Our sleeping bags are airing out on the back porch. The sun has come up, and I’m off to an early start for the day. After sleeping out under the stars last night, I feel grounded and connected. Sometimes we have this mis-perception that camping out requires extensive planning, a long trip to a state park, and lots of extra hassles. In the summer time, Brenton and I like to sleep out at least once a week. Usually we decide to do this at about 9 o’clock at night. As I am getting ready for bed, I pull the sleeping pads out of the closet and unroll the sleeping bags. Everything gets laid out on the back deck and we fall asleep wondering, again, what is so fascinating about looking at the stars.
This morning the day peeked through and I woke up at 5 a.m. I think I would sleep a more appropriate amount of time if I didn’t have such a comfortable mattress. I read somewhere that sleeping 6-7 hours seems to be optimal for long life. Sleeping 4 hours or less can mess with glucose metabolism, and sleeping more than 8 hours just makes me tired. When I woke up at 5 a.m. I was ready to go after just 7 hours of sleep. I was awake enough that I couldn’t sleep again with just a sleeping bag and a camp mat underneath me. Now, it’s only 2 1/2 hours later and I’ve finished my housework for the day. If I could be this productive every day, I think I could take over the world.
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This week has been one of the busiest of the summer. We found a neighbor who has a cherry tree, and she wasn’t going to harvest the cherries. So far we have picked almost 18 lbs of cherries from her tree. We are also working on another (smaller) sour cherry tree. This same neighbor has enough fruit to keep Brenton and me busy for a long time. As the summer progresses, we will be harvesting plums, apricots, pears, apples, and raspberries from her yard.
