this photo and then we let her go in peace. Porcupines spend most of their time up in trees, especially Hemlocks, but after seeing this one up close, I can't imagine how they climb a tree.
We lit the campfire and had a grand time. This year we camped at a swimming spot so we alternated from the beach to the site. I didn't really have an agenda or time line so we got to just hang out, which was lovely. At one point I just stood there enjoying the feeling of not rushing my children to the next event and they thrived in the open free time with their friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment