Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: camping
At the End of a Long Dark Road There were Falling Leaves
Yesterday, I woke up in our camping van and pushed aside the window shade. Outside, the sun was rising and there was a gentle wind blowing. Every minute or so, a solitary red maple leaf would be let go by its tree and fall… Continue Reading “At the End of a Long Dark Road There were Falling Leaves”
The Story of the Welcomer
It was really the sweetest thing. A woman pulled up next to our campsite, got out of her truck, and walked toward us holding a white paper bag with handles. It was early and we were still drinking our first cup of coffee, having… Continue Reading “The Story of the Welcomer”
Night Fall
It is very hot so we unzip the flaps and open the tent windows to capture the slight breeze somehow dipping into the valley where we are camped. We are late to find a campsite because the first park was full, twenty slots with… Continue Reading “Night Fall”
That Camping Life
At first, the rain falling on the roof of our tent was lovely. Delicious. I lay under a heavy sleeping bag looking at the tent’s ceiling, seeing the shades of moonlight sneaking through the roof vents and thought, this is so fine – to… Continue Reading “That Camping Life”
Fellow Travelers
An extremely tall, skinny man, wearing coveralls and sporting a beard that hung like a wispy curtain passed us on the way to the bathroom saying that his young daughter wanted to “pet our pups.” So, we walked slowly and reluctantly in the direction… Continue Reading “Fellow Travelers”
Camping Tomorrow!
We hauled the five-gallon gas container out of the garage because we’re taking our first road trip in a year and a half to a part of the country where people are filling plastic bags with gas because they’re worried about running out of… Continue Reading “Camping Tomorrow!”
Adaptation
We were set. Ready to ramble around Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. But then something happened at home and we had to turn around. We drove nine hours, most of it in a driving rain, to get back to where we needed to… Continue Reading “Adaptation”
The Man at the Boat Launch
He drove up just as we were starting lunch at the picnic table under the trees at the boat launch. A black Dodge Ram truck with a squat camper like all the autoworkers used to have in Flint, pulling a flat bed trailer with… Continue Reading “The Man at the Boat Launch”
The Unbelievable Reality of the Pit Toilet
The pit toilet saves people the indignity of scrambling through the forest, burrowing into the brush, risking poison ivy of the ass, and the heart-stopping appearance of a woodland creature to do something that ordinarily requires about a 10-second walk down the hall. It’s… Continue Reading “The Unbelievable Reality of the Pit Toilet”
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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