House boat trip

If you ever went to sleep away camp do you remember how it was when you got back home? Everything was bigger than you remembered and you kept on singing "It's a Grand Old Flag"? You couldn't stop thinking about how great camp was? That was exactly how it was about our houseboat trip up the Suwanee River in perfect weather, not a cloud in the sky, the stars at night so thick, fish jumping and no sign of human habitation as far as the eye could see. There were six of us, all good friends, but never had we been in such close company for four days and nights. We naturally fell into the roles of ship's captain, cooks, scientists, springs swimmers, scullery helpers.

 All of us were loungers and close observers of the incredible passing scene of pristine cypress, birds and jumping sturgeon.

No one ever voiced it, but somehow we all seemed to breathe a sigh and stop talking about politics and issues. The last crossword puzzle from the NYT was done before the first dinner, and then we had NO MORE NEWS for four days! None of us noticed.

What we noticed was such stuff as a huge migration of the tiniest insects you could imagine, all flying in an incandescent cloud from the river one misty morning. It could have been a once in a year thing like grunions running. But we wouldn't have noticed it in our regular lives. We examined every blooming flower, every huge alligator, every turtle and snake.

And we noticed each other in ways one never does at a dinner party. All of us were in long term marriages and we all have grown kids. But we did not talk much about our children or grandchildren or health.  It was truly a time for us. We cared for each other with cooking great meals, taking care of this funky houseboat, laughing a lot, and remembering people and places and events. We put together an enormous puzzle, and we even played games. We looked at each other really closely and celebrated our wrinkles and fit muscles. And our friendship.

Kind of depressing to return, making the drive from the boat dock, listening to NPR and the same old stuff.