Althouse: At the Campsite Café...

October 3, 2010

At the Campsite Café...

... I'm utterly terrified!

39 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Buck up!; 10/3/10, 7:34 AM
mesquito said...: Terrified?; 10/3/10, 7:35 AM
ddh said...: Cold water. Cold upper Midwest lake water, in October.; 10/3/10, 7:37 AM
traditionalguy said...: Seriously, sometimes everyone feels tera-fied on the wild, natural earth. I blame Lurking things in the dark.; 10/3/10, 7:41 AM
alan markus said...: It all looks so pristine! Where's the litter?

Here's the litter:
Socialists Trash the Capitol; 10/3/10, 7:41 AM
Joe said...: (The Crypto Jew)

Terrified?

Agoraphobia?

Jason Voorhees is rising from the lake in the sun-dazzle?

Meade says, "You know, I'm ready to be a father again?"

It suddenly hit you, "HOLY SH!TE I voted for OBAMA!!!! YHWH above, I voted for OBAMA!?!? I must have been absolutely insane!"

Obviously:
1) This area speaks to your psyche in ways we cannot fully understand; or
2) This is like a "Caption This" Contest on Fark.; 10/3/10, 7:43 AM
Humperdink said...: Can't swim? Forgot your sunblock? Fire ants migrated north?; 10/3/10, 7:53 AM
Ron said...: missing underpants?; 10/3/10, 8:03 AM
Triangle Man said...: Less than hour before sunset. Better get somewhere safe!; 10/3/10, 8:07 AM
traditionalguy said...: Did you get a Most Effective Rating from the LA Times...and realize that there is nowhere to go from here except down. WWBDS? Which means, what would Bob Dylan sing.; 10/3/10, 8:18 AM
jayne_cobb said...: Clearly your aloof behavior towards posts about Obama means that you are as racist as Bob Dylan; 10/3/10, 8:22 AM
AllenS said...: Is this the first time that you've been camping? Don't worry, bears hardly ever eat campers.; 10/3/10, 8:25 AM
HKatz said...: Of course it's terrifying.

There's a shining spearhead of light in the water seeming to point almost exactly at a darker more blotchy spearhead on the grass. Symbolic of nuclear warheads aimed at each other? War that could break out at any moment, even on a sunny picnic-by-the-lake sort of day?

And look at those two tiny figures on the shoreline, almost right in the path of the colliding spearheads. They've just realized the enormity of the situation.; 10/3/10, 8:27 AM
kjbe said...: It's the best time of year for it - usually, you pretty much get the place to yourself - other campers and mosquites, included.; 10/3/10, 8:32 AM
virgil xenophon said...: OMG! I forgot my flask of Gin! Reality....slowly.... intruding.....; 10/3/10, 8:50 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: My sympathies are with Althouse. Imagine how she must feel, being out in the wilderness, where the mowed lawns aren't surrounded by landscaping, and the picnic tables aren't even painted!; 10/3/10, 8:51 AM
Omaha1 said...: Is the professor a camping virgin? October might be a little chilly for the first time but that will make the campfire & cozy sleeping bags more enjoyable. Also there's nothing better than eating a hearty breakfast outside on a beautiful fall morning.

My best tip would be to get some headlamps, they are wonderful for reading & keep your hands free for whatever you are doing in the dark.

Inquiring minds want to know, do Wisconsin campgrounds have wifi?; 10/3/10, 9:07 AM
Joe said...: (The Crypto Jew)

My best tip would be to get some headlamps, they are wonderful

MUST resist obvious joke here...All I can say is IF they get headlamps, Althouse needs a third one...for dancing.; 10/3/10, 9:12 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: It looks like a scene from a David Lynch movie.; 10/3/10, 9:31 AM
Unknown said...: Don't worry, you're with a good man.

(It's not sexist...)

Omaha1 said...

Is the professor a camping virgin? October might be a little chilly for the first time but that will make the campfire & cozy sleeping bags more enjoyable.

Oh, boy, here come all the jokes. Forget Sarah Palin, this one could go 300 comments easy.

PS You're not going skinny-dipping, are you?

PPS Very pretty. No way of knowing it's October and not june.; 10/3/10, 9:47 AM
The Musket said...: It's October - the witching month. In mere moments, the Shadow of the tree will detach itself and crawl slowly and menacingly away from the tree and toward Althouse. Will Mead be able to save her? Will Althouse become the Shadow? Tune in tomorrow for the next episode of . . . The Shadow Walks.; 10/3/10, 9:57 AM
Anonymous said...: Terrified? Just do a little safety dance and you'll feel all secure and comfortable.; 10/3/10, 10:00 AM
chickelit said...: Last time I camped at Devils Lake was the early 80s. Me and two friends biked up there on our 10-speeds from Middleton (there's a route that parallels Hwy 12 & goes through Merrimac). It's only about 45 miles each way.

Maybe you Meade could work up to it and report back.; 10/3/10, 10:24 AM
chickelit said...: That's a gorgeous photo BTW. For some reason it makes me think of the days when the trains from Chicago used to stop right at lakeside and let all the people off. The old stone foundations of long-gone hotels used to be visible near the south and north shores near the tracks along the eastern side. I used to know all the best swimming spots, including a cool underwater split rock you could snorkel around and through.; 10/3/10, 10:32 AM
john said...: I see lots of blue and green. I'm concerned, but not terrified, that I never learned whether blue came before or after green, or if yellow came before orange.

Red, of course, is obvious.

I'm terrified that our chicken little approach provides terrorists so much more information to alter their plans, to hone their skills.; 10/3/10, 10:47 AM
former law student said...: At least you're not a scholarship student at St. Johns, terrified you'll lose your scholarship if you don't put in enough time doing chores at the Dean's house:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/01/st-johns-univ-dean-charged-using-student-slaves/

Chang, 57, allegedly forced students to do her laundry, clean her house, cook and chauffeur her son around.

“Chang threatened the students and placed them in fear that if they refused to perform these personal services they would lose their scholarships and be unable to attend St. John’s,” FBI Special Agent Kenneth Hosey wrote in the arrest warrant.

Chang had four students working seven days a week as her personal valets, one was forced to drive her son to the airport at 3 a.m. Others shoveled snow, took out the garbage and shuttled her to her hair salon, according to court papers.

Chang was already in trouble for allegedly embezzling over $1 million in donations to the University.; 10/3/10, 10:49 AM
rhhardin said...: It's squirrels jumping up and down on dead leaves.; 10/3/10, 10:50 AM
Anonymous said...: You have a right to be terrified. Every year this area hosts the national convention of the Women's Hair Removal Association.

Peter; 10/3/10, 11:42 AM
Ricardo said...: Meade taking you kayaking? Canoeing?; 10/3/10, 11:51 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: So you just found out you married an axe murderer?; 10/3/10, 12:38 PM
Quaestor said...: Julius:

{Ahem} Ann is in no danger from a bunch of whitsun morris dancers.; 10/3/10, 12:58 PM
Chennaul said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/3/10, 1:25 PM
chickelit said...: There is a terrific bird-shaped Indian burial mound just yards from where that photo was taken IIRC.

The Lake Spirits are restless.; 10/3/10, 1:25 PM
Chennaul said...: Where's the toilet!!?

Actually you could probably turn the Franzia box into a port a potty after you're done w/ it.

Recycle. Rinse. Repeat.; 10/3/10, 1:27 PM
michaele said...: I think it's sweet...Meade gets to be your protector. I'm smiling for you both.
wv: coidit... hmmmm...; 10/3/10, 2:53 PM
AST said...: Imagine how terrifying it would be if this were actual wilderness, "protected" by the federal government from people like us.

I suggest you obtain and watch the movie "A New Leaf" before you go on any more camping trips with Meade.; 10/3/10, 4:30 PM
AST said...: Imagine how terrifying it would be if this were actual wilderness, "protected" by the federal government from people like us.

I suggest you obtain and watch the movie "A New Leaf" before you go on any more camping trips with Meade.; 10/3/10, 4:31 PM
DADvocate said...: Any bears in that area? We have bears and, reportedly, mountain lions in my area now.; 10/3/10, 6:54 PM
Opus One Media said...: What no Latte guys with carts....how ..well...rural.; 10/4/10, 6:12 AM