Not that I really expected to be eaten by a bear, but you hear stories. I took the train upstate on the weekend as far as Syracuse where my girlfriend and her daughter picked me up and we then drove to Selkirk Shores State Park, which, I’m told, has a very low incidence of bears eating campers.

It rained. A lot. Monsoon-like. End of the world kind of rain. Rain drops that could kill a man…well, maybe not that big, but they weren’t small. Still, we had a wonderful weekend and I had s’mores for the first time in my life! When I was a kid we used to toast broccoli on the fire, so this was a big step up. Graham crackers, melting chocolate warmed by the fire, and a toasted marshmallow all smushed together…mercy.

I did get in a few trail walks among the trees and my thoughts strayed to the third Iron Elves book. As with the bears, no trees tried to attack me, but I kept a close eye on them just the same. Ever since I started writing this series my view on trees has changed. I just don’t trust them as much. Any moment they could choose to fall on you, or at least drip water from their leaves when you walk underneath even though it’s not raining so you shouldn’t have to worry about getting wet but a little breeze blows through and suddenly it’s a mini-downpour under the particular tree you’re walking by and…well, you get the picture.

So no bear or tree attacks, camp fires every night (I like to show the trees just who’s in charge,) s’mores and more – it was a great weekend.