Too Much Nature

Well, I’ve arrived at Apple Hill and I am about to embark on the scariest night of the year- The First Night in the Shack. I’m currently huddled in my shack trying to convince myself that bats/mice/monsters could NOT fit through the crack at the base of my shack’s door.

My computer has no Internet service in the shack (there is service in the office area), but the phone seems to be humming along just fine. I’m tapping out this post on my phone. It’s an annoying way to write, but not as annoying as sitting around in the eerie silence waiting for a nature induced death. (Which is what I usually do on my first night here.)

So, every year when I arrive here, I go through a process of reacclimation. First I’m horrified, then I’m scared, then I’m resigned, and tomorrow I’ll be happy as a clam. I need a few minutes to make my peace with nature before I can move on with the experince of making music with some of my very best friends, but every year, after a brief inner temper tantrum, I fall back in love with this place.

Even though I’m still in the “scared” phase, I’ve already begun to remember how pretty nature can be. Just a minute ago I stepped out of my shack and gasped outloud at the amazing sky full of stars. It’s so beautiful outside that I thought, “I wish the internet could see this,” so I pointed my phone up at the sky and took this photo so you could see.

(stars not pictured) (but they’re there)

Right after my brush with the beautiful stars I scurried back into my cabin where I intend to remain for the rest of the night. I think I’m going to watch some Columbo DVDs on my laptop in an effort to distract myself from my extreme nature-y situation.