Last Wednesday, we celebrated seven years of marriage, and this weekend we went on our first ever camping trip together. We have historically been huge fans of farm stays, having stayed in a converted Airstream, in cabins, in an 1800s farmhouse in Eastern NC, going to farm-to-table restaurants, but never have we fully committed to the great outdoors until now. (And, to no one’s surprise, this campsite was, you guessed it, on a farm.)
We set up camp after a normal person’s dinner time in the miraculous still-light evening that only comes this time of year during solstice when the world is bright at 8:30 PM and ate buffalo chicken sandwiches looking out over the most incredible pasture. We woke up and made coffee on a crooked little campfire and burned bagel sandwiches. We hammocked basically all day with a short break in town for lunch and texting our cat sitter. We napped. I slept terribly. We read, I knit. Our phones didn’t work at all - the entire weekend - except for our brief stop in town. We had downloaded music, and that was pretty much it. I knit and re-knit a sock using some hand-dyed yarn from Posie Gets Cozy that unfortunately for me and you is now sold out. I would absolutely love to make a sweater in this yarn.
I think that this may legitimately have been the first time in I don’t even know how long - five years? Ten years? Where I truly have not been on the internet at all for over 36 hours. Realizing this fact was extremely depressing and anxiety-provoking, but I think it’s true. I’ve never deleted Instagram off of my phone or taken a true, intentional break there, either since I downloaded it in 2012. Even when we have extensively gone to the mountains, our cabins always have WiFi. Being off the grid for even just a weekend was kind of a wild experience (no pun intended), and I can’t say that I am glad to be back quite yet. When I had no choice but to just be present, I suddenly felt so nostalgic for my years growing up when this was just my normal, every day reality. Sure, I was on the computer all of the time for school, or texting my friends on my pre-iPhone smart device thingy, but it made me realize just how caught up in it I am now in my life. We had some big talks about our dreams, and how we spend our time, and what we value, and there was no input or comparison from anyone else in the world to consider when we had those conversations. Is that pathetic? Sometimes I think I am too impressionable and social media just makes that so much worse. It kind of made me question why I make any of the choices that I do in my life: do I actually want and value that goal, or do I just follow a lot of people who want and value that goal? Do I actually want XYZ item in my life or am I just constantly getting ads for it on every social media platform I see? Am I actually stressed about big life decisions or am I just hearing a lot of ads on podcasts for Modern Fertility and Better Help?
Honestly, I’m not sure yet. But I know for a fact that getting off the internet and just knitting or just reading or just being feels like a whole new concept that I plan on doing a lot, a LOT more this summer. I’ve also been listening to music from back in high school on actual CDs (I know) and y’all, it has me all in my feelings.
In other, less philosophical news, I will be releasing a new shawl pattern SOON and I am so excited to share it with you. It’s so meditative and lovely and perfect for taking with you anywhere that adventure may call this season. More soon!