Hot Chai

I'm sitting here drinking hot chai - a mix I got from the grocers - Trader Joe's. I bring that up because I have the door open to the back patio and there is a bit-of-a-cool breeze wafting in to where I'm sitting - on the living room couch. And it's a quiet Sunday morning with very little traffic or other noise. Just the once in awhile jet passing by from Reagan National. Now, at this point you may be asking yourself, "why are you telling me this?" Well. Let me tell you. In the next paragraph. Down below.

I'm mentioning that because it brings back memories - nice ones - of sitting with friends in the early morning with a bit-of-a-cool breeze sipping coffee (not chai but close enough) at a camp site next to Forked Lake in the Adirondack mountains.

All that I have to do is to close my eyes and sip my chai and listen to the birds chirping and (if I block out the occasional jet noise and car horn) I can practically hear the quiet conversations around a newly smoldering camp fire. Quiet because some are still asleep in their tents. I can almost smell the bacon crisping on the Coleman stove inside the big kitchen tent of the "Cooler Campers" contingent. Big because everything associated with Cooler Camping is big. I can practically hear the loons splashing and hoo-ing in the distance. I can almost see the morning group of ducks swimming along the shore from campsite to campsite. Looking for handouts. I can imagine if I stepped outside right now within ten yards or so I could slip into the clear waters of the Lake for a morning bath and swim.

Good times. Now for another sip of my chai. And then a shower. And then another dog walk. And then church.

And then . . . after a few more months of showers and dog walks and church visits . . . a chance to sit next to a lake around the campfire with friends again and sip chai (I'm bringing my own this time).