Non-Typical Campfire

The other day we went to Hallowed Hawk Farm – Eric and Kerrie are good friends with farmers/owners Dory and Miguel. They were going for a cookout to the farm and invited Norm and I to tag along.

What was planned:
Dory and Miguel were providing tuna steaks, salad and munchies (olives, cheese, avocados, plantain chips). Kerrie and Eric were providing burgers and buns. We were providing s’mores fixings. We were going to have a great night by the campfire chatting and laughing and everything that goes along with it – like possibly scary stories and peeing in the woods.

What actually happened:
We got to the farm and helped Dory pick blackberries and that was fun. As we walked up to the campfire/cookout area we started hearing thunder, looked up to the sky and noticed the dark clouds rolling in. Confident that the storm would go around us and determined to have a good time, we settled in.

Within 20 minutes the wind picked up, we pulled up the radar and saw that in fact we were in the path of a severe storm.

So we quickly gathered all the belongings into the cars and got in the cars to wait out the storm. About 15 minutes later – which involved the falling of quarter sized hail – the storm calmed down. The guys ran to the fire pit to save the burgers that had been left while we were waiting out the storm so we could eat.

It actually never stopped raining, so we huddled at the back of the cars to eat during the light rain. As soon as the rain picked back up, we went back in the cars.

While we sat in our car and Dory and Miguel sat in their car we figured: why not back up the cars to each other so we can still spend time together and chat? So we did:

And that’s how we spent the rest of the evening.

What ended up happening was nowhere close to what was planned – I don’t think we could’ve planned the unplanned scenario even if we had tried. The evening was perfect the way it was: all huddled underneath the old tarp surrounded by lighting that lit up the big sky as we wore our damp clothes.

Just like last night, quite often our lives play out differently than what we have them planned out to be. We are dealt cards, have to quickly figure out what the best play is and keep moving forward.

Unlike last night though, we often fight (and fight hard) the unplanned scenarios of our lives instead of being flexible, trusting and enjoying those moments. We get hung up on what things are supposed to be like instead of making the best of what the moment currently is.