We spread out the tarps to the light of the flashlights, zipped up our sleeping bags and lay back, our backs against the ground and our hearts reaching out to the stars. We saw four shooting stars, watched Orion step above the horizon and fell asleep with the cool October breeze brushing our cheeks.
Basking in apricity
Getting some fresh air among the pines
Watching sparks drift into the summer night
Listening to coyotes calling in the western forest
Regrouping at the merging of Smudge Creek and Head River
Cross-country skiing in the wildlands
Pulling as close as we dared to the dancing flame
Circled around a fire underneath swaying cedars
Chasing away the cold of winter