Herondipity

Heron at Bethel Beach

If serendipity is making fortunate discoveries quite by accident, then herondipity is the good luck associated with having the camera handy as a heron is taking off in flight, even if the person taking the photograph is not good at action shots and even if it's very difficult to tell in that last photo what exactly is going on.

Speaking of serendipity, there was precious little some of that involved in Chesapeake Bay Woman's weekend camping trip over on the Eastern Shore, but not enough to outweigh her normal vacation luck, which summarized succinctly is as follows: Murphy's Law.

Once upon a time, Chesapeake Bay Woman completely forgot she was 46 years old and decided to take two teenagers and two almost teens on a weekend camping trip over on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay.

For those who struggle with numbers and word problems, as Chesapeake Bay Woman does, that's one absolutely insane 46-year-old female and 4 children, 2 of whom are not her own.  1 tent. 2 hours away from home on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay where the weather forecast every single day in August is "There's a 100% very good, if not excellent, chance of a spontaneous thunderstorm, and that already excellent chance goes up exponentially if CBW is camping in a tent over here, y'all."  

She also forgot what it was like setting up a tent in Amazon Jungle humidity, just as she forgot how uncomfortable sleeping on the ground is at her age.  And she also forgot how much she dislikes taking a shower in flip flops* with 100 of her closest camping neighbors, all of whom were from the state of New Jersey, a state that evidently encourages people to talk very, very, very, very loudly. No matter where they are and no matter who else is around.  Whatever is on their mind is also on yours.

Hi, Maria from NJ!   Since I have decided you must win the 2011 Blog Cabin, I automatically consider you a Virginia resident already, so please don't be offended at my blanket remarks about your lovely Garden State and its many citizens, all most of whom were on vacation with me this weekend. They're very nice and mean well, I'm sure.  But evidently they can't hear very well because they're always shouting even in casual conversations.  Don't forget the Vietnamese spring rolls.  Thanks!

The serendipitous part of the camping weekend, which was the actual camp site and its spectacular view of the Chesapeake Bay, will be shared tomorrow after I've had time to consult a therapist load the photos.  The un-serendipitous part, also known as The Storm, will be shared tomorrow too.

No photos are available for that Middle of the Nightmare Event other than the flashbacks I'll be experiencing for the rest of my life.

Stay tuned.

Have a great week.

-cbw

To read about CBW's family history of camping fiascos, please click here or here or here. 

*  CBW brought only one pair of shoes on her camping trip:  flip flops.  These same shoes broke before she took her first communal shower (flip flops are essential for communal showers, by the way).  For the remainder of the trip she was forced to wear her daughter's purple Converse low tops.  By this point in the trip, which was the same day she woke up after two precious hours of sleep with sand on her face after the previous night's gale-force winds caused her to almost catch the campground on fire, she just. Didn't. Care.