[at-l] Comet watchin'

[kahlena <kahley7@ptd.net>]

Hiyall...

My work tends to keep me close to home Fri. nite thru Mon, so mostly I 
get out when few other people are.  This week offered the first chance 
of little rain and nite temps above freezing so out I went.
 
Not on the AT, but the Bald Eagle State forest in PA.  Thurs.nite was
just about perfect....
I was a little late getting to my camp spot because the day was just so 
freakin' beautiful.  Cloudless skys and temps that shouted SPRING.
Conditions like this tend to aggravate my normally high level of 
distactability..(is that a word). I was reaching that point of 
contentment which usually takes a week to achieve. 

Camp went together unusally easily and with a pot of chili simmering
on the Zip, I waited for the dusk to deepen and the comet to appear.
At the last minute, I decided to make another water run, to make sure
I had plenty ready in case I decided to light a fire.  So it was pretty
full on dark by the time I had a little stash of wood and lots of water 
at the ready.  
Suddenly I looked around and there it was... Hale Bopp..a silver swath
across the purple sky.  What ever others have said, I can't expand
on...words fail.  And as the other stars dared to show themselves,
still I couldn't stop staring at the comet. No fire this nite...it 
would be an insult to the sky.

I lay on my back, and the incredible sweet smell of the spring woods
made me at least giddy if not dizzy and I just felt sooo goood.

I swear...if I were 48 or 88...there is something about laying under
the majesty of the nite sky that always makes me feel like I'm
eight years old, with all the universe at my fingertips.

It's Sat nite now...and I'm still so calm.  People...friends...you
just must get out into the woods and onto you back and see this 
thing...and let it work some magic on you..		 Kahley
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