Getting back to ........

They call it getting back to nature .

A trip like the one I just took thrusts you head long into everything Mother Nature has to offer, both good and bad !

With no electricity , no tv , no one to talk too, it’s easy for a person to focus on things that they can’t focus on while battling the daily grind of life .

When I go on one of these trips, what I enjoy most of all , is the solitude it provides me .

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy camping and fishing with Lisa or friends also. As a matter of fact, by the end of each trip like this, I am excited to share my time and adventures with anyone who will listen.

No , I am far from the hermit type person who would relish in never seeing another soul for as long as they existed .

I love my wife , my family, and my friends too much to slip off into the woods and never return.

I do however enjoy one or two trips a year where I can “get back to nature “ as they say .

I think part of the enjoyment of a solo trip is the lack of responsibility I feel when I am alone .

I know that may sound selfish to some but hear me out .

When I camp alone, I don’t have to worry if anyone else is having fun.

I don’t have to worry about the fish not biting and trying to figure out how to catch fish so the person I am with is having fun.

I don’t have to worry if what we are doing is enjoyable to who I am with .

You see for me, these trips are 100% about me .

I get to do what I want , when I want, and I don’t have to worry about anyone but myself .

Selfish ? Maybe .

When I was growing up, I was very much a loner .

Most fishing trips or time afield were taken alone .

When I was too young to drive, I would ride my bike to any and all fishing spots I could get to.

Once I had a car my territory expanded, and I would often strike off alone for a day’s fishing to exotic places like The Forks and Rangeley.

Yes, I fished but I also explored on every trip . I would check out everything I found along the way .

I would roll over rocks just to see what was underneath.

I would take a trail just to see where it went.

I would follow a brook for miles just to see where it ended up and see if maybe, just maybe, there was a waterfall somewhere along it .

As a child I found more things under rocks, at the end of the trail and around the next bend in the brook than I have since I became an adult .

For some reason as an adult, I lost or gave up the full pursuit of exploration that I cherished as a kid . Yes , I did some over the years but nothing like I did as a youth.

I can’t tell you the last time I rolled over a rock just to see what was under it.

I normally don’t follow a trail if I don’t know where it goes, in my hurried adult life, time afield usually means going to places I know, to ensure no time is wasted and the best possible experience can be had with the little time I have to spend .

So you see for me the chance to head off into the woods at least once a year alone, is a precious gift.

To leave the hustle and bustle of life behind .

To have zero distractions from tv, radio, no politics , no work worries , no Facebook , emails, or messages !

No news, headlines, or soundbite of the day!

No, I have nothing to focus on or worry about from everything our modern lives have become .

To spend 4 days and not say a word may sound strange to some but to me its enjoyable!

I guess it’s not about getting back to nature .

Really , I guess for me,

It’s getting back to “self”.

I rolled over rocks, I took trails that lead nowhere, and I followed streams just to see where they went.

Just me and who I used to be getting aquatinted again .

We had a great time !

Let me tell you all about it !