There's nothing like three days of camping to make one appreciate the finer things in life -mainly refrigerators, air conditioning, hot showers, and flushing toilets.
We made it back from Mt. Charleston a couple hours ago and it feels good. Two nights roughing it in the wilderness, with tents, five kids, and tons of junk food may sound like a dream, but it can get rather exhausting. ;-)
I enjoy camping more than the typical OC grown Cali girl and not only to prevent me from taking certain things like the ones mentioned above for granted, but because I really do like nature. It's humbling. It's beautiful. And it's simple...in a mysteriously complex way. It has the ability to clear my mind and fill it with wonder in one awe-inspiring moment. And it's more real than anything else in the universe.
So as a salute to camping, I've written a list inspired by this most recent experience.
TEN THINGS I LEARNED WHILE CAMPING
1) Bug spray is a scam.
2) Hamburgers and hot dogs are best charred to a crisp.
3) Just because there are flushing toilets, doesn't mean they will.
4) If you want kids to learn to respect and love nature, leave the video games and TV at home.
5) Showers are for sissies.
6) Rain is only bad when your tent has a leak or you have to go to the bathroom.
7) Firewood at a campground works like cigarettes at prison.
8) Smores are worth every negative moment.
9) Cell phones are useless.
10) Reading a book is 10 times better lounging at the top of a sunny, green mountain.
On that note, I finished MacKenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard yesterday. I heard from the die-hard romance afficionados over at RomanticTimes.com that Wolf MacKenzie had won for readers' favorite hero. I had to check it out anyway because Wolf is half Celt and half Comanche; a half-breed similar to the hero in my WIP. It was a great story, a quick read, and very well done. I highly recommend it. It also heavily inspired me to keep moving forward with my current novel. If readers loved Wolf, wait until they get a load of my guy..He he....
grand total: 50160
Quote of the Day: Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
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2 comments:
You are a braver girl than I. I did my stint in the Girl Scouts and after I got my honorable discharge I never want to go camping again. My idea of roughing it now is a hotel without room service!
Soundsl like an awesome trip, Dyann. Good for you. Do you go camping often? And you are so right about bug spray - I think the bugs actually like the stuff!
I've been pseudo-camping a couple of times. Slept in a tent and all, but there were nearby bathroom facilities that worked pretty well. I have never truly camped out in the wilderness. I'd like to give it a try sometime. I don't know if I could do it for a week, but I could probably hang in there for a couple of days.
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