A CAMPING WE WILL GO

DATE: JUNE 29, 1998

We got back from camping this weekend up at Pine Valley for the Pickett family reunion. It was fun, except for the dirt and the bugs and the and sleeping on the cold, hard ground and the long hours of tedium. And none of us thought to bring food...

But really, it WAS fun. I like my family and extended family. They are a rowdy bunch of yahoos. Love 'em. I did have to take a break from all the dirty, buggy, cold-hard-ground fun to dash (hour drive) home and have me a shower. It seems that you have only to step outside whilst up in the mountains and you're instantly filthy.

My pop went "fishing." I don't know what he does when he fishes, but it certainly isn't what everyone else does. However, this time he actually caught a little fish---a fish that must've been old or smokin' the weed or something to have gotten hooked by Pop. Dad is about as good at fishing as he is at pruning shrubs (i.e. none good).

Something Dad is good at: scaring the snot out of Megan (my little cousin) and Jujie (my little sis) with his campfire stories. He doesn't present them as stories, though. At least not the "once upon a time" sense. He'll casually say, "Hey, Lolene (mom), do you remember last time we camped up here for the Kelwood party, and we were the last ones to leave and it was dark and suddenly there was that 10-foot man just standing behind that pine tree over there?" Then he'll elaborate further.

It made Jujie MAD. She was so scared. Mom had to promise her that Dad was just teasing. Jujie said, "I don't mind scary stories, but you CAN'T pretend that they are real!" Neither she nor Megan would go into their tent alone, so I had to take them and make sure that all the windows were zipped up tight, and that the door was securely fastened. They both huddled together in the very center of the tent.

Tee-hee-hee. I remember when it was me huddled there.