We did this for a number of minutes in a silence that many might consider awkward. I wondered at one point whether the silence was really okay. I didn't want him to think I didn't care about getting to know him. Was the silence preventing us from connecting? The more I thought about it, the more I decided this wasn't the case. We weren't talking, but were both still very much in tune with what each other was doing. We were working together because we had something meaningful to focus on (fire building is great for that). We were both fully present in the moment, undistracted by other people, our own thoughts, or, more commonly, our phones...
It reminded me of something a good friend of mine said once...
“There's no wifi in the woods, just lots of connection.”
