A very happy …. 76? (er….2014-1936=78) 78th birthday to my Dad! I hope that your day is full of wonderful things, and I’ll start it off with this sunset. (You can pretend it’s a sunrise.) This is the photo Lloyd took at the lake when we went camping.
Since I didn’t send a card because I’m the worst daughter ever, let me instead tell you about my parents taking us camping as kids. (Mom’s birthday is in a week and a half, so this is for her, too.) When I was a kid we had a tent camper-thing. It looked kind of like this. My mom and dad slept in one bunk, my brothers on the floor on a foam mat, and my sister and I in the other bunk. We would often camp right by a river, and the sound of rushing water is the very best thing to fall asleep to ever. Despite being told repeated to never touch the tent material from the inside if it was raining, I touched it. I was rewarded with a steady dripping on my face throughout the night.
Dad would turn off the kerosene Coleman lantern as we all snuggled in our two-man flannel sleeping bags. I loved watching the light get dimmer and dimmer as it used up the fumes, then it would go out and it would be DARK. There are no lights up on the mountain, except for one bazillion stars. We would talk a little and then fall asleep in the crazy fresh air. One night my sister and I stayed up and she whispered an explanation of ‘castration’ to me when I asked her about it after reading some horse book. (I told Lloyd the other night that everyone in the tent probably heard that science lesson. Sorry, everyone.)
In the mornings we would wake up to the sounds of breakfast being made. Mom would have a pot of water heating on the Coleman camp stove. She would dip a washcloth in it, wring it out and give it to us to wash our wonderfully grubby faces. Bacon and eggs would magically appear – and sometimes fresh-caught trout for breakfast. Mmmmmm…… trout cooked in foil with butter and Lawry’s…… Then it was off to fish, or climb rocks, or mess with sticks by the river.
I loved camping as a kid. All the work was done by the two people who loved us enough to go through all the headache of planning and packing, all so we could have wonderful memories. Thanks, Dad! Thanks, Mom!