An inventory of wondrous things

bicycle with fresh-pumped tires, trued wheels, oiled chain, sturdy rack - 1

pounds of camping gear/books comfortably carried in backpack/on bike rack - 30

dead raccoons - 3

dead weasels - 1

very very very fallingapartanatomyallvisible dead cats - 1

cornfields aging green and yellow like grasshoppers - 20-30

old cemetaries hidden in the cornfields - 2

cats almost run over - 1

red ants boiling out of the ground - thousands

red ant babyqueens boiling out of the ground - dozens

sandwiches eaten - 3

mosquito bites - 3

pages read - 200

pieces of wood burned - 7

cost of burning 7 pieces of wood - $4

degrees dropped between sunset and 2a.m. - ugh, lots.

adequateness of sleeping bag - not.

blue heron, barely moving, 3 feet away - 1

other people who got to see this heron - 0

autumn leaves fallen on the water- 235

difference in the sound of a kayak pushing through open water versus through heavy layer of duckweed - whoah.

people who nod or wave because you are on the same road going in opposite directions, perhaps about to discover some wondrous thing they have just departed - 5-7