There and Back Again: Poet Camp

50°f this morning, 10°C, partly cloudy, breezy, supposed to get up to 80°f.

The camp on the Greenbrier River Rail Trail, where we gather and write. This is an old railroad section foreman's house, built in 1909, and the color, believe it or not, is the original "forsythia yellow" used when it was built. You can see the forsythia hedge out front, just past its prime.

Ah, home. How good it is to be back. And yet, how good it was to go. It has been several years since the 4 of us, the Porch Poets as we seem to be getting to be known, have gotten together for a weekend of writing. And write we did! So much good work just seemed to flow onto our paper, just amazing. I think we have the start of Volume 2 of Porch Poems. The library reading went very well, too, a good audience, and sold many books, so all good there. 

At camp, we all share cooking and cleanup.

It was tricky getting there. I had to drive through a little water on our road as a culvert had stopped up, and along many of the roads I traveled as I drove across the state, the water from overflowing creeks and rivers was right at the edge of the road, and very likely was over the road minutes after I passed. Even the camp's driveway was rough:

And cold! Oh my. 35°f in that old camp meant for a very chilly night indeed. The next morning as we were getting ready to leave for the reading the power went off. So after the reading we went out for a mid-afternoon dinner, hoping the electric would be back on by the time we returned. As Kirk said, he might get some funny looks checking into a motel with 3 women! 

I ordered a ramp burger and it was delicious. I rarely eat burgers, but wanted to try this one.

With a glass of Bushmills on the rocks, perfection. If you are unfamiliar with ramps, they are a type of wild garlic/onion, very pungent and highly sought after in these mountains at this time of year. We have a patch at home that we started with some we brought home years ago, and it is thriving. These are waiting to be cleaned, then I will dehydrate them and store away to use in cooking year round.

Thankfully the electric was on when we got back to camp. I took a short walk along the river on the rail trail, and found these:

Morels! Aka mollymoochers, wild fish, etc. Because I was walking slowly (knee was not happy) I saw them easily. I also spotted bloodroot, tiny yellow violets, and other wildflowers that those on bikes or running the trail miss. Sad, that, but I guess not everyone gets as thrilled by such things as I do.

Yesterday morning dawned clear and bright and blessedly warm. It was my turn to make breakfast so I made my specialty: English muffins topped with guacamole,  ham, egg, cheese, tomato, and sour cream, with a side of sliced oranges and glasses of our apple-pear cider.

Then it was back to writing, this time on the porch where we sat in the swings and wrote in the cool breeze of morning. Before leaving, we dug pieces of the huge japonica bush for Cheryl and Sherrell to take home. 

Don't you love that old gate?

I have a large one of these bushes myself, so didn't need a start.

And finally it was time to leave. But plans are underway for a fall get-together, and I am looking forward to that.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.