Rabbit Weekend and Eagle Bluffs

It's been a good weekend. I've really enjoyed getting to hang out with dear Rabbit again, I forget how nice it is having a good girlfriend around! We've had much greasy restaurant food, a good round of frisbee golf in which we all demonstrated our super awesome frisbee skills, much imbibing, lots of gabbing (I don't think I've ever heard "wtf!?" said more than during this weekend, in regards to Owl's recent announcement), some game time (we beat Wolf at Outburst, and he of course kept his title as Scattergories champion) and lots of laughter of course. I'm hoping to catch them again this evening as she'll be headed out tomorrow while I'm at work.

This afternoon I went out for a hike with my hiking buddy to Eagle Bluffs. We took a trail around some of the wetlands and watched the ducks, identified a few. Then we went down through the woods to the river and walked up it aways. We identified some trees and I think I could say with confidence that I can now identify cottonwoods, and possibly ash trees as well. It was nice exploring a different area, since I almost always go to the forest. It was warm and beautiful and perfect. I even got a little sunburned. Springtime makes me so happy!

This is the beginning of my last week in Como! I'll be busy for sure...

My bday v. Zombie Jesus, Ostara and summer plans

I've been busy for me the past couple of weeks. Pet was here just this last weekend to help me celebrate my bday (yay for sharing my birthday with zombie jesus!) and to go to OA for the Ostara ritual on Saturday. Speaking of which, happy belated Ostara! The land is warming up and spring is coming back and I couldn't be happier about it! All in all it was a pretty good weekend, although by Sunday I was ready for some alone time. Last weekend my dear friends Fig and Bear were here for a visit and I showed them all around town. I'll have to go into more detail later. I think I must have picked up a bug from someone, I've been feeling kinda icky all day, I even took a four hour nap. Highly unusual...

My plans for this summer are morphing and changing, but still not totally coming together. I'm still pretty sure I'll be going to Montana, I'll just be going later than originally planned. There are a couple of events in early May that I will get to go to now that I was bummed I would be missing, so that's exciting. I think things will work out better this way. Oh and I just heard from my sister and her husband has been offered a position at our alma mater back in Spring-town, which is just what they had wanted, so woot! I'm happy for them, especially since they'll be closer to family.

More later...

Weekend Madness

This weekend's been mixed. For most of yesterday I hung out with my new friend Comic (what I'm calling him for now), which was pretty enjoyable. We went to the Pinnacles for a hike, had dinner, hung out, talked a lot and had dessert. He's probably the nerdiest person I've ever hung out with, but not overly socially awkward and a really sweet guy. It was good. He'll probably be leaving CoMo soon though, which leads me to think I'm developing a knack for befriending people who have plans to leave town soon. Ah well.

Today was a little crazy....I spent a lot of the day dealing with my car again, this time a flat tire. At least it was on a day when I didn't have to go to work! I ended up having to buy a new tire, which kinda sucks but hopefully it'll last a while. I did finally learn how to change a tire on my car, so that's good right? I was really stressed and frustrated there for a bit and was nearly babbling and fighting through tears when I called my parents to ask their advice. What's up with that?! I generally handle stress well, but for some reason I was really struggling with it today. When my roomie and I finally made it back to my car with the new tire to put it on, two people I knew happened to be around and provided moral support and a really nice lady came by with a fancy power tool she had to screw on the lug nuts. How nice was that? By that time I had overcome the crazy anxiety. I'm still picking that one apart...what was it that made me nearly fall to pieces over a flat tire? Hmm...I'm really grateful to all the people who ended up helping me out today: two of my roommates and a friend for providing rides, at least two strangers for helping out and more friends giving moral support. It reminds me that people can be good ;-)

Great Hike and Lovely Willow

Now here is a lovely looking sunny day....too bad it's only 20 degrees. So that leaves me sitting inside wasting time on the internet and wishing spring were here. I've had enough of this winter! Cabin fever has set in and while hope remains that I will not become permanently crazy, I am still feeling rather wily.

I had the opportunity to enjoy the nice weather yesterday by getting out for a hike at Three Creeks. I had been wanting to go back out there for quite a while. It was one of the first places Owl took me when I first came to CoMo and I had only been back once with Rabbit and Wolf last summer. I had been really wanting to explore it more. I went with a friend and his lady, who turned out to be not quite hardcore hiker material, but she endured it rather well without complaint. Along the way we ran into a fellow hiker who was looking for the cave I had been wondering about. (The cave that Owl and I just happened to have a little romp in ;-). I couldn't recall exactly how we had gotten there and it wasn't on the provided map. So, he invited us to come along with him to find it (he had one of those fancy GPS dealios) and me being the adventurous type, was all for it. My friends agreed and off we went! It didn't take us too long to find, although it took us a while to problem solve our creek crossing, but we made it without getting very wet. My friends ended up heading back before getting to the cave. I was sorry they had to miss it, but maybe another time. It was just as cool as I remembered, although we stayed out considering this is the time of the year when the bats are hibernating (don't want to disturb them). Then I helped my new found friend find a cache, as apparently he's into geocaching. We quickly found it, wrote in the logbook, took a few pictures and were on our way.

So this guy....we ended up talking during the whole hike. It was really enjoyable! We seem to have a lot in common, at the very least we both really enjoying hiking. I felt like we made a good connection, and that makes me happy. Making connections like that with like-minded folks doesn't happen too often, so it's always a really great feeling when it does happen. We both were interested in going hiking together again, so we exchanged information. Woo hiking buddies! I'm VERY excited about this, it's been a while since I've had a good hiking buddy. While I enjoy going by myself at times, it can make a hike much more enjoyable if the company is right. I talked with Willow later in the evening and she claims it is serendipity.

Speaking of Willow...I very much enjoyed our conversation we had last night. Lately we've been able to relate to each other quite well. We've both been in some very similar relationships over the years, it's actually a little odd how many. Sometimes it's as if we are the only people we know who can relate to us and understand us as well (if that makes sense...) Talking with her always makes me miss having awesome women around me, good, strong, loving and compassionate women who give a damn. So, thank you Willow for being so awesome! I miss you babe!

The whosat and howyoudunnit

I have been totally unmotivated to blog lately. There's been stuff to write about though.

• Pine's visit last week that included wandering around downtown, cooking dinners, long serious talks and a long walk down the trail, playing with our toys (hoop, poi, devil sticks, trampoline) during a beautiful 70 degree day, relaxing and a lot of enjoyable conversation and bad puns. I'll have to admit though there were a few times I could've had a bit of time to myself.
  
• I finally taped my hoop! (red and purple of course). I'm so happy to finally have it done and it seems to work better taped. The only problem now is I'm a bit worried about scuffing it up.
  
• Pine very kindly gave me a pair of his practice poi after we had so much fun playing outside. I learned my first move today: the 3 point weave, woot!
  
• The health food store in town finally called to ask if I was still interested in the job I applied for, so hopefully that'll pan out. I've had some issues figuring out my work schedule between two jobs, so now it'll get a little more complicated but that's okay. I need to save some money so I don't mind working more.
• I talked with Owl and found out that he is not coming home like I always felt he was going to. That was the final push I needed to move on, although it did bum me out for a while. I felt it physically, not just in my heart. Something changed. I no longer have a desire to be with him and that feels really, really good.
• After Pine left and after I talked with Owl, I was quite down for a little while. I was finally able to get in touch with Rabbit and we had a long, refreshing conversation. It was kinda depressing talking about how crazy the world is and how frustrated we are and how we feel so out of place. Although I always know Rabbit's around and feels the same way I do about things, I neglect to remember that when I start to feel really alone. So it was uplifting and made me feel better.
• Last night I actually went out, can you imagine? Me going out on a Friday night? Ha. It was different and I'm glad I did. I went to a party at a coffeehouse that an artists' collective was throwing. There was art on display, several musicians, some slam poetry and even some hip hop. It was pretty cool! I wore a rather bohemian hippie outfit and brought my crochet along. I hung out with a few people I knew (mostly from work) and talked with a few I didn't. Later I went to a party, then met someone at a bar, then back to the party. It was alright. It at least served to remind me why I don't go out much.
• I started on a Burning Man list...all the things Pet and I need to talk about. I'm excited already :-)
• This afternoon I went out to a wilderness area for a long hike. It was awesome, good weather for a hike. I almost got myself lost (it's a good thing reading the map wrong didn't hurt me too bad), but was able to backtrack just fine. I saw a lot of forest though, I can never get enough forest. I still had enough light to go outside when I got home and play with my hoop and poi a bit.
  
• I left this last bit of news for the end, it is the most exciting. When I was talking with Rabbit, she asked if I would like to go on the Appalachian Trail with her and Wolf. I said yes! Actually I think I said "hell yes!" Her and I were talking about how frustrating this modern world is, its ridiculous status quo and how it's so effed up that one has to follow all these crap rules of society and not do what you really want to. So I guess you could say this is a "fuck society and let's go do what we really like doing" thing. And of course it would be ridiculously amazing, a crazy ass challenge but one so worth taking on. I mean come on, how often do you drop modern life for six months at a time to walk over 2,000 miles? So, hells yes bitches, I'm taking on the Appalachian Trail. Of course we are leaving ourselves plenty of time to plan and prepare as this isn't going to take place until the spring/summer/fall of 2009. I'm fucking excited as hell.

So yah, that's what's been going on.

Domesticity and Fun in St. Louis

This is me being the Domestic Goddess. The tough, fiercely independent Domestic Goddess, who sometimes likes to make sugar cookies. Delightfully awesome and tasty sugar cookies.

So, as I am sure is obvious by the photograph, I had a good time in St. Louis this past week. The sugar cookie making madness was enjoyed by both Pine and I. He was not afraid to step in and get his hands covered in flour. It was quite cute. I learned that Pine likes to bake, so score yet another point for Pine and his awesome-ness (first the fire-eating, now the baking! whew). It took us at least a couple of hours since I made the whole recipe, so there will be no shortage of sugar cookies at either of our houses anytime soon (that is unless my roommate who is even more of a whore for baked goods than I am gets a hold of them). We even mixed up several colors of frosting and laboriously iced each cookie. That doesn't mean they look very good...I mean really, there is not much finesse involved in icing cookies with a butter knife. However, they are quite colorful and very tasty, and that is all that really matters. It had been a while since I was so domestic. My other domestic activities of the week included making yummy vegan enchiladas, leek soup, late-night pancakes (great munchie food btw), a couple breakfasts and cleaning Pine's kitchen. I know how bachelor men's houses tend to be, and I need a clean kitchen to work in, so, voila! Clean kitchen.

I also spent a lot of time hooping this past week. Pine and I watched a few basic hooping videos, and while Pine was out one evening I finally got the hang of the one hand beam me up, although I have only perfected one rotation at a time. It made me feel good to learn a trick so quickly. Pine was impressed I think ;-) I can definitely feel where the hoop has been rolling around my hips, I even have a bruise already. Ha.

Remember the Shoes video that everyone loved so much a year or so ago? I remembered that I was very impressed with the fire hoopers towards the end, so I looked it up and watched it again with Pine. The fire hooping is pretty hot I have to say. One day, that'll be me.

Pine and I didn't go out much, except for Friday night. We met up with our cool friend Pet, who we have both been wanting to hang out with. I'm going to go off on a tangent here and tell the story of how I met Pet....
Last May, on a lark, (which seems like eons ago now) I went to a Beltane festival at Ozark Avalon with Owl, who is already very familiar with the land and folks who spend time there, unlike me. One of the first people we ran across after we had arrived and set up camp was a tall, tan man wearing nothing but sunglasses and a lacy sarong draped around his hips with a bikini clad woman in tow. I was only slightly taken aback by such a character, as Owl had informed me I would see oddly dressed folks and strange situations at this event. So, I was introduced to Pet. To be honest with you I wasn't very interested at first. I was actually quite guarded for most of the time I was there. I didn't speak with him much at all really and didn't think about him again until a couple of months later when I got a random phone call from an unknown number. The man said he was looking for Owl (who at one point was giving out my number as a way to get a hold of him) and we got to talking. It turns out he was the scantily clad man I had met months earlier at OA. He remembered me as the pretty woman Owl had brought along. It was a nice conversation, albeit a little odd considering the circumstances. He stopped by my work one morning a few days later when he was in town and I almost didn't recognize him because he had so many clothes on! He encouraged me to call him later on since we seemed to get on so well, and I was open to making a new friend, so...we started talking and became instant friends. At one point he told me something that a friend of his had said, "good people know good people". So true. We met again at Pagan Pride Day right around the time of Mabon this September and spent some time together chatting. So, it was nice to finally get to see him again.

So, like I was saying, Pine and I met Pet at a pool hall (where we did actually play a game and have some drinks) in preparation for going to an event which Pet had suggested, Journey to Bethlehem. This is something that he apparently used to go to years ago when some of his family members attended the same church. He wanted to go experience it again with friends he knew would understand the silliness of it all (he said to us at one point during our "journey" that he could "smell the hypocrisy", hehe). Wow. It was quite an odd experience. I think now I have had enough "church" to last me for quite a while. So after "walking to Bethlehem" outside in the very cold weather and being slightly disturbed, we headed back to reality. Pet suggested hitting up the casino just for fun. I wasn't ready to go home yet, and really, what would be a better way to end such an odd Friday night? So, away we went. We didn't actually go inside the casino itself, but we wandered all about and people watched. They all looked kinda sad, or drunk, or both. It wasn't overly exciting, but as I told Pine, it was a good way to balance out the church craziness. It was just great getting to see Pet again! I'd love to spend more time with both Pet and Pine, we seem to make a great trio.

So, that was my week in St. Louis. It was great getting away from my house for a while. I was actually able to sleep rather well at Pine's house. It's so much quieter there than here, without all those crazy dogs running about. I swear this house is like a circus....

Ole Wolfie

I just got back from Wolf's going away party, and I'm feeling pretty bummed. It was fun, I enjoyed hanging out with everyone, but it just made it so real! He's actually leaving!

Wolf is a pretty special guy, and I've really come to love and appreciate him this past year. My circumstances coming here were a little weird and my new home was almost totally ruined for me after Owl and I split. The only people I knew in town besides him were Rabbit and Wolf. I really feel that if it wasn't for the two of them, I wouldn't have stayed here. They made it feel more like home! It took me a little while to really warm up to them, especially considering their connection to Owl, but it didn't take me long to realize that we all had a special connection. It seems we come from the same tribe, and it feels really good to find your people! It also didn't take long for me to start considering Wolf the big brother I always wanted and never had. He said to Rabbit that I was like the little sister he could pick on. He's lucky I'm so forgiving! hehe! I am deeply grateful to have such a friend as Wolf. After the night when I kept him up late talking with Rabbit, then called him on my way home to ask him to help me push my car out of the street (he was there in five minutes!) even though he had to be up super early AND Rabbit was moving the very next morning, it really hit me what a great friend I've got. Not that I didn't already know of course, but some moments just really remind you of what you've got. Under that wild man look (hehe!), he's got a very good heart that really cares. He's a good, warm soul. I will miss him terribly!! Wolf and Rabbit: I've never had friends before who felt like my real family. You two are definitely the family of my heart. I love you!!

Socializing and lack of sleep

I am just exhausted, from too much socializing. Or, much more than I am used to anyway. I keep staying up way too late even though I know I have to get up at 5:30. After several days of this, I'm now really feeling it. Thank goodness I have all day to recuperate! It's been good though, actually getting out and doing stuff. I went to a party (woh, I never go to parties) on Friday night for a bunch of people I work with who are moving away. It was a good time for sure, with a big fire (what a beautiful night!), special "superpowers" and cool people. I stayed out by the fire for most of the night, winter isn't so bad as long as you've got a warm fire to sit by.

Wolf will be joining Rabbit in the big city in a couple of days, so I've been bummed out today. I cried a little this morning before I went to work :-( I'll miss old Wolfie! There's a going away party tonight for him that I'm going to go to. It'll be interesting I'm sure.

I've been missing Pine lately, I'm really looking forward to seeing him again, hopefully soon! I have hopelessly fallen for him and am already distracted. It's crazy. I've learned that you definitely can't just plan these things, life just happens whether or not you want it to. And that is okay with me.

Work Stresses and Rabbit

I've been feeling down the last couple of days, and I think a lot of it has to do with work. I am SO over that place! It's cool and all, but the politics and drama and ridiculousness are all getting to be too much. I'm just getting so frustrated with how things are there, it's just not worth it anymore. Especially considering what I am getting paid. I'm just bummed that even though it's a cool place, it has so many issues and being there just makes me unhappy. So, onwards and upwards! I've been applying at other places around town, mostly downtown. I'm trying to decide whether or not I should sell out and work for the man, although I would much rather work for another local place. We'll see. It's not too urgent that I leave my current job, so I'm not too stressed about finding another one. I did just snag a gig cleaning someone's shop and house once a week, which will give me a little extra cash. It's not much, but every little bit counts.

I am really starting to feel Rabbit's absence. I miss having a girlfriend around! We had a long phone conversation on my way home from St. Louis on Saturday, which was great! It was really nice to catch up and talk about some things that are important to both of us. I am deeply grateful for Rabbit, it's been awesome getting to know her and discovering that we have a lot in common. I feel especially connected with her because we are walking the same paths in our lives right now. Feeling things out, learning, exploring. I'm happy to have someone with whom I can share my feelings, questions and thoughts about our Pagan explorations, without feeling like such an amateur. There are other friends I can talk with about Paganism, but since we are both just getting into it, I feel more comfortable discussing it with Rabbit. Also, it's been such a blessing having someone around who is having the same feelings of fear, frustration, confusion and bewilderment about life in general as I do. I feel much less alone knowing that. And we can talk about these things! That's especially important.

I started on a new jigsaw puzzle last night. Woo geekitude!

How sweet would this be?? Why do we have to be so puritanical in this country?

Fun in St. Louis

Last week I headed to St. Louis for several days for a much needed break from the monotony and frustration of the mundane world. Most of the week I spent with Pine at his cute, cozy house in the 'burbs, just relaxing and enjoying getting to know him more. It is much quieter at his house than mine, so I had lots of good, uninterrupted sleep and I slept in quite late most mornings, which was rather unintentional, but nice for a change. We geeked out a lot with jigsaw puzzles, video games, looking stuff up on Wikipedia and playing with legos. There were plenty of other kinds of fun as well, but I will spare you all the details...

One afternoon Pine and I went to Laumeier Sculpture Park, which was lots of fun. We just wandered all about and climbed on things we weren't supposed to climb on. I'm actually in one of the sculptures at the park in this photo. It was a nice, warm afternoon and I had fun wandering about and playing in the woods with Pine. We were a little spontaneous after the park and decided to head down to the loop to meet up with Willow, whom I just had to see while I was in town! On the way, Pine showed me one of his favorite spots on the WashU campus, "the tree". It was a nice little spot to relax for a bit. So, I met up with Willow and we ate at the awesome falafel place that we both love and had some girl time to catch up before Pine came back (he went home to collect his fire gear). It was great! The food was good too, mmmtabbouleh.... Then Pine and Willow were introduced, and it went well. I think she already has a higher opinion of Pine than she does of Owl. That's not very shocking really.

Then it was fire time! We met up with one of Pine's friends and they played with their fire toys while Willow and I watched and giggled. It was so awesome! I had of course seen Pine eat fire before, but this was the first time I had seen him spin poi. I was quite impressed, and even more turned on ;-) There are some photos on my flickr, although they definitely don't convey the excitement of watching fire spinning in person, but...they'll do. Both Pine and his friend were fun to watch, they performed some pretty neat tricks. It was just a nice evening getting to spend some time with Willow and being so graciously entertained by Pine and his cool friend. I was quite happy that Willow and Pine got along so well. It seems she thinks he is a good pick, yay!

The next evening, Friday, Pine and I stayed in and had fun together. We rolled for a little while, and it was definitely an experience. I didn't feel the physical sensations as strongly as I expected, but I definitely opened up more emotionally. We spent a lot of time talking and being totally honest. It was as if the barriers I have put up were temporarily broken down. I got a little emotional about Owl and clued Pine in on some of what I have been feeling, things I had been keeping quiet about. I think he was surprised at a sudden, unexpected outpouring of emotion. I don't know if I was ready or not to tell him those things, but...I don't feel regret. In that moment I felt very safe, and comfortable with Pine. It was reassuring that he was very much in that moment with me and was able to share with me as well. I think we've had similar experiences with love, and for some reason that made me feel glad. He has never made me feel bad for still loving someone else, nor has he ever made me feel pressured to do or say or be anything. Also, there is nothing expected, and that is a good feeling. So far we have just been in the moment, and that is working rather well. So, back to Friday night...mostly we just sat on the couch in candlelight listening to chill music and enjoying each other. We talked a lot, about a lot of things I don't remember, and of course touched a lot. We had picked up some strawberries earlier in the evening and they were a very good investment. I've never had more fun being fed strawberries, or feeding strawberries to someone else. Mmm! :-D

It was a GREAT week, I so needed to get away from my little world here, as it can really bring me down sometimes. It wasn't too hard coming back, but our little fake world really is mundane.

Pine as Fire Eater

I had never thought much about fire eating before I met Pine, nor had I ever seen anyone doing it in person. Since I have seen it with my own eyes now, I think it's pretty damn hot. More so than I probably would have thought had I ever really thought about fire eating before. I'm not sure what's so hot about it, well...that's not totally true. It can be quite suggestive....and I guess the risk involved turns me on a little too. Pine demonstrated his fire eating skills for me when we went camping together for the first time a few weeks ago, and I tell you what, that was it for me. I was easy pickin' after that. Thinking about his performance that evening still gives me butterflies. I suppose around other people he probably isn't quite as suggestive with it, but...whew. He sure knows how to make a girl blush. Combine that with his fire eating talents and....yeah...I swoon. Is that silly?

Exploring Rocky Fork and Friend Time

The past few days have been absolutely beautiful, so I have been making sure to take advantage! I want to enjoy this weather as much as I can before winter comes. So on Saturday, I had a wild hair to get out and explore some. A good friend of mine had told me how cool it is out at Rocky Fork, which is where Rabbit, Wolf, Owl and I would always go swimming in the summer. I had only been as far as the swimming hole, so I wanted to wander farther and see what I found. It was so nice! I didn't get out there until 3 or so, but it was a good time. The light was perfect, the sun kept me warm and I still had plenty of time for exploring. I found all sorts of great little nooks and peaceful spots. It was so nice to just be able to wander about wherever I fancied to go, mostly off the road. I took so many photos, so I'll just let those do most of the talking. I really enjoyed the time alone, although I do love going hiking with friends.

Yesterday evening I went walking on the Bear Creek Trail with Rabbit. While she ran, I wandered about listening to and watching the birds, picking a lovely autumn bouquet and just enjoying the crisp evening. We walked together some and had some good girl time. I don't think either one of us has totally realized that Rabbit is leaving so soon! I'm trying to get in as much time with my beloved Rabbit as I can. I won't be able to see her again until next summer, which seems entirely too long! I'm already looking forward to visiting her and Wolf though, we've already made plans ;-) After our walk, we went back to her house and hung out with Wolf all evening. We played a game of Outburst, us girls against Wolf, and we won, despite the fact that I wasn't even paying attention half the time because I was a little out of it...ha. I love those guys!

Also, yesterday I finally got to catch up with my dearest Willow (a.k.a. Alpaca Son). It was so nice! I am so grateful for her, and so happy that we understand each other so well. Relationships like that are the stuff of a good life. It's such a huge part of being human!

At Home in the Woods

Oh camping is so much fun! My most recent trip was this past Sunday afternoon through Monday morning, which was much too short but was all the time we had. Since beloved Rabbit is moving far away very soon (in exactly one week!), we all very much wanted to get in one last camping excursion and trip before she left and this was the last chance we had. So, as early as we could on Sunday, Rabbit, Wolf and I headed out to a previously found campsite about a half hour east of town. It was perfect! Free camping, absolutely no neighbors, peaceful and very good energy, what more could we ask? Well, less horse poo would have been nice, but all in all it was a great spot. We set up camp, explored, gathered and organized firewood and prepared for our trip while we waited for Pine to arrive. Once he got there, Pine and I set up our sleeping quarters (see photo) and then...off we went!

It was a good trip. All of us went on a little excursion together before the light died to a dried up creekbed. That's when we are the quietest, entry. So we sat and soaked everything up in the dying twilight, us beginning to peak. The beautiful, subdued fall colors were beginning to pop, and combined with the blacks and grays of the bare trees and the myriad of textures and patterns created in that dusky light, created magic for the eyes. It was a bit rough for me though, but thankfully that doesn't last too long. We lost Wolf for a while, so it was just Rabbit, Pine and I wandering back closer to camp. We found a nice clearing where we could lay down and watch the clouds pass over the moon. It was like a dance. The dusky, smoky purple and gray clouds were fringed with deep oranges and yellows and they would occasionally break to tease you with the slightest glimpse of the amazingly bright moon, waxing past half. Wolf came back soon enough, barefoot and barechested, ready to start spinning his stick. It was mindblowing this time! Such speed and accuracy! It looked pretty awesome too. It's always fun to watch Wolf spin his stick, it's very magical.

Soon we headed back to camp where Pine and I spent some time together while Rabbit and Wolf went off again somewhere to play (it actually worried me later that I couldn't find them! I was like a little lost wolf pup wandering about barefoot along the dirt road howling, listening for a response, wandering, yipping). I, of course, had to have my alone time to commune with the Earth amongst the trees and mosses on the forest floor. It's like worshipping really, paying my deep respects to the greater whole that we are all a part of. So, I had to occasionally wander off alone, I even had to stop Pine from following me once because I needed to be just me. Every time I came wandering out of the forest I was either growling and yipping or calling his name, ha. It really brings out the animal in me.

The two of us were very unsuccessful at starting a fire when we had decided we wanted one, we even totally demolished the prearranged teepee made out of kindling and paper that Wolf had prepared. When they got back from their excursion, Wolf set out to start the fire (after gently berating us with a slight smile on his face and that little gleam in his eye) and to all our delights he furnished us with a warm, roaring fire, the glowing coals of which drew us all in for the rest of the night. Then Wolf brought out his flute (no tears this time!) which did not fail to bring out in me deep feelings and a strong sense of a brother/sister connection. I feel very strongly that Wolf is the big brother I never had. Pine decided to entertain us with his awesome fire eating skills and Wolf accompanied him for a while, which was lots of fun! The rest of the evening we just watched the fire, talked, watched the stars and moon after the clouds all cleared up and just enjoyed the night and each other. Pine and I stayed up for a while after Rabbit and Wolf went to bed and then eventually headed that way ourselves.

Rabbit had to get back to the real world for work in the morning, so her and Wolf left fairly early. Pine and I stayed around a bit, doing some exploring and breaking down camp. I would have liked to stay longer as I really did not want to go back, but it was getting quite chilly. So we decided to head back to town for lunch and a rest before Pine had to head home. I had a hard time coming back, it seems to get harder every time! Work was almost painful the next day, even though I'd had plenty of rest. Dealing with our reality, this "real" world, can be incredibly frustrating, especially after such a trip.

So, despite the fact that it was entirely too short, our camping trip was great. Quite refreshing and very needed.