Paloosa, prairie style

This past weekend, I took a camping trip onto the Prairie and it was much needed. Time to slow down and enjoy the timing of nature. Even though part of the reason is to slow down, those three days spent there went by so quickly. I felt as if I blinked and half the day was gone already. Some of you might be wondering, why I would go camping (yes, my sort of camping is in a tent) in a “prairie.”

Well, technically the prairie is part of 120 acres of a family friend’s off-the-grid abode. Once a year the owners of said abode invite family and friends to enjoy an extended weekend full of laughter, good company, yard games, piñatas (this year she literally made it out of cardboard… to “make it stronger and more challenging”), live music (they run a generator for the music), delicious food, tie-dye, henna tattooing, karaoke, and honestly there is so much more. Oh, duck races! We take little rubber duckies and get super creative creating a race for them.

When walking to your tent at night, if you leave a group at the campfire, you can hear the coyotes having their own gab session too. There were some nights throughout the years that were much harder to fall asleep with the cackling and howling at the moon that they do. My mind runs wild most days and nights, and I seemed to have made it through all those nights I was more on the scared side of a bear, bigfoot, coyote or who knows - a mountain lion would come and eat me - but I am still here.

There is an outhouse on the property called a ‘biffy’ that is somewhat in close proximity to the house, as well as a separate stall for a shower that is placed off closer to the wood line. I don’t think I would be able to give up the luxury of in-house bathing and also indoor plumbing. The mosquitoes already thought I was a tasty treat. I can’t imagine if I decided to bath on a normal basis in an outside shower stall. To take a shower is a lot of work there too for the water is out of a pump from a well. So, you have to hand pump the water into five gallon buckets or larger, heat the water (if you wanted a hot shower), carry it over to the spot, hook it all up with the water system and voilà… a shower.

All in all I had a great time. Unfortunately no duck races happened this year but the enjoyment level never ceases to dampen. There have been years when there was so much rain that people got flooded out of their own tents in the prairie in the middle of the night. Luckily we made it through those years and have stories to go along with them. There were murmurings around the coolers and campfires that this may be the last year, and for my sake and many others, I hope that is all just talk. Like I told Judy this year, “I don’t realize how much I needed to be here until I am actually here and take my first Prairie Paloosa breath.” It’s such a nice reset for my body, my soul and outlook on life. The camaraderie, the nature, the food and good times - I will always look forward to one of my safe places.