Good weekend

Friends own a membership in a camping resort on Lake Merwyn in Washington State.  The site is stunning.  The lake is deep between steep ridges - Maybe a thousand vertical feet,- and the sites are scattered all up and down, and are hidden from one another. People can put trailers up, but not build permanent structures.  But it makes sense to put a roof over the trailer to keep the winter snowfall from piling up on the flat top of the trailer.  

A little shed to shed the snow.

Of course, If one person puts up a little roof, the next person puts up a little bigger roof and creates a sheltered porch to sit on..  The next person maybe puts up a bigger roof and perhaps a wall to screen the wind. Then a storage shed.  Then an enclosed sunporch with view.

And before you know it, the trailer is just barely visible.  But it still has the wheels on!  It's camping.  Really!

The resort has a beautiful indoor pool, a fabulous swimming zone on the lake itself, boat ramps and docks, stunning views of Mt. St. Helens, roaming does and fawns, peace, quiet, nature, fresh air, serenity. We took the RV up, spent the day with our friends and the night in a visitor site. It was a great escape.

I should have had this photo last week for the letter N.  This is a nurse tree.  Years ago the area was logged off.  A seed landed on top of the decaying stump and took root.  The stump kept it too high for the deer to nibble on and nursed it along to become a fine strong tree.

With my vision problems lately, I have been appreciating being able to see. And oh how I filled my eyes with light and beauty this weekend.  Morning mist drifting over the lake.  A raven soaring overhead.  Sun pouring through the green maple leaves and flashing off the early fallen yellow leaves.  A fawn just losing the last of his spots.  And Mt. St. Helen's as a backdrop to ranks and ranks of ridges fading into the distance.