\nWord Count: 466<\/p>\n
It was a get-away, a time to think things through, decide if they should split up after fifteen years and two kids. It was a time to find a pelican<\/a> in the woods. That\u2019s how he thought of it; he was searching for the pelican that would be his answer.<\/p>\n It took him until dark to put the tent up and then he had a hard time keeping a fire going. He ate a half-cooked hotdog on a hamburg roll. He finally crept onto the flat mattress because he\u2019d lost the air hose and pulled a blanket between him and the cold night air. He settled down to think but fell asleep.<\/p>\n Which is too bad, because while he slept, a large female pelican did strut by his campsite wanting to talk.<\/p>\n The morning dawned grey and drizzly. He was proud of his pot of coffee but grumped down overcooked scrambled eggs. He kept the blanket wrapped around him for warmth until he realized he was only getting it wet. He lay down inside the tent and fell back to sleep.<\/p>\n Two pelicans came by, coughed politely in front of the tent, waited a few minutes, then left. He woke up a few minutes later. He sat and thought for a while.<\/p>\n On the one hand, he felt like a fixture, a couch, or maybe an easy chair in his own home. The kids had reached the age where he was a jerk. His wife seemed to always have headaches. They all seemed to swim around him in their little aquarium while he floundered around mowing seaweed and shoveling coral. That\u2019s a dumb metaphor<\/em>, he thought to himself. But I know what I meant.<\/em><\/p>\n On the other, what did he want that would make it all better? He sat and thought. He got up and went outside. He took a walk around the campsite, afraid to go out too far and get lost. He came back and opened a can of beans and stuck in two hotdogs. They were almost cooked before the fire went out. He ate and he thought. Then he packed up the car and drove home.<\/p>\n Which was a shame because the pelicans came by an hour later with a hot casserole and freshly made apple pie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DECISIONS, DECISIONS Word Count: 466 He packed his clothes, whatever he would need for a few days, and loaded up the car with a tent, a blanket, a blow-up mattress and their hibachi. He filled the car up with gas … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/susangibb.net\/blog3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/018.jpg\" "\\"018\\"")
<\/a>He packed his clothes, whatever he would need for a few days, and loaded up the car with a tent, a blanket, a blow-up mattress and their hibachi. He filled the car up with gas and picked up food, milk, coffee, and beer at the tiny supermarket at the edge of the last town before the state park. He paid the twenty dollars for the camping fee and stuck the ticket on his dashboard for crows and bears and forest rangers to see.<\/p>\n