Camping diary

What camping means to me: a bloggity essay

Where did the time go?  What did I do to fill the day?  These are questions I ask myself  after spending time away in the RV.  The days go lazily by with no schedule to fill, no tasks to complete, propelled only by the need to eat or sleep.   I don't know how long I could endure such a peaceful existence for I've never enjoyed it long enough for it to become boring.

On this morning I woke up slowly, rested and content, nestled in with Roxy and Benni (Bobby was already out fishing)  I made a pot of coffee and had a bowl of blueberry frosted wheat cereal.  A sparkling view of the lake surrounded me from left to right, a gentle breeze lightly disturbing the surface of the water.  I shared bites of cereal with Roxy.  Although I would never allow it at home, Benni joined me on the table to look out the window as I ate.  I finished the cereal and gave her the milk.

After breakfast, I opened my computer to edit a few pictures of last night's sunset.

The beauty  of nature captured by my lens reminded me of scripture and prompted me to read my Bible.  I sought out the verse in Psalm 1 about the tree planted by the water, then continued to read in Proverbs about wisdom, all the while sitting in my chair sipping coffee, enjoying the lake nearby and watching the squirrels and birds outside the window.

Scurrying scratching noises overhead  told me the squirrels had moved their playground to the trailer.  I imagined them romping along the length of the roof like I had seen them doing on the ground earlier.

There were strawberries in the refrigerator.  The thought of them tempted me.   I remembered there was also vanilla yogurt.  The combination was too much to resist.  But before I sunk my teeth into them, I staged some photos; the natural light at the table along with the bright red berries on the blue and white plate was another irrestible combination.

As I washed the half dozen dirty dishes and the handful of silverware, I marveled in the simplicity of less.  That is one of the inherant beauties of camping to me--less of everything.  So few dishes, so few belongings, so few activities.  Makes me pause to consider how much easier real life would be without so many things.

With the kitchen and bedroom restored to order, it seemed a good time to get dressed.
Roxy and I took a walk outside while there was still a little breeze and the thermometer was hovering at 90.

Then I settled down at the table again, this time with my glue book, another thing so resplendent in its simplicity.  As I worked, my mind was seranaded with soothing piano music from the CD "Wishes".

One of the pages I was working on featured a replica of sheet music called Roses of Picardy.  I had no idea what it sounded like, but I imagined it to be the song playing on the CD.  In a turn of serendipity, when Bobby returned from a quick trip to town, he brought me a bouquet of apricot roses, surely Roses of Picardy.

A knock at the door brought visitors from home--my parents were in town and drove out to the lake to surprise us!   We enjoyed a nice visit, simple lunch, and too soon said goodbye.

Bobby read and I made more gluebook pages until our eyelids grew heavy. We retreated to the dark cool cavern of the bedroom, lined up across the bed: dog, human, cat, human, bathed in the soothing piano on the CD "A Peaceful Soak".   Before long I was immersed in peaceful sleep.

I was hardly awake good when my FIL called from across the campground with an invitation for supper at a catfish/shrimp buffet just up the way.  We freshened up and headed out.  I dined on fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, and shrimp cocktail.  Cap'n Dan and Forrest would have been proud. All that was topped with some fresh fruit and just a smidge of soft serve ice cream.

Taken with my not-so-smart phone

We returned to camp feeling full and lazy.  Roxy and I took an evening walk around the cove while the men-folk visited. The sunset was not as spectacular as last night, but it must have been a little cooler as there were some boaters out tonight.

Our evening concluded listening to a Ranger baseball game on the radio, edtiting the day's pictures and reading our books.

I'm ready to do it all over again tomorrow and see what serendipitous surprising events get sprinkled into the day.



This is how I "rough it."