(I first published this essay in 2006, but I wrote much of it decades earlier.) We'd stick close to him, as we wended our way along the path through the woods at the edge of camp, following the circle illuminated ahead by the Coleman lantern. I tried to keep my arm stiff enough to not spill too much water out of the sloshing pail filled with our catch, while swatting mosquitoes with my free hand. Our shadows danced over the birch trees, their white dark lightening the night every bit as the stars above.
♥️❤💗❤♥️