Tell me about a time
you slept outside...
It was summer camp. We hiked a mile or more to our campsite. I spread out my blue sleeping bag and rolled up my sweatshirt, making a great pillow. The ground was a bit uneven, but I didn’t care. I get to sleep outdoors. I wiggled around a bit to get comfortable.
We had no tent to obstruct our view of the wide-open sky. The dark canvas stretched out before me, and I marveled at the millions of stars twinkling like distant diamonds. My breath caught in my throat. This is worth the hard ground.
I remember feeling content and at peace under the vast display of luminaries, my natural night light. It was magical. I didn't want to close my eyes.
I gazed for hours, listening to the rhythmic chirping of katydids. I watched lightning bugs dance along the treeline, their tiny lanterns blinking on and off in silent synchronization. I breathed in the rich scent of pine needles.
I remember thinking I was the luckiest girl in the world to get to sleep under the heavens. I was silent. My eyes traced constellations across the night sky. In that moment, I was free.
Tell me about a time you slept outside…
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A simply lovely memory, Julie B. Hughes! Sometimes, after clearing more brush to increase garden space, we’d have a bonfire before dusk. Then my brother and I would place an old canvas tarp on the grass, then our sleeping bags. Light pollution didn’t intrude in the later 50’s in our town of 500 peeps. My mind would race as we spotted constellations like The Big Dipped, the Little Dipper, and Orion. Parts of a far away world. Thanks for this prompt!
My cousins and I would lay out a tarp and sleep outside under the stars. Everything was so quite and beautiful. We live on farmland so in the back field near a spring was our favorite spot. One time a running deer jumped over us all. A bit scary when that happens at night but also a bit funny. I miss those days. I need to go camping maybe.