ripresa (ripresa) wrote,

canyon of the eagles, women social dynamics

Yesterday I drove up to the Canyon of the Eagles.. it's way by Burnet, TX. Pretty remote, no cell phone access. It was to meet up with a bunch of ladies from the Texas Outdoors Women Network, and also with a friend I've met online, but not in person.

It was a super freaking awesome night.

First off was the awkwardness of meeting V face to face.. but I had a gut instinct I would like her, and we hit it off amazingly well.

We decided to cook at the campfire, and I made chorizo, polenta, bacon, eggs, etc. Later on, the TOWN ladies joined us around the campfire (only V and I were camping, the rest were sane). The conversation was entertaining. Some of you know that I'm easily distracted and bored, and will whip out my nintendo DS when the world no longer interest me. But those ladies were so open, real, and pretty much talked about anything, and it was great. V remarked that the social dynamic was really sweet, there was a lot of give and take in the conversation, and no one was dominating the conversation. This is a rare experience with women for me. In improv or work, the area has few females... I find a lot of the women very dominant, assertive, take a lot of conversation space, and don't really think to make space conversation-wise for others, a lot of them like being the center of attention. I'm not saying I'm blameless either. But it does make for more confrontational instead of vulnerable and deep conversation. I wonder if part of it is being in a male dominated area, and having to be more aggresive and selfish to get your viewpoints heard.

Anyways, we talked, and had baked apples, baked bananas with choc and marshmallows. Then the others left, and V and I chatted some more before we went to bed.

While in bed, I heard noises outside, and the garbage bag that was in a tree got ripped.. prob by a cute raccoon. And then I heard choking/grunting noises. I assumed that was a feral pig. And I had a hard time sleeping.. kept waking up.. and my toes were cold.

Lessons learned: an airbed is nice, but a sleeping bag keeps you warm. Always bring more blankets. Keep garbage bag even less accessible.

And when I woke up: another lesson: Bungee jump my cooler. It had fallen, and they ate some of my food. I hope you enjoyed my brie and non-additive added bacon, Mr Raccoon.

Other stuff I learned, in the easy way: don't keep food in tent, and always close your tent door. Camping with the SCA is not the baseline for camping outdoors.
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