Knit 'n' NASCAR

I Remember Mama

A little over a year ago, my dad called me while I was out with friends and tilted my world on its axis.   Mama Knascar had cancer.  Oh, they didn't know entirely what was going on - how advanced it was, which cells it was destroying, what the prognosis was. 

We didn't know we'd have less than two months with her.

As I am wont to do, I'm exceptionally good at burying my head in the sand and ignoring things I don't want to confront, but as this time of year has descended upon me, I've had trouble keeping my feelings at bay.  I'm not entirely sure I'm meant to.  

See, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was my mother's time of year.  She loved planning what presents she was going to get for people all year long.  She baked cookies for all branches of the family and drove my father crazy with decorations.  Those kitschy aisles in Michael's made her ecstatic, and I picked up my unpleasant habit of singing along with Christmas carols under my breath while in public from her. 

The next couple of months are going to be hell, pure and simple.  I don't think I realized quite how much until now.  The plan is to go home for Thanksgiving with my dad and grandmother - I really need to get on with ticket searching.   Papa Knascar and I are thinking about heading to Savannah for Christmas though.  Neither of us really wants to be in Columbi for that time of the year.

Six-month hiatus

That's about how long it should be before it's time to drag any of my camping gear back out of the basement.  I am SO not cut out for cold-weather hashing.  Last night wasn't too bad, but it dipped below freezing on Friday night and it was coooooooooooooooold!  Thank goodness I remembered every article of fleece I owned; as we were unpacking the car, my friend realized she'd forgotten to pack her sleeping bag.  Fortunately she could borrow a friend's one night and then borrowed layers for the second when it wasn't quite as cold.

Despite the Camp Crystal Lake, the campsite was really pretty.  Saturday dawned with a heavy layer of fog, but once it burned off it was an absolutely beautiful day.  I spent the day doing absolutely nothing but lounging around, taking pictures of shenanigans and the scenery and when that was done, there may have been a midday nap.

 

As glad as I am to not have to even think about digging my tent out again this year, I'll miss what camping means.  I only see a lot of my Hash friends a few times a  year and it's always in the woods in some remote countryside.  It's probably for the best; my body can't take much more this.  Fortunately, I don't have another big event until the beginning of December, so I have a month to dry out and recover.

Camping is fun!

Camping is fun!
Originally uploaded by knascar

My GOD it was cold last night!

On the road again

I wonder how many blog posts I've titled that, especially this year.

Most of my bags are packed; I've got a couple of last minute things to find and throw into a bag, but other than that, I'm ready to get rolling.  I've never been to this particular campsite before - it's somewhere in central VA, near Richmond.  I don't anticipate it being any less debaucherous than any of the other campouts I've been on this year, but since the temperatures will be WAY lower, maybe it won't be quite so crazy.  The best news, though, is that there is zero precipitation forecast.  Hopefully my gimpy tent can make it thorugh one more outing.

Time to go take the cookies out of the oven and make one last supply run.  Wish me luck!

Mullligan!

While technically it is after midnight here in Washington, DC, I still haven't gone to bed yet, so I"m still considering this to be Thursday's post. 

I've spent the evening dealing with a flooded basement (washing machine gone wild) and trying to get everything together to go camping tomorrow.  This is yet another terribly bad idea.  I still have the sniffles, although the death-rattle cough seems to have finally gone away.  At least the forecast calls for little chance of rain, but the low tomorrow night is supposed to be in the mid-thirties.  To say every article of fleece clothing that I own is in my duffel bag would not be an understatement. 

Whether I will be able to blog from the wilds of Central VA remains to be seen.  Wish me luck!