A Room With a View

     After Labor Day when kiddies return to school and vacationing adults return to work, I get to choose the best site at a campground. When I pull in a nearly empty campground and they tell me to choose a site, I always say, "Give me a scenic site, I trust your judgment." This is the site they chose for me a few days ago . . .

     It's site A17 at the Lakeview Corp of Engineers Campground on Bull Shoals Lake which is located on Missouri and Arkansas' borders (click here for map). 

Bull Shoals Lake is actually the dammed-up White River.

     Below the hill from my campsite is a beach area (see lower right in photo below). I bike there with my swimming and snorkeling gear and look for lost earrings and money that folks might have accidentally dropped into the water. Little fish look up at me. I swim parallel to the rocky shore, too (avoiding motorboats).

The sunsets at my picnic table are nice, too.

     A short ten minute drive away is the tiny Bull Shoals Library. They're lax about their sparse opening hours, so yesterday I made sure the librarian knew I'd be visiting today. I might be their only patron today.

     Made my run to Walmarts about a half-hour drive away, so I'm good for the next few days with food and ice. A short bike ride away from my site is the campground's shower house. And my site has water and electricity. I'm plugged in, using my rooftop AC during hot afternoons. With a senior pass, this site cost only $9 per day.

     For the past couple months I've been waking up, eyes still closed, wondering "Where the heck am I?" Have to think a couple of seconds about where I was yesterday. Since I'm in no hurry to return "home" to Texas (98 degrees, feels like 113), decided to stay here until Monday morning. That probably makes this place my longest camping site all summer (five nights).

     One of the pleasures of relaxing in a room with a view is reading a good book. One of the books I'm reading is Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte by Kate Williams. Our current political events pale against the shenanigans of Josephine and Napoleon.  From 1799 to 1815, they were the epitome of a power couple in France and eventually most of Europe. They both had humble difficult childhoods yet learned how to successfully exert power (and steal incredible riches) ironically during an era when "democracy" was becoming all the rage in France. Even though the French revolutionaries went to the extreme measure of literally killing off their monarchical government (Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette), a few years later they celebrated, adored and willingly crowned Napoleon and Josephine as Emperor and Empress! And Napoleon and Josephine stole and flaunted more riches than Louis and Marie Antoinette! Just goes to show how flakey folks can be about their political beliefs.
     The other book I'm reading is Agony and Eloquence: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and a World of Revolution by Daniel L. Mallock. Jefferson before he became president was Adams' vice president. Back then, the vice president was the losing presidential candidate in the election; Adams in 1797 won the presidency by a couple more votes than Jefferson. They were at odds politically (particularly about each State's powers and the French Revolution), yet had been good friends socially for many years. They prove that it's possible for political opponents to be respectful and friendly toward each other. An excellent book for our present political candidates to read!
     Soon I'll have to put aside this life of leisure and leave this room with a view. Lots of responsibilities and maintenance issues await me in Texas . . . .