Astanga

Camping, Day 2 (This post was written and posted on my return)

We had a bit of rain overnight, but I slept like a baby in an 8-person tent with a thick air mattress and a '-30C rated' down sleeping bag. In fact, I slept better than I often do at home (must be the fresh air).

Camping wasn't always so luxurious. When I went on my first camping trip six years ago, I crammed myself and my dog into a tiny, 1-person-1-dog 'pup tent' with no mattress pad, no pillow. I was all smug because I thought I was 'toughing it.' Well, I don't tough it anymore! ;-)

I cooked up pancakes for breakfast on our camp stove, arranging them artfully on the plate along with fresh strawberries, blueberries and a dab of vanilla yoghurt (and real maple syrup). I'm in awe of how well pancakes cook up over butane. Who knew? I'm never gnawing on a stale bagel for breakfast again while camping. No more oatmeal! There are alternatives!

My practice was fabulous today. I did the full Primary and this time I followed along with my favourite 'Beach Beryl' MP3 (yesterday was self-led; I had my hands full with the mosquitoes)

Speaking of which...I made a discovery! The hotter it is, the less pesky the mosquitoes are. They don't like heat or dry air or stiff breezes. I waited until these three conditions converged, then unrolled my two mats in the sunshine (I doubled up, which is way more comfortable on the hard ground - creature comforts, remember?).


I had a fabulous practice. I took my time, stopping whenever I wanted to, occasionally petting the dog, waving at a friend on a neighbouring campsite, pausing to lay on my mat and look up at the clouds drifting overhead.

I propped my camera on an ice cooler for my weekly State-of-the-Backbend photo. My backbend isn't so impressive but check out that beautiful scenery!


After a brief Savasana in the tent, I grabbed a vodka-and-lemonade cooler and retired to my hammock where I swung lazily, got incredibly tipsy (I don't often drink alcohol so it doesn't take much) and listened to music on my iPod. This was probably the highlight of the entire trip. I was so happy!

The rest of the day was spent with friends. We laughed and shared stories over drinks, chatting well into the evening. I cooked up veggie fajitas for the entire gang. We gathered around the campfire and cooked banana boats for dessert.

Sometime close to midnight, I took a long walk under a sky full of stars with my favourite person in the whole world, pointing out constellations and stars I've known intimately since childhood. The Milky Way lit our path back to the tent where we fell into a deep sleep.