Back to the river

[Even if it was only for a few short days]



September 19, 2013


After lunch and last minute stop in at the office (and throwing a few more essentials into the car) DH and I headed off. It rained off and on and for most of the trip we worried less about creatures on the road than about the potential for water on the road. Just after 5 p.m. we realized we weren't sure how we would get into the "resort." My call reached the answering machine.

When you visit the river "off season," there's no telling whether there would be office hours (and if so, what those might be). We talked about where we would stay if we happened to be too late to check in. Then we remembered another time when we arrived to find the office locked, but the lights on and door unlocked at  our cabin.

So we continued on. Darkness closed in on us.

DH focuses on the road ahead.

Dark sky - camera captures lights of an 18 wheeler passing by

 We bid farewell to our cell phone reception about 45 minutes before we rolled up to the resort. The gate was open, but the office dark. [And we weren't even sure which cabin we had rented.] Then, in the headlights we spied a sign taped to the office door - our name and directions to just head to the cabin and worry about the paperwork in the morning.

Our note

The lights were on at the cabin where we usually stayed and we found keys and a parking tag on the table.*

We unloaded our stuff in a drizzle and wandered down the road to the river. DH had a small flashlight to keep us from falling in a pothole or tripping over cypress roots. The river was deserted - no other fools with a need to dip their toes in the frigid water that late, in the rain (just me). But we took stock of the dwindling stream, the new steps, the clean banks, the new dams, and the quiet. Cicadas hummed and acorns dropped from above our heads. Only one campsite showed signs of life.

We headed back up the road to our cabin as the mostly-full moon suddenly peeked out from behind the clouds. That was our "walk," down to the river and back again.



* We have camped/stayed at this spot along the river since I was a child. As my brothers and sister and I began to arrive with spouses and children, it always seemed that Mom and Dad would have gotten there first. They picked up our keys, opened our rooms, turned on the air conditioners and saw to it that all was ready when we arrived. Showing up at 9 p.m. to find the lights on and all made ready made it feel a little more like coming home.


 NOTE: The drive was a little crazy at times and, as the rain stopped/night came on, we began to worry that the deer and other creatures might be out. A few miles north of our stop I noted a large buck (exotic, not whitetail) starting across the road. 

"Deer, deer, deer....big (($@#(@U&$)@#) deer!" burst from my mouth. 

At first I could not tell if  DH had  seen the buck - did he think I was "sweet talking" him at first - did I need to "get serious?" Once he had slowed the car and the deer crossed before us (and as he laughed at the curse), DH commented that he had seen the deer all along, but was afraid to engage the brakes too quickly on the rain-slick road. We kept this moment in mind through the weekend. Deer were everywhere.