Empty nest syndrome

I have been getting some dangerous ideas lately.

Me? My ideas? Dangerous?

Dangerous in terms of breaking out of the status quo, the rut where my creativity has been stuck for a long time. I must confess to being in the doldrums mentally for more than a little while. Yesterday and today, I discovered some new ideas bubbling around in my skull. I just need time to work on them. Time at the keyboard. Time to think and develop them.

More on that soon, I hope. The big news at home is that the nest on our front porch is empty. We checked it with the mirror this morning, just as I went to work. All that was left was a single unhatched egg. Nobody else is around.

Frankly, I haven't felt too motivated to report on life inside the nest this year. But you have to understand, this is the fourth robin's nest on our porch in the last three years, so how much can I say or show about it that I haven't done before?

I did take a few pictures over the last couple weeks. This first one was taken the morning of June 11, as we left for the Milwaukee trip. At that time, we had two brand new baby birdies ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Nest08-611-6-08.jpg[/IMG]

The next picture was taken on June 17. My, how the little ones have grown!
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Nest08-617-6-08.jpg[/IMG]

Three days later, last Friday, they were poking their heads above the side of the nest when mom's shopping trips weren't fast enough for their hungry tummies ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Nest08-620-6-08.jpg[/IMG]

The next day, I may have inadvertently led to the nest's abandonment. I had to run to the office to get something, and I was late. I rushed out the front door ... forgetting the young family in the nest. Suddenly, there was a flurry of wings above and around me, and birds seemed to be flying everywhere. One of the young birds landed under an awning next door. There wasn't anything to do about it after the fact--I kept on walking to the office.

My wife said she didn't see any action at the nest on Sunday. We got out the mirror Monday morning, and this is what we saw ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Nest08-623-6-08.jpg[/IMG]

We spent most of Sunday in Iron Mountain, visiting my mom and seeing the newest Indiana Jones movie. We had planned to take my mom along, since she is a big Harrison Ford fan, and the Indiana Jones series were some of her favorite films. But she said she didn't want to go. She wanted to, she said, but her stomach just wasn't up to it.

I'll make some photos soon from our trip to Milwaukee. Last week was busy; I have a little more time next week.

****
This is the week before next week ... when I return to that neopagan camp in southern Wisconsin. I went there for the first time in 2005, which was when I first met S. I took my wife there in 2006, but she didn't care for it, was unhappy--and we only spent a single day there. Grrrrrr. In 2007, I was focused on cleaning out my mom's house, and I decided not to go.

This year, I'm definitely going, and I will spend much of next week there. Like in 2005, I'll have my cell phone along so I call my wife and let her know I'm thinking about her. But she's not going this time. No way, no how. She hasn't asked or hinted, and I'm sure she knows what I'd say if she did.

In fact, S also wanted to attend this year, because she is interested in some of the planned discussions. (She really enjoyed the single day she was there in 2005.) A lot of last week was spent exchanging e-mails about the chances of her getting there somehow, but it's just not meant to be. So what I will be doing is recording those talks on the little digital tape recorder that I use for interviews. Back home, I can convert the files MP3 files, burn them to a CD and send it to her.

The topics?

“The Future of Religion.” Given the limits of rational knowledge and the negativity associated with religion, does religion have a future as a function of civilization? I----- [the guy who runs the event with his wife] thinks so as cults of mythopoetic enthusiasms or enchantments of a post-modern age. The talk will be given in the picnic shelter."

“A Neo-pagan interpretation of the Golden Rule, or why I am not a Christian.” I------ will explore the religious, philosophical and psychological meaning of this teaching. He will provide historical/cultural context and show Gnostic influence to the teaching."

In fact, S is involved in a church herself, a tiny church you haven't heard of, based on early Christian writings, such as the Gospel of St. Thomas.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic.

Here is more about it, from the e-mail I got:

The camp "is a place where people of like mind and shared values can camp, picnic, contemplate, honor the passing of life's seasons, create personal shrines, learn and recreate. It is a place where the human community & the community of nature can co-exist in peace and harmony.

"Come, enjoy and share this beautiful forest eco-system dedicated to the Green Growth of Eco-Human Community. This gathering will be held on a 60-acre parcel in southwestern Wisconsin in the driftless area. It has a mix of open hayfield (planted by a local farmer), pine and mixed hardwoods. The campsite is primitive (no water on site), but porta-johns and there is a 30X40 picnic shelter. Firewood is plentiful. The site is clothes-optional where landscape and night can provide the necessary privacy. A large circle in the woods has been cleared for ritual and celebration. [Village] is about 5 miles away where food, ice, gas and water can be obtained. Directions and other info will be sent to those who register."

Reference is made to "the driftless area." That is the southwestern corner of Wisconsin, which the glacier didn't cover during the last ice age. It's much more hilly there than the rest of the state, which was sort of scraped flat by the glacier.

I wear what most of the people wear at the camp: a T-shirt, shorts, sandals and a hat. But down at the circle (during special rituals and then at night around the fire, when the drummers really get going) many of them wear a lot less, and I am no exception. Most of the people there are in their 40s and 50s. Some younger people, but not as many.

****
After writing this, I recalled about the first camp I attended, in 2005, and when happened over there. It got long, and I finally decided to use it in [URL="http://drdog.vox.com"]my Vox blog[/URL] instead.

If it's not there now, check back in a day or two--I'm still working on it.
****

Yesterday, I woke up with an idea: taking a trip west, by myself. By car. A few hundred miles to visit a friend I made here. Just a visit. I would get some nature photos along the way, of course. Go farther west than I have ever gone before in my life. An adventure!

I don't know. Am I too old for adventures? Is there time enough this summer? We'll see. I'll tell you, though, I really like the idea. Whether I can do it, that's another thing.