This is a love letter to camping and campers. The kind who go state parks, especially. As opposed to rv parks. Those folks are nice people, too, but at a state park there are dogs who are welcomed by the official order of things. There are people who enjoy finding kindling on site and splitting campfire logs into fire-starting size with hatchets they brought from home. There are kids on small bikes racing down the paths and laughing in the darkness as the campfires burn and the smoke drifts across the park. People are on their way from Canada to DC , or they’ve just come from Denver , or they’re escaping from the California wildfires. They come with Kayaks, or bikes, or dogs. They are happy. I’ve never met a grumpy camper at a state park. They are eager to meet you, to find out where you’ve been and where you’re going, or to talk about your dogs, or their dogs. There are always dogs. Sometimes there are big groups of campers, school kids or church groups or family reunions, or sometimes there are solitary campers in their hammocks and tents, or couples who have rented a camper, or a retired couple who have a camper large enough to carry all their possessions and then some. But mostly there are people who just like this lifestyle, who spend weeks or months traveling around the country and reveling in the beauty that is there for the looking. They are good people.  So, standing outside at night with my 2 puppies, Looking at the moon while being surrounded by these fellow travelers, I feel so happy. And so lucky to be alive in the company of these strangers in a state park, somewhere in America.