Finally, we arrive at Wednesday morning. Like most people, we arose with the sun, more or less, joining the other sleep dusted people wandering about and waking up. A woman drove by in her tiny car, packed full, steering with one hand, brushing her teeth with the other. Curls of woodsmoke lazily drifted from banked fires. We went off in pursuit of coffee. Started to feel a bit more woke, and took the second cuppa over to the circle of chairs around the council fire. Sat and listened to people talk, and it wasn’t long before Travis Harden stopped by, and regaled us with a groaningly awful joke, which got boos and laughs. Some new people came and sat, and we talked about where they were from, and other things. Rick decided to grab his walking stick and go walkabout. I’m kind of hard to move from that fire, especially in the morning. It’s nice there, and people come and go, you get to meet all kinds of people, talk, and have fun. Rick got back in time for oatmeal with raisins, while I continued to drink coffee like I had never tasted it before. The clouds got heavier, and it was a bit chill, so we went back to camp to get warmer clothes, then I went on walkabout with Rick. We had a nice meander by the banks of the Cannon Ball river, saw gumweed, licorice, and more, and said a good morning to the grasshoppers.
We resumed wandering about, mostly quiet, many people were still waking, or going about morning business.
Then it was back to the communal area, where we were in time to see the buses coming in from Wakpala school, and everyone cheered like crazy for the kids.
People were hanging out, all the regular stuff when…the rain came. See Part 7. :D Oh, and I apologize folks, but that won’t be up until morning, I’m exhausted. Click images for full size. © C. Ford, all rights reserved. If you want current news, head over to Indian Country Today, they have many articles about what’s happening.
Campfire coffee is the sweetest coffee ever.
One of the guys I used to pennsyc with had the knack of making coal-heated cornbread in a dutch oven. It can be done, because I’ve eaten it. And fresh coffee, cornbread, and woodsmoke: there’s not much better way to wake up, unless it involves bacon.
I love the paintjob on the white tent!!!!
Good morning to the grasshopper! (Couldn’t resist after seeing the photo.) The reflections from the river and the soft light of the cloudy morning are great. (Note to self: Remember the river, it’s important.)
The earlier camp photos convey a morning feel, people sleeping inside, some awake already, going about their morning things, but the calm and quiet of the night still lingers in pockets for a while.
Marcus Ranum @ 2
So do I. The horses are so dynamic, there’s an illusion of flying.
Ice Swimmer@#3:
The horses are so dynamic, there’s an illusion of flying.
I used to know an arabian horse named “Scooty” who pretty much did that whenever he saw a butterfly.
The horse painting is fantastic, but so is the caribou and polar bear in the previous picture (caribou, yes?).
It looks like a caribou.
There is also a muskox and the possibly the backend of a grizzly bear.
The Green in these pictures looks so unreal, so vibrant