On the afternoon of Oct 25th we embarked on our last camping trip of the year. We arrived at our old standby favorite camp site just north and a little east of Talkeetna about 5:30pm and knew we had to hurry because it was moving quickly toward dark and It was already fairly cold with a dusting of snow to promise winter might just yet beat us home. We set up our tent and I gathered first kindling and then wood for the fire while you prepared dinner.
We ate a wonderful meal, steaks, camp fire baked potatoes, and a scrounged up couple of corn-on-the-cobs that were really good for this late in the year. You had a couple of glasses of wine and I stayed with my usual lemonade.
By the time we'd eaten and cleaned up, it was almost dark and we stoked up the fire and pulled our chairs close and settled in for a really relaxing campfire evening. You seemed to be just a bit anxious which is really unusual for you. Being in the woods and more or less alone in camp with a perfect fire and even just a touch of snow falling was usually the atmosphere that calmed you down and relaxed you the most from the day to day dealings with the folks and the bureaucracy. We sat and talked for a while and as the natural gaps in conversation became periods of quite listening and absorption into our surroundings, you really seemed to be a bit on edge.
So I wasn't really surprised when you excused yourself and got up and headed to the truck. I figured you were going behind the truck to pee and really thought nothing of it.
But DAMN, was I ever surprised a few minutes later when I looked up and there you stood, just outside the tent, beautifully naked and posed to draw my attraction, which you obviously did. I could see the trepidation on your face, the fear and the panic just under control, but also the determination to fulfill a promise you'd made to yourself to open up and step completely out of the shell you really hadn't even been aware of just a few weeks earlier.