At the start of the pandemic last spring, my boss asked us to refrain from taking vacation days. We feared that things were going to become ridiculously busy for us. Now that we have reached August things are normalizing, and we have a different problem. Town policy says I cannot carry any vacation time beyond September. I have two weeks of vacation and nowhere to go (unless I want to spend both weeks in quarantine.)
August has become a set of mini-vacations. Step one was a camping trip to the White Mountains. NH is one of 7 states I can legally visit right now. (So is Hawaii, but I’m not getting on an airplane any time soon.)
We did a bit of socially distant hiking, but my primary objective was this:
Two days spent next to a campfire, slowly turning bits of pine into light and heat while reading books. Mission accomplished.
There was one (mildly) interesting anecdote. I have an old Coleman propane lantern. I’ve had it since we bought our first RV more than 20 years ago. It’s a hard luck piece of equipment. It lives in its case under the trailer, and every time I open it something is broken.
I pulled it out Monday afternoon and opened the case to find that the glass globe was NOT broken. The mantles were intact. I attached a random old 1lb propane cylinder and twisted the valve. It had gas. The piezo igniter fired on the first try, and IT LIT!
I have found a new optimistic slogan for my 2020 experience: “But the lantern worked!”
And so I leave you with this:
Stay tuned for Pandemic Vacation 2: Chocolate Bunny 2020!
Notes from Mosquito Hill 