Tuesday, June 22, 2010

China Camp State Park, CA: SUMMER SOLSTICE OGGACHAKA

Samantha's "tambo" - a spirit pole with another name that I don't want on my blog!






Last night we gathered in the Marin woods along the San Pedro Bay for pagan rituals and Christian baby sacrifice on the longest day/shortest night of the year. Samantha and I booked the site late one Monday night a few weeks ago when we were feeling particularly inspired by "nature." Plans unfolded from there. The final roll call included Henrique, Laura, Shrimp, Jared, Katie, Seth, Samantha, Phillip, Pete, Steve, Hyphie, Vivek, Melinda, and yours truly.

China Camp is conveniently located just past the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin. The temperature stayed in the high 50's all night so we hardly needed sweaters/kimonos. We roasted beer "battered" weenies in the fire pit and toasted the night with lambic. Supper of course invited a pack of paunchy raccoons who were eager to feast on our spoils. This didn't bother me because the raccoon is my "spirit animal." Nature boys and girls among us slept without tents under the stars. The warm solstice air was a pleasant departure from prior camping experiences in relative tundra-like conditions. The only buzzkill was the friendly (fascist?) park ranger who put a damper on our laughter and music (2 tambos! 1 bongo! 1 drum! 1 accordion! 1 mini guitar! 1 wash board! 2 maracas! - am I forgetting anything??) around eleven o'clock. The dynamic of conversation sure changes when outdoor voices are reduced to shouting whispers.

This morning we woke up refreshed and made it back to the city in no time flat!

2 comments:

Shrimp said...

YOUR VID SKILLZ ARE MOST EXCELLENT. I think I speak for everyone when saying Thank you for capturing the memories/ADVENTURE. LOVE YEE.

Unknown said...

excellent!
lovin them nature shots.

xx