If I Should Go Missing, Look for Me Here

The weather was to be sunny and nice on Monday, and so we decided I'd take the day off and we'd head for the woods. It's still a little too cold at night for good backpacking, though we've occasionally done that this time of year. So we decided to compromise and make a day trip of it, and head to a favorite back-country site in the Sproul State Forest.

It's starting to look like spring in town; the snow has melted and you can even see grass. But in the deep woods, it is still winter. There is snow a-plenty, and if there are any backroads you plan to travel to get where you want to go, you might verify travel conditions before getting in too deep. (And I mean that literally!)

In the morning, we packed up some sandwiches and our daysacks and boots and a cooler, and off we went, arriving in the woods by early afternoon. The parking lot where we left the car was covered in snow, but my husband had no trouble at all hossing his car back up into it safely.

The snow was relatively deep in spots, and there were lots of tracks, including some of the largest turkey tracks I've ever seen in my life. Our little campsite was also covered in tracks; it looked for all the world like the critters have been having some kind of dance party in it, without us there.

There is a little pond not far from our campsite that I have posted pictures of on Blip before. We once spotted a fisher at this pond, but I did not get any photos of it, much to my chagrin. I think the most recent pond shot is this one, from February of last year. At this time of year, sometimes the little pond is frozen, sometimes starting to melt.

On this day, the pond was mostly frozen, except for a tiny thawed area by the sunny spot that you can see above, where we set up our chairs and spent part of the afternoon. I did not yet spot any sign of amphibians of any kind. Perhaps a bit too early for that; but in a few weeks, perhaps. . . .

In the photo above, you may see our chairs and daysacks. The big sack in the bottom right is my husband's, and he loves it because he can fit pretty much everything in it. Beside it is my little L.L. Bean teal zippered dragonfly cooler, with our sandwiches in it.

The smaller, darker daysack is mine, and I put it on a groundsheet because the ground was absolutely soaked, and covered in pretty green moss. There's my husband to the right, in his chair, enjoying the sun.

To the left is MY chair, and in it sits my camera bag. The camera itself was in my hands, of course, as I circled the pond looking for the best shots. To the right of my chair is one of my favorite drinks: an ice-cold Diet Pepsi. (I know soda isn't good for you, so I try to limit myself to one a day, usually right after lunch, as a treat.)

If I should ever go missing, you should look for me here: enjoying the woods and waters of wild, beautiful central Pennsylvania, at any and every time of year. With my husband, of course (and often with an assortment of stuffed critters who travel with us, in their travel sacks). Yes, here is where you may find me, time after time.

As a bonus, I've included a photo in the extras of the sunny road we walked out on at the afternoon's end. The sun had started to melt some of the snow which had the road completely covered on our hike in. You may view a summer view of this same road, in all its green finery, here.

The song to go with this inviting image is a favorite tune - Time After Time - and I absolutely cannot believe that this is my first time using it as my soundtrack song since joining Blip! To make up for lost time (or lost time after time, as the case may be), I'm including several of the best versions I know of.

The song was written by Cyndi Lauper, with some help by Rob Hyman of the Hooters. Here is a version performed by Cyndi herself. Here is the original music video by Lauper. Here are the Hooters, whom I've seen and heard sing it live. Here is Cyndi Lauper with some help by Sarah McLachlan. And here is Eva Cassidy's version. Enjoy!