A Letter To Charles

Letters are like journals. This is the first in a series of letters to Charles.

 

 

9/09

Thanks Charles,

Yes....I tossed it as well. I hate it when I do that (throw stuff away and then want it later). 

Did I tell you I pitched the small tent (by myself) in the woods beside of the house and put some rocks in a circle for a fire and pulled the lawn chairs around it for Mia and me to go camping last weekend?  I had it all set up when my Tom got home.  He said no thanks on the camp out but sat around the little campfire and roasted marsh mallows with Mia and me.  He zipped us up in the tent and told us good night then headed for the comforts of the house.  As soon as he left us Mia said she didn't want to go camping (she is two yrs old).  I told her camping was fun and that we would have a lot of fun.  We played with her tiny flashlight and my flashlight for a few minutes until she fell fast asleep.  I always know when she is really sound asleep because she starts snoring.  I went to sleep too...for maybe a half an hour or so until the elk began to bugle...and bugle and bugle and BUGLE!  At first the sounds were far away.  Gradually one bugler seemed to get closer and closer and CLOSER until I knew for sure that he was in the road in front of our house.  There has been one huge bull elk that has hung around our housing area since we moved into the house.  I may have sent you a picture of him before.  He has a huge rack and is so tall and big.  He likes my hummingbird feeder and all summer he visited the backyard to rip down the feeder at night.  The other morning Tom let the dogs out at 6am and they began barking wildly right at the door.  There was that bull right up to the patio at 6am.  So I know this is kind of his territory.  Well, back to the camp out....By this time he was bugleing really loudly.  On top of that some times he would just let out with a "YAK, YAK, YAKKKK".  He proceeded up the side of the house (the side we were camping on) then came towards the front of our little tent.  I could hear his footsteps and the tree limbs snapping (lots of dead tree limbs on the trees).  By this time I was on my knees in the tent (even my sore knee from when I fell into the blackberry thickets in Sedona while picking berries a month ago).  I didn't care.  I was just trying to find my stupid flashlight which would be my only weapon inside the tent.  I couldn't find it. All I had was Mia's tiny little flashlight.  I was hardly even breathing (trying to be very quiet so as not to attract the bull's attention).  Mia, on the other hand, was snoring as loud as any adult.  I tried putting my hand over her face and that didn't stop her.  So I nudged her until she rolled over and stopped the snoring.  When I finally found my flashlight with the long handle the bull had moved through the trees to the back of our tent. He was still doing the yak, yak thing  and I was sure his girlfriends were on their way.  I honestly was scared to death.  I didn't take Mia and make a run for the house because it was so dark and there were jumping cactus EVERYWHERE around us except for the narrow little path I had raked. I didn't scream because Tom wouldn't have heard me (though he was only a few yards away with the bedroom window open).  I didn't want to anger the bull.  I just waited for him to start stabbing the tent with those antlers.  After what seemed forever he wandered towards our backyard (away from the tent) and began his bugling again.  It was very loud but as he wandered off things began to quiet down.  Mia started snoring again and I am sure I did too. We were both up and outta there early in the morning and Tom took the tent down.  I guess it is time to retire the tenting thing.  I don't know for sure if the bull would have attacked us for any reason since it is rutting season.  I don't want to find out though. 

 

Love to you,

Christy