Monday, August 23, 2010

happy camper

I am interrupting my August Break vow of silence because I have too many thoughts wobbling around in my head to only express myself in one photo.
And maybe I should warn you that this post may be considered a teensy bit gross if you are not a fan of the great outdoors.

Thoughts on camping.
Do you camp?
You know, leave the comfort of your home, sleep on the hard ground, not shower.......camping.

After our fun-filled first day, the boy asked me before bed,
"mommy why do we camp".

"well.....uh.....er....."

Why do we? Really?

It had been a rainy afternoon on our mountain top campsite the day we arrived.
The whole forrest was dripping.
The forrest we had intended borrowing our firewood from.

When the fire finally lit....wait did I say fire?? I mean pile of smoking wood.

We went to bed cold.
Like, dog-sleeps-on-the-kids-to-keep-them warm cold.
Or, hot-rocks-in-your-sleeping-bag cold. (ps. it really works!)
And also, wake-up-with-frozen-boogies-and-frost-on-the-ground cold.
And do you know how LONG cold nights are?? They are looooooong.
And make you dream of yourself sleeping in your own bed.

Shall we discuss cleanliness?
Dirty is not a strong enough word.
Black smudgy beards on my sweet little babes.
I still have unidentified objects under my fingernails, so I just painted them red, you'd never know.
I swear my kids' feet are still just a bit stained.
My hair looked like a nest the entire time, full of tiny woodland creatures....and that only took the first day.
Our house smells like a campfire/smoldering pile of wet wood,
and I'm afraid my washer just might up and die with all it's extra use.

Yes, camping is dirty.

And if you are a camper, then you know I would finally get to:

The Outhouse.

What is worse than opening an outhouse door and feeling that slight breeze hit you in the face?
Or your 3 year old saying
"mommy what's down there?"
Or being so thankful for all those chair poses you do in yoga to prepare you for those don't-let-me-touch-the-seat moments.
It's those moments I really truly wish I were a boy.

But you think that's bad?
Let me tell you what is worse.
Waking up in the middle of the night (did you know that high-altitude (we were around 10,000ft) makes you ahem, pee, more?? It's true-google it!)
(note: I would not normally suggest googling bathroom type things on this blog.....what has gotten in to me?)
So here I am in the middle of the night. Do I make the scary trek by myself to the outhouse, or choose a spot closer to my tent where my protective(snoring) husband and ferocious(ha!) dog could hear my cries for help, should a bear come to eat me while I squat-by-moonlight.
Would there be a worse way to die?
No.

If you are wondering, I chose the latter, and somehow lived to tell about it.

So why do we go??

The s'mores are good. That's for sure.
The view? Perfect.
Spending time with family....
Wait, this is starting to sound like a MasterCard commercial.

All I know is that we go. We've always gone. And we'll go again. I'm hoping one more time before it snows up in those pretty mountains.

It is an amazing feeling to be out IN nature.....not just driving by or watching it on tv. You are a part of it. You start to understand just how tiny you are in this world.
And there is a sense of accomplishment when you realize that you can actually live without all that stuff you think is so important at home.

So I still don't have an answer. Why do we camp?

We just do.
flowers copy1sky copyflower3 copyboat copyjosueflower1 copylake copy
the end.

16 comments:

Kristin Hanson said...

I'll tell you why :)

Tradition.

Ain't nothing wrong with a simple, one word answer to justify peeing in a hole you dug, taking "baths" in glacier lakes and sleeping on rocks.

But that makes it sound like I actually like camping... which I don't :) But we still go on occasion. Cause it's tradition.

Semidipapavero said...

Yes, we just do it!
There's not an other answer, both for me that for my husband, and my three children. We've got a motorhome, and we really loe sleeping along a beach, near the sea, or near cow in the mountains. Also our dog love it ;)

melissa said...

gosh, good question. i love it, too, but i don't know why we do it. don't think i'm crazy but i get kind of an outdoor high from it.

ps beautiful pictures. thanks for posting more than one!

Anneliese said...

i definitely do it for the s'mores!

mommyholly said...

I am not a camper, but I SO want to be!!! I am dying to take Andrew out to camp, I just have to figure out the logistics of it first. :) I've never slept outside before haha!!
xoxox Holly

Julia Kelly said...

THAT is why I do not camp. Give me a hotel room and i'm good to go. I'll spend time with my family in the hotel pool. But..good for all you campers out there...the smores do sound good....

The Rowley's said...

My hair still smells like smoke even though I washed it 3 times. Ive tried to wash everything- everything and my house still smells like the great outdoors! But we camp so we appreciate the shower we get when we get home that much more!

kayla said...

all i can say is my bed felt awesome last night

Cherish Stockdale said...

Totally agree with everything you said about camping, and somehow it is still fun!!

Sabrina said...

I was pondering the same thing. My almost 3 yo boy LOVES camping. It's so much work but he has so much fun when we are there.

Also I was watching a program on PBS and it was about Ed Wilson. They used a word that I thought sounded weird but then loved it - biophilia. It's the idea that people are just drawn to nature.

summer said...

sheena, you are hilarious.

Unknown said...

ahh, my husband and i always have this discussion. our favorite past times are with the family at the cabin and everyone is dirty and stuffed to the brim with food. (iff you were wondering the cabin is our way of camping, we are totally lame i know.But this cabin does not have electricity-we all sleep on seven beds pushed together) but everytime we go its so amazing. its very spiritual every time we go.

the red bungalow said...

haha - I couldn't agree more. Maybe dirty, maybe gross but the beauty of nature surpasses it all. I love the feeling of being out there in nature with your loved ones and no other souls in sight.

And with my crazy job, I even more so enjoy that my cell phone does not get reception where I camp. :) It's nice to have a week where you can literally unplug from the world and remind yourself that this world we live on isn't half bad.

Bre

jenniferhoiyin said...

love this! there really is something about being on the earth's time instead of your everyday life's even if sleeping/everything is a chore. what a beautiful camping spot, love your point of view. and I wish you many a comfy nights rest in your own fluffy bed.

p.s. I would have chosen close proximity & possible death by night creature over the wooden loo too.

Unknown said...

Oh, my! Too funny ~ so true about the chair yoga "hover" pose in the outhouse, and the mid-night bear fears when you just gotta go.

We have been camping so much this summer, almost every week somehow! Even if just for a night. I think we do it for "camping mentality," the simplicity and satisfaction of living with less, appreciating what you have, and letting nature fill in everything else. It's something I like to try to live at home too. :)

Anonymous said...

I like Camping its better when its not cold. I think a good answer would be to get away from modern life, but some just end up noticing they like modern life better. hehe.

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