Sleep under the stars

“I lay there, listening to the sounds of the forest. I replay everything that’s happened today, savouring each moment that has led me here, to be in this moment. Life is completely still with no distractions or pressure. I don’t want this night to end. Then I get freaked out and think what on earth am I doing! I’ve always had an over reactive imagination in the dark and now I feel very exposed. I try to calm my mind, but it’s too late, I’ve opened a can of worms. Be rational and come up with a plan, I tell myself. I move my bivvy closer to other campers and feel more settled in the security of knowing other people are close by. I fall into a deep sleep almost like I’m being rocked by the forest and the trees swaying in the wind. I wake with first light and enjoy the fifty shades of blue and explosion of colour and light that welcomes a new day.”

“Last night, for the first time in my life, I slept under the stars. Now, I've been camping before—but the tent provided too much of a barrier between me and the sky. [...] Last night in Borrego Springs, though, my hosts invited me to stay on the cot on their patio and assured me that all coyotes, scorpions, and other desert creatures of the night would stay away from me as long as I stayed close to the house. The only obstacle to my al fresco sleepover? The wind. Boy, was it windy in the desert yesterday. [...] I was going to try to sleep in the wind—under the stars—and not be blown away. So I had my cot and my super-cozy sleeping bag, the pillow from my trunk crammed into a borrowed pillowcase, my phone and my glasses, and I hunkered down to see how long I could last. It was true, the scorpions left me alone. If they were out there, I didn't see them (or feel them). I heard the coyotes—I think, though they didn't sound like Joshua Tree coyotes. In my sleepy state, they sounded more like hyenas.”

“When we finally did retire for the night to the spot where our tent would have been placed, we quickly realized that there was just as much heat in the midnight air as there was sitting next to the fire. At this point, I realized how thankful I was to have forgotten the tent poles. As I lay there on the ground, I heard the creek gently rippling over the rocks nearby. There was a slight breeze blowing and I gazed up through the limbs overhead into the stars above. So many people forget how beautiful and relaxing it is to look up at the night sky before falling asleep.”