Part 5

        I hadn't been up truly early in the morning in--- well, only a year, really, I'd had to get up at 5:30 through most of high school. (Two teenage girls and only one bathroom in the house is never a pleasant experience.) But even then, I hadn't really been able to enjoy an early morning, and I really wanted to get back into that habit for the summer. There's nothing more beautiful, and calming and peaceful, than a quiet summer morning, just after daybreak, with a hush as delicate as the dew laying over everything in sight.
        An 8:30am alarm wasn't quite what I was shooting for, but it was a start. I hadn't had to get up before 10 for the whole past semester, I was lucky and had managed to avoid any really early morning classes. Unfortunately, that kept me in class fairly late, sometimes too late for taking pictures, especially during the first few months of the year, but, being an art student (sort of), I hardly had any classes on Fridays at least. My independent study this summer wasn't going to start for a few weeks yet - I still had to somehow get a note to my professor, and see what time he wanted me to meet up with him. It was going to be a pretty open-ended thing, really I could come in and use the darkroom anytime I wanted, and once a week I'd meet with Steve and he'd look over the work I was doing, answer any questions, and give me feedback on it. I didn't have any set assignments, but he'd told me he'd like to see maybe three to five finished photos each week, and take a glance at my proof sheets. By the end of the class, I was supposed to have a series of some sort finished, but the images could be linked however I wanted them to be, through subject matter or style or some sort of story or whatever I wanted. I didn't have a plan yet, I figured I'd just start taking a lot of pictures of pretty much everything, and then see what looked good on the proof sheets, what might work well together. Steve had suggested that I use the more laid-back requirements to take more risks - apparently I don't do that enough. He suggested I try taking pictures without looking through the viewfinder, or move the camera around, or take pictures when the light didn't seem right, or take things from odd angles... We'll see. Maybe I'll do some of that with my digital camera, just to see how it goes, without having to waste film on it - I spend enough money on film as it is!
        That train of thought got me through my morning routines. I slung my SLR over my shoulder, stuck a few rolls of film in the pockets of my jeans (along with a granola bar for breakfast), and grabbed my digital camera for the hell of it. Down in the kitchen, I found Mrs. Mayhew finishing a load of dishes. "Well good morning!" she said brightly, setting down a plate as she turned to smile at me.
        "Good morning! Anything I can help you with?"
        "Oh, no, no, you go right on ahead - picture-taking, I suppose?"
        I grinned, raising my wrist with the digital camera dangling from it. "Yes ma'am. Gorgeous morning out there."
        "That it is! I'm going to spend some time in the gardens myself, before it has a chance to get too warm like it did yesterday afternoon. You enjoy yourself!"
        "Thanks!" I called as I headed toward the door.
        Stepping out the front door, I realized the morning breeze was a little too chilly for me to be completely comfortable in just my much-abused old Sonic the Hedgehog t-shirt and equally abused jeans-of-a-thousand-holes. But I decided the slight chill would help wake me up, and anyway it would warm up soon enough. Taking a bite of the granola bar, I looked around and decided to explore the farther edges of the yard, and head toward the woods. No one else was in sight, though I could hear some noises from beyond the barn - it sounded like repair work on something big and metallic, a tractor or car or something maybe. I walked carefully through the vegetable garden, trying to keep my cameras dry as well as not disturb anything that shouldn't be disturbed. It was too early in the season for anything to have grown all that much, but dew droplets were scattered all over the small leaves, which made for a few nice shots. I knelt down in the dirt and tried to get as close to the ground as I could, trying to get a picture up through the leaves of a tomato plant, with sunbeams peeking between them, which took some pretty awkward maneuvering - I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure Caleb hadn't dodged school again and wasn't about to poke me and make me fall on my face in the damp soil.
        After that, I picked my way through a stretch of fieldgrass, looking in vain for a path. I was sure there had to be a path somewhere, if Caleb and other small children related to the Mayhews were here as much as it seemed they were... but maybe it was too early in the season, I suppose any paths made last summer would have been covered by this year's new growth. My jeans were soaked by the time I reached the woods, it had been a few years since I tramped through grass that tall in the early morning, I'd forgotten just how much dew that stuff can hold. I tried getting some close-ups of water droplets on the blades of grass...but I hadn't grabbed my giant zoom lens, and I couldn't get as close with either camera as I wanted. At the edge of the woods, I looked along the treeline, trying to see if there was an obvious path anywhere. I saw one spot, not far from where I was, where it looked like there was a clear way in at least, not barricaded off by dense underbrush, so I picked my way through the field a little ways to enter there. I discovered upon reaching it that it was a path...just not a very long one. Apparently it was a path made by Mr. Mayhew, since it led to a giant pile of oversized rocks he must have dragged out of his garden plots. Very exciting. But as I moved closer to the pile of rocks, I noticed what might have been a deer path - or a little boy path - heading deeper into the woods. I grinned and set off to follow it.
        Ten minutes later, I reached the conclusion that both deer and small boys are apparently shorter, or at least more coordinated, than me. My hair had been teased out all over the place by branches and brambles, my hands scratched up, and hadn't it been cold when I came outside? There really hadn't been much to take pictures of, you can only take so many shots through sunlit leaves overhead. I was starting to get sticky with sweat, and cranky from the constant battle with undergrowth. I looked at my watch, and realized I should really get back, I needed another shower before I went to work, I felt so gross. Frustrated, I turned around and started to tramp my way back...only to miss an unmarked turn somewhere, apparently, since fifteen minutes later the stupid rock pile was nowhere in sight.
        I knew I couldn't be all that lost, I hadn't walked for long and I knew if I headed in the right general direction for a few minutes, I'd see the trees thinning out ahead of me. Still, it did not improve my mood at all - as much from the actual annoyance of being lost as annoyance with myself for doing something so stupid. How pathetic was this, to get myself lost in the woods like ten minutes from the house? But I tried to keep my temper enough to not do anything dumb like start running - there were too many obstacles, I had to watch my footing so I didn't fall and bang up my cameras, but at the same time I had to keep looking up and around me, to see if I could spot anything familiar. Finally, I caught sight of a huge tree that had fallen over, half covered in moss, which I'd taken a few shots of on the way in. Couldn't be far, then... and I'd taken a picture of something just before that, it was... I couldn't remember, I turned my digital camera back on and quickly flipped back through the shots I'd taken. That was it! That huge clump of ferns... there it was! Grinning, I walked quickly and confidently toward it, and soon was back at the rock pile. I flopped down on an especially large, flat rock (how on earth had Mr. Mayhew moved this monster??), and let my head fall into my hands, as I laughed dryly at myself. What a pathetic adventure that was... maybe Caleb was right, if I couldn't find my way ten minutes into the woods, how the heck would I find his "secret" fort? After a few minutes, I sighed heavily and got to my feet, and headed back for the house and a nice cool shower.