September Sunset, Quehanna Wild Area

"The weather's just too nice. We HAVE to go out," my husband said on the phone, as he called me at work around lunchtime. The night before had been pretty chilly - one of the first few early-fall evenings, followed by a lusciously beautiful, cool, crisp, blue-sky day. He wanted us to leave for the woods as soon as I got home after work.

I admit I balked. It had been a long and stressful week and all I was looking forward to was having it be over, so that I could go home. I work at a University, and the start of semester is always a hectic time. Add to that a couple of important meetings to run, and you've got one exhausted GirlWithACamera, by the time it was all done.

But my philosophy of marriage is this: If there is something that my husband asks of me, that will make him happy, and if it's reasonable, I try to say yes. (And I hope that he responds the same way to requests I make of him.) And so I told him that I'd be happy to go along with him to the woods - but only if it was a car-camping expedition, which is much easier to prep for than a true backpacking trip.

I got home Friday around my normal time, and we ate something quickly. My husband had already packed the cooler and had his gear waiting by the door. All I had to do was pack a few things myself, set the automated cat feeder, and throw some items in the back seat, and we'd be heading for the woods.

And so less than one hour later, I was back in the car, we had all our gear packed, and we were headed to our favorite car-camping spot in the Quehanna Wild Area. And of course, once I got to the woods, it was as it always is: it was beautiful out, and I was very glad that I came!

We parked my car and put out our chairs, and there we sat, talking and listening to music for hours. About a half-hour before dusk, we set up our tents, meanwhile admiring the pink clouds at sunset over the Susquehanna River Valley. Just before it got truly dark, I took a few photos, of which this was one.

The song to accompany this photo is Tom Petty's Free Fallin'. It's not really topically related to this scene, except that it was one of the many songs we listened to as we watched the evening fall. And it describes perfectly the feeling of freedom that we go to the woods to experience. Gonna free fall . . . out into nothin', gonna leave this world for a while . . . On this particular version, Tom gets a little help from Axl Rose. Enjoy!