Sleeping In the Forest

Hi! Oh hey, remember me!? Well, in case you've been wondering where I've been... I have been out in the woods of central Oregon, sleeping in the forest all week with my mom's side of the family. And in case you've been wondering... no, there was no showering involved. 


Yep. I just said that.


And in case you were wondering, [don't lie, I totally know you are wondering!]... this is what a week's worth of campfire, bug spray, lake, sunshine, and dirt looks like in my hair...

Oh yeeee-ah. That just happened. Let's just say I was VERY thankful for a shower. 

As I recover from my week off, I'm finishing up Carrie and David's wedding photos, trying desperately not to scratch all my mosquito bites, and scheduling senior photo sessions [BOOK YOURS NOW!]... and also trying DES.PER.ATE.LY. not to scratch my mosquito bites!!! [Oh, did I already mention that part? Well, It's not really working.]

Just in case you were traumatized by that picture of my horrendously awesome hair, here's a beautiful poem to take your mind off of it. Cassie shared it over on her blog as she prepared for her camping trip and I couldn't help but smile because it felt like I was hearing a secret that I already knew...  

Sleeping in the Forest

by Mary Oliver

I thought the earth remembered me, 

she took me back so tenderly,

arranging her dark skirts, her pockets

full of lichens and seeds.

I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,

nothing between me and the white fire of the stars

but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths

among the branches of the perfect trees.

All night I heard the small kingdoms

breathing around me, the insects,

and the birds who do their work in the darkness.

All night I rose and fell, as if in water,

grappling with a luminous doom. By morning

I had vanished at least a dozen times

into something better.

XOXO, me