The Other Cabin Fever

No, not that one.

Well, originally that one. A few months ago I did something extremely out of character—I jumped on making reservations for a cabin I’d never seen, in a park I’d never visited, because there were nights available. Mount Lemmon had been closed because of the pandemic, then caught fire, and I didn’t know when we’d be able to go there again and I couldn’t imagine staying home any longer, and so I started looking elsewhere, and then I jumped on the first thing I found.

Camping, you see, is about as safe as you can get right now, especially the way we camp—as far as we can get from everyone, avoiding people like they might carry plague long before the pandemic.

Anyway. This past weekend was, at last, our weekend.

Behold our weekend home, as the sun set. Ahead of the cabin, the lake.

Behind the cabin, the mountain. I took this picture farther around the lake, so our cabin is in it.

Meet some of our neighbors.

Several of these guys dropped by Friday night to see if we’d left anything out for them. Sadly I did not take a picture. I did take a picture of the one I ran into raiding the snackbox (read: trash can) outside the restroom at four in the morning, but all you can see are its eyes glowing red, so we’ll skip that one.

These birds would come in the evenings and chatter and flit about these reeds sticking out of the water. I guess dinner was snails? Maybe?

I just love these silhouettes. The big heron is a white one, perhaps an egret? I don’t know their range, but he’s all white with some really pretty tail feathers.

Here’s another picture. I think that’s a great blue heron flying past him? Really proud of this shot. I am trying to learn patience through my camera lens! I was watching the white one, when the other flew by and he reacted.

Dawn over the lake. The first night was so cold and/or the heater in the cabin wasn’t working. I froze my butt off, did NOT sleep well, and got up to stalk about with my camera instead of lying there being miserable.

Dawn light on trees! Really pleased my camera didn’t wash out the color, as it likes to do when I don’t know exactly how to take a picture.

Another neighbor! This little one dropped by often to see if we’d dropped anything tasty.

Second dawn on the lake, and my heron friend going for a walk.

Good news! The tripod I gave myself for my birthday works well! Here’s my favorite constellation (so far. I also bought myself a constellation book, since I only know the Big Dipper, Orion, and will probably realize if I’m looking at Venus, and that’s pathetic.)

For Christmas I bought myself a good set of binoculars. I’ve always loved astronomy (can’t tell by my lack of knowledge, I know, but anyway) and photography, so I’ve decided it’s time to learn more about both.

I was hoping to put a little more substance into this post, but I think my brain is still hanging out on our little cabin’s lovely porch swing. Alas (lucky brain!)

I just wanna go baaaaacckkk…I’ve got cabin fever now, and I don’t believe I’ll ever fully recover.