When an opportunity presents itself.....take it! The Milky Way shining over Northern Ontario. With a new moon and very little cloud cover, all that was left was to search for a position over the water to provide a meaningful reflection. How many times is that going to happen?! All I needed was one time. At the right time. Take the moments when “the stars align” and give them your all. Then watch the greatness unfold.
It’s not often I get the opportunity to be in Northern Ontario. The days are quiet and the nights even more so. Having my camera with me is the icing on the cake!
A long weekend of camping in the great outdoors is a real treat. It’s been so long though, that I’ve forgotten how amazing the sights and sounds of the days and nights can be. Unfortunately, this particular weekend brought some rain with it, so there were limitations on some of my hopes for night photos and bright morning sunrises.
The first two nights did not cooperate, with rain or drizzle most of the time. It’s hard to stay motivated to participate in “the great outdoors” when you’re cold and damp most of the time. There’s always hope for tomorrow, right? The problem is that the weather app was calling for much of the same. Oh great. The weather trifecta for three nights of camping. How wonderful……said no one ever.
The last full day started off rather dreary. It wasn’t raining, so that was a huge improvement! One I would gladly take. But it was still cloudy and grey. Grey days have their advantages when taking photos, but I wasn’t seeing any of them working out for me that day.
By the time dinner rolled around I could see blue patches start to appear overhead. I noted this without bothering to get my hopes up. Someone once said that “if you don’t have expectations, then you won’t be disappointed”. Good advice, and especially in this instance.
The day wound down very quietly. Dinner provided a full belly and the camping gear was mostly dried out. Packing non-essentials for the trip home tomorrow had commenced. It wasn’t the win I wanted, but I’d take it. Time to light a campfire and reminisce on the soggy adventures of the weekend.
Do you ever sit at the campfire and YOU are the one that always gets the smoke….or is that just me. Sitting there trading stories of the weekend provided for some laughs, and at one particularly good one, I gasped to catch my breath between giggles. And that’s when that big ol’ plume of smoke arrived at my side of the fire. I probably inhaled the whole thing. At least that’s what it felt like.
The coughing fit that ensued was pretty darned impressive. I’d hazard a guess that a standing ovation from both Cheech and Chong could be a distinct possibility.
Do you ever think sometimes that the universe is giving you subtle hints? Nothing too outlandish, but the odd nudge to push you in a direction. Do coughing fits count as subtle hints?
I had to move away from the fire to catch my breath and cough out the remainder of the charred maple tree still swirling about in my lungs. It was a little brutal, to say the least. But apparently necessary, as I would learn.
Once I was clear of the light from the fire, I was able to look out over the lake and gaze across at the reflection of the Milky Way on the still water. What? Milky Way? Yep. There it was in all its glory. The universe. The not-so-subtle nudge is acknowledged.
Well would ya look at that! The clouds were gone and there were stars everywhere! In an instant I knew what my plan would be. Grabbing my gear, I headed to the truck for the short drive to the spot I had already picked out. The road was a little higher than the lake, and the point where our camp site was situated was about 200 yards in front of me, with a small bay in between.
It was exactly how I pictured it would be.
That lung full of smoke actually did me a favour and got me moving. Who knew? It nudged me into the opportunity to look around, and it was perfect. Thank you, Universe. For the opportunity and for the view!
