December 1st 2025

“We were supposed to be in Alaska!”

She shouted this through cupped hands as I leaned forward to make sure I heard her correctly. The wind whipping between our campsites barely allowed her voice to reach me.

I waved and gave a sympathetic smirk. She shrugged, tucked her hair back into her baseball cap, and shut the passenger door on their pickup truck.

The papers on my sketchbook whipped and snapped in my lap as I picked up the fire poker to push around the logs in our fire pit.

We’d already been battling this wind for days and had just recently admitted defeat.

We were camping right on the water and it had been overcast with constant 12 mph winds and 20mph gusts since we arrived.

All day, all night.

I love being outdoors and especially camping but oof… nonstop wind will wear your ass out.

It makes it tough to do much of anything but hunker down.

We’d been looking forward to this trip for weeks, ready to just decompress and spend time cooking over the fire, fishing and paddle boarding, but ever since we got there things had not turned out like we hoped.

The campsite itself was not the wooded waterfront lot we’d expected.

Our faces fell when we pulled up and saw that the place looked more like a parking lot than a scenic getaway.

We spent our first day tying down the awning of our rooftop tent and trying not to make eye contact with the site neighbors to our left.

At first we tried to ignore them telling ourselves,

They’re not staring at us. We’re just doing that thing where you think you’re being watched and judged but really nobody cares.

That is until we peeked over our shoulders and realized not only did they not look away, but instead hardened their glares while open mouth chewing their hotdogs.

For some reason the stare from the daughter wearing Sponge Bob pajamas tucked into her crocs and leaning toward us on her crutches was particularly unsettling.

A Pentecostal might say the devil was in that chid… and I wouldn’t argue with ‘em.

Joe and I looked back at one another wide eyed, hammering in another stake and pulling the lines tight.

The neighbor situation improved when the frightening family packed up and left the next morning after mean muggin’ us over their pancakes, but the wind unfortunately just kept on…and on…and on.

It was all we could do to light the Coleman stove and keep the tarps tied down and we ended up burning through way more fuel than usual.

So when our new site neighbor stepped outta their truck and hollered,

“We were supposed to be in Alaska!”

What I wanted to say was,

Boy you said it sister.

This wasn’t the plan.

Joe and I had raised the white flag about an hour before they pulled up. We decide we’d stick around for the forecast break in the winds that night but pack up a day early and leave the next morning.

We’d had enough.

In the meantime we decided we’d enjoy ourselves as much as we could.

Many of our fellow campers had been fishing for days and not reeling in a thing but empty hooks. Nevertheless, Joe rigged a line, dragged his chair to the water, and cast into the wind for the hell of it.

I got out my art supplies and manned the fire so we wouldn’t have to spend an hour fighting the wind to get it relit for dinner.

Alaska...

I thought to myself as I sketched little trunks and fluffy treetops,

And I thought our trip didn’t turn out as planned. That’s some shit…

I looked up at Joe, watched him putting fresh bloodworms on his hook and casting back out into the water.

I squinted at the tree line across the lake, the changing Fall colors becoming more vibrant as the sun finally started to peek through the clouds.

I realized I was smiling ear to ear with every little tree and any noise around me was washed out by the wind.

This is delightful,

I thought,

I bring art supplies every time we camp but never sit and use them. Now since this wind won’t let me do much of anything else, I’m sketching and playing with my watercolors for the first time in years.

Then the fish started biting.

And then another.

Then the clouds broke up and the winds died down and gave us the most gorgeous evening.

Our new neighbors stopped by to let us know they were heading to town to find a bar that had the game on and wanted to know if we needed anything.

Actually…

Joe and I looked at one another,

We could use another thing of propane for our coffee in the morning if y’all go by a Walmart or anything…

They gave us a thumbs up,

You got it.

The wind was back at it by sun up but because of our sweet neighbors we had propane to get the Coleman going and drank hot coffee with our feet in the water.

I grabbed my pole and caught myself a catfish.

Is it just me or are me and the catfish doing the same head tilt? Authors photo.

The wind was getting stronger and I knew it’d be a battle just to get out on the water but I thought,

Oh just fuggit.

Then as we sat at our picnic table finishing one last cup of coffee, we watched as a turkey buzzard picked at the cleaned carcass of Joe’s filleted catfish from the night before.

Another bird came swooping in and we both gasped,

Is that an eagle!?

He snatched the carcass from the turkey vulture and made off with his breakfast.

By the time we zipped the last zipper on the tent and buckled our seatbelts, we’d gotten to do everything we wanted.

Things didn’t go as planned whatsoever, but the trip didn’t feel like a bust at all.

The next evening back at home, well rested, showered, and ready to go, we headed downtown for a concert and said to each other as we pulled out of driveway,

Thank God we came home early. There is no way we would have made it to this show if we’d camped as long as we’d planned and driven back today. We’d have been way too exhausted.

And I’m so glad we didn’t miss that show! It was everything I wanted and more.

Dancin our lil hearts out at the Spoon show. Authors Photo

This whole year, and if I’m real honest the last few years, have felt a lot like that woman yelling into the wind,

“We were supposed to be in Alaska!”

It’s not that there haven’t been countless reasons to celebrate, but there’s also been a building wave of surrender, loss, and unplanned breakdowns.

Time has felt strange and fluid, as if it’s trying to shake us from controlling it and obsessively notching it with old rigid agendas.

Change is just the nature of things.

“What goes too long unchanged destroys itself. The forest is forever because it dies and dies and so lives.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

When it is time to crumple up and throw away old plans, old Selves, old perspectives — nature is more than delighted to assist.

Both the nature we recognize around us and the nature we are.

The winds will blow, the storms will rage, and the shingles will begin peeling off of every rooftop we’ve relied on to shelter us.

The very foundations of our Selves may crumble away until we’re left floating in faith wondering,

What do I do now?

And isn’t it funny that these are the times we actually allow ourselves to do the things we’ve been putting off?

We surrender to unfortunate circumstances, and because there’s no use in trying to change or control what is, we find a way to enjoy ourselves in the meantime.

And it’s often what we do in the meantime that shows us where our hearts truly long to be.

My Spirit Family has this to say,

When was the last time you asked yourself these questions and truly listened-

How long have you been driving on old rutted roads that are no longer suitable for the speeds you’re traveling?

What is it you keep putting off for the sake of responsibility and routine?

Do you wish to experience new ways of life and living but fear the path that would take you there?

Setbacks are never setbacks.

We’re helping you line up with moving targets.

Picture your dreams as if they were an old friend driving down a 12 lane highway who suddenly recognizes the bumper stickers on your car way up ahead of them.

This is a friend you haven’t seen in years and you’ve been thinking about them lately but have had no idea how to get in touch with them or where they even live now.

“Oh well,” you think…”if it’s meant for us to meet up again we will…”

Unbeknownst to you, your old friend is 35 cars back and 8 lanes over trying to make their way to you at this very moment.

This is a crude description of how time works for you.

If you understand that nothing is wrong here, remain aware of your surroundings, and just put good music on and enjoy the ride, you will soon see your long lost friend ecstatically waving to you from the car outside your passenger window.

You will bless the terrible traffic for putting you in the right place at the right time.

This is what’s happening in life when you believe everything is going against you. When all you see is break lights and traffic jams. When nothing seems to be going your way and everything’s taking too long.

You have set a timeline that is not synced up with who you truly are and what you truly want.

When you’re going through significant and rapid growth, your plans become outdated and out of sync sometimes as soon as you’ve made them. This is why things will feel as if they’re speeding up and slowing down to nauseating extremes.

Be assured, there’s no need to slam on the gas and no need to stand on the break.

Put on your favorite songs, call and catch up with a friend, spot all the beautiful things in the world around you. There’s no where for you to be but right here right now. Wait until you see how things line up perfectly. Wait til you see who pulls up next to you and starts honking the horn. You’ll bless every red light.

You’re right on time. I love you. Thank you for reading.

This Wasn’t The Plan

Empaths Alchemy LLC

This Wasn’t The Plan

Wealth In Weeds

Empaths Alchemy LLC