Friday 19 July 2013

The End is Near

15 July

It has been raining since I got to our new campsite yesterday, around 5. This is the kind of weather that makes me want to book into a hotel until the sun comes out again. I rely on the cooks to let me lurk in a corner of the kitchen, soaking up the warmth of their stovetops and ovens. Last year, I would have been the cook, plenty warm while prepping and cooking. Today, I want to make soup. Today, I want to sink into a bubble bath that has steamed up all the mirrors. Today I wish for my overheated apartment. 

The season has gone by fairly quickly, though as always it seems a long time since we left home for the season. Another world, another life, that waits for us to come back to it after our summer sojourn. Can you believe that there is 4 shifts (or so) in two weeks (or so) until the season is done? I barely can. Though, I am trying not to to think about it. Anticipating the end of season too soon is a rookie mistake. 


I am planning some fun events to keep people's spirits up in this last stretch - a beer tasting followed by a talent show, perhaps planter games and of course STEAK NIGHT. I'll dig a long pit to fill with coals and we'll lay the oven racks over them to make one long grill. Steaks will be cooks to each person's taste - red and dripping or fully done. Montreal steak spice will shower and the beer will flow.







18 July

In the morning, the drive out on the Swale (a logging road) is especially beautiful. The light filters through the dust, turning it all to gold. Above, the foothills stand looking nearly as majestic as those they foreshadow. 

19 July

The first impression this camp made on me has been turned on its head. Though the mornings (6am wake) are chilly - by 9 am sunlight has summited the trees to reach the camp. It is then that I will make my way to my office in the far back corner, when I can see the sunlight glowing yellow on the tent. The days are passing slowly and quickly. It is hard not to anticipate the end (rookie move though it may be) and the relaxation and friend and family time that lays beyond our last few days of work back in PG. Soon enough. We are still here.