Fully Refreshed

The trial of the Dude Commune was an unmitigated success. Saturday was a long time coming but once it arrived, it was worth the wait. The day was beautiful, warm sun, blue skies, birds chirping, very few insects. The group of participants were a perfect match of personalities and profiles. We had young and old liberals, older conservatives, and at least one libertarian. We all enjoyed hiking when we felt like it, cooling off in the creek when the necessity arose, and napping when that seemed like the thing to do. For a while, sitting under a tree watching the green meadow grow seemed like the right thing to do. All cell phones were turned off on arrival, some of the participants even made a ceremony out of turning them off as they entered the property. After a wonderful dinner and with the approaching darkness, we gathered around a campfire to discuss life, love, marriage, politics and whatever else seeped into our consciences. At one point, probably around 11, some of us took one more opportunity to take a dunk in a stock tank and then returned to the camp fire. About 1 am we all toddled off to our tents and slept the sleep of innocent children until it began to rain around 4 am. Even the rain was comforting, although there were one or two thunder claps that probably could have been eliminated. Around 7:30 I awoke and started cooking breakfast for the rest of the party. It was still raining but not very hard. It was very peaceful and quiet this Sunday morning in the country. Rain tends to muffle all of the unpleasant sounds of our society. No distant cars could be heard, only the gentle falling rain. As I prepared breakfast, the rest of the group began to appear out of their tents. Breakfast was enjoyed under a canvas shelter, I am not that in love with the rain. After breakfast, everyone loaded up their essentials and we headed back to civilization. From the comments made by the participants in this weekends' activities, it was the most relaxed all of us had been in some time. Civilization and society are a necessary evil in our lives but the lack of them for a few days is heaven on earth. Peace and love till later.