R & R in the woods at Index

After two busy-as-heck weeks at Smokin' Pete's, we took a few days to rest. There is really only one place I can completely forget about the business, e-mail, and the house list: the woods of Index, WA. It's almost scary how easily I forget it all here.

It's easy to "unplug", because there are no plugs. No cell reception. No running water. No street lights. Just peace. I won't say quiet because the birds sing symphonies all hours of the day and night, the wind stirs the trees into a breezy boogie, and the Douglas squirrels chirp like it's 1999.

We go every year about this time. Once the graduation parties are done, schools are out, and before summer camps begin, most folks spend time with their family. That means they generally don't need catering and we get a slight break before the onslaught of the 4th of July and the rest of the summer.

Our little slightly-bigger-than-a-bathtub shack still needs a floor, so we camp. It's near the North Fork Skykomish river, which is, in my mind, the most perfect river in the world. I am almost always inspired to write poetry while sitting on its rocky shores. Much of it stinkier than skunk weed, but I kind of liked the poem I wrote this time.

The huckleberries are just starting to turn red. In a few weeks we need to get back to pick some serious berry booty. My 17 month old can now say "Bewwy!" She's indiscriminate, happily gulping down salmon berries, huckleberries, and grapes (she calls those berries too), followed by her favorite word and sign: "Mo'!"

Blue Huckleberry

 
And there are wildflowers. Lupin and Foxglove and Columbine, Oh my!

 
I love how kid-friendly nature is. I mean, look at this happy one-eyed monster rock.

Or the scary guy next to him:

We made a baby wading pool off the river in no time at all.

Bliss.

So where do you like to unwind? What helps you unplug? And when are you going there?