The Punch Line

What’s worse than wood smoke in a campground?

Wood smoke combined with cigarette smoke when people are intermittently starting campfires and then a woman moves into the campsite next to yours and doesn’t think twice about lighting up and exhaling into the breeze blowing right into your campsite while you are outside trying to enjoy yourself or relax or just generally breathe or even when you are inside with the windows open to let in a little fresh air.

Ugh. Bad joke.

And no joke as this was our experience at Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, NM. We chose a campsite that kept us away from most of the other campers. The campsites on both sides of us stayed empty up until day five. There had been campfires throughout those five days, but the wood smoke seemed to dissipate faster in the desert air. It wasn’t horrible and mostly good.

Then on day five a woman pulled in to one of the campsites next to us. We bemoaned our fate as there were plenty of other open sites. And hoped for the best. We hadn’t paid yet for days six and seven, the two last days we planned to stay. We delayed paying a bit to see if she would pull any firewood out of her cavernous van. We saw none. So we paid.

Then on the morning of day six, while I was out doing my daily yoga, she started smoking. Cigarette smoke filled my space, and I had to vacate. On the morning of day seven we were in bed watching the sunrise when we were accosted again by her cigarette smoke through the open window by our heads.

By that afternoon we were on the move again, running still from people’s harmful habits.

Maybe we’re the punch line.