Some Thoughts on Camping

I was thinking today of my fond thoughts and memories of camping.  

I think it's because my body and mind need some time under the stars in the middle of nowhere, which I realize is exactly the opposite of what it gets under these city lights. 

I was remembering this morning my summer camping experience in 2002, when I was a camp counselor in upstate New York.  I know I've mentioned it a couple of times, but it popped into my head this morning. 

Think I've mentioned how absolutely wacko the camp was, but in that summer, I was given a sweet friend on my team from Alabama - Rebecca.  She was one of the only other christians there.  Her friend came to work at the camp for the summer also, but couldn't last the summer.  I had the funny thought of us taking our troops of 8 and 9-yr olds on these overnight camping trips.  For every group that came for the week or two-weeks that they were there, all age groups had to take a camping night away.  We would take our group of girls to pick up our hiking packs, then in the afternoon we would go by the kitchen and get loaded up with our supplies (peanut butter and jelly sandwich makings, matches, toilet paper, bags, rope, cereal bars). It was a lot of supplies, on top of a sleeping bag for each kid and their own couple of supplies.  We would start hiking up the mountain, following the color tags on the trees.  The kids would be complaining and dragging behind.  It wasn't an easy hike - any of the times.  

The kids would have to squat to go pee and bury their toilet paper.  it was so gross though when, wherever the spot, the kids wouldn't have buried their toilet paper, so there would be some area where this was all these little pieces of toilet paper on the ground.  mind you, these are CITY KIDS!  very city kids!  inner-city kids as they are called. I remember having to insist that we would not leave until all the toilet paper was underground.  The ground wasn't exactly easy to dig holes in, but the idea was to take a twig to make a little hole and bury your used toilet paper.  ... so gross, right. 

I think over the summer, I had to do 3, maybe 4, of these trips.  Although I love camping, I have never been "into" squatting in the woods.  As it turns out, since doing yoga with my friend the last couple months, I realize that my legs/thighs/hip flexors (whatever) are not so stretchable for squatting so maybe this is why.  [my friend that I go to yoga with is asian, so she says squatting is in her genes even though my feet can't stay flat for any squatting yoga poses to save my life...i always have to use the cube to sorta sit on]  Of all the overnight camping trips over the summer, I would "hold it."  I would be thoughtful about what I ate/drank beforehand and maybe sometimes on the way back home early the next morning would be holding it, but no way would I be squatting in the woods. 

There were seriously bears in these woods, although, I never saw them, so we had to rope our food (high) into the tree so a bear couldn't eat our breakfast or our dinner. I thought that was just so handy, and it made me feel real legitimate to string the food into the tree.

Another funny memory from these days was being so freezing cold one night.  Middle of the night and my co-counselor, Rebecca and I were both FREEZING, SHIVERING cold....and so we did, the only possible thing that we could do..since we already had every piece of clothing and jackets on our bodies.  The two of us squished our bodies (hers much smaller than mine, mind you!) into one sleeping bag.  I mean that's a way to get up close and comfortable with your co-counselors!!  It was awkward, but the body heat did make us able to actually not be shivering from lips to toes.  

I also have this great camping memory from a trip the Gou and Twix and I went on in South Carolina (I think it was south carolina!)

Just working together to put a tent up gives such a feeling of accomplishment, or building a fire, catching a fish.  

Maybe the great thing about camping is because the rest of the world is sorta just stripped away.  You are out there in your one little square of dirt/trees with whatever you have there.  So much less distractions, just one thing to focus on, that which is at-hand.  Well and the river or the pool or however you are keeping cool.  

I find myself lately getting completely overwhelmed by all the things around to take my attention or distract me.  Some days I will just feel so discontent, like umm...what's the right word...just fidgety.   Happy, but just so many thoughts and ideas that I can't sit in my own mind peace.  is that weird?!  i kinda think it is, or maybe it's just this age or something.  

Anywho, maybe I need to pack my bags, find a subway to drop me in the middle of nowhere and go camping by myself or like one other person.  to just get away.  to clear my mind.  to sit in silence in my thoughts.  to be in a bigger space than my little studio or central park.  

oh yeah, I guess subways don't really make stops in the middle of nowhere.  need to rethink this plan.