Wednesday, August 12, 2009 10:53 PM CDT
COLUMN: Sticks and stones -- and sleeping on the ground -- just might hurt me (kinda)
By PENNY WEAVER, News Editor
pweaver@jg-tc.com
I rested up, shaved my legs, packed my swimsuit, crammed everything from toiletries to bungee cords into the tail bag for my motorcycle and bravely strode forth — sunscreen and “Off” in hand — into the wilderness last weekend.
Oh Annie Oakley, let me channel thee for an adventurous 48 hours, I pra—, I mean, I thought to myself.
Did I mention? I went camping and boating with my sisters and most of their families last week. The prospect of encountering wild animals from coyotes to ’possums gave me little pause in comparison with the idea of two days and nights in the woods with kids ages 9, 7, 6, 5 and 3.
We arranged our annual August rendezvous on the shores of Lake Shelbyville in the Wolf Creek area. One of my sisters and her husband do lots of camping, so they brought enough tents for everyone and towed a rented pontoon/float boat along too.
Now don’t get me wrong — I love the woods. I love mushroom hunting and wading in the creek and just sitting and listening to the birds and the wind through the trees and whatever Mother Nature has to offer.
I guess I’ve just lived in real civilization too long. I may be starting to act like — gasp! — a (whisper it) city girl.
My parents didn’t take us camping much when we were kids,. Since there were four of us girls, each two years apart in age, I can understand why. But we grew up in the country and Mom and Dad did have a “pup tent.” Way back when, at a time when the four of us could all fit in that small blue two-man tent, we’d set it up in our back yard and sleep there.
Less than 100 feet from the back door of the house, it wasn’t exactly Timbuktu.
Still, we encountered nocturnal critters. One night, as we lay there in the dark, about to go to sleep, some creature brushed up against the side of the tent.
Suddenly, we all sat bolt upright in our Raggedy Ann and other cartoon character sleeping bags. What wild-haired demon of the night was teasing us into terror?! We heard a low growl ... then we realized ...
It was Goldie, our long-haired yellow cat. She was purring. I think she wanted in the tent with us.
Well, it seemed like a scary moment at the time.
Now, we have a camping/boating expedition each August because that’s around my brother-in-law Norman’s birthday, and he’s sort of the Head Camper. His wife, my sister Kim, is our Camping Coordinator — kind of like Julie on “The Love Boat.”
We set out on the pontoon boat with life jackets on and ample supplies of sunscreen, water, soda and snacks. This year, the “fancy” tube to pull behind the boat was joined by a knee board ... I guess that’s what you call it. Anyway, you kneel on it and try to stay upright when it’s pulled behind the boat, so I’m calling it a knee board.
I remember when we took black inner tubes over to our neighbor’s pond and floated around on them. They didn’t have bright colors and a bottom sewn onto them like the tubes they make nowadays.
Each of the kids enjoyed riding on the tube — well, except Stephanie, who’s 6. She and her dad had just watched shows about sharks on the Discovery channel. No matter how we tried to explain that sharks don’t live in Lake Shelbyville, she was still convinced that a Great White would see the tube and think it was a seal and try to bite her.
From the back of the boat, she watched the other kids ride in the tube. We never did see a shark.
Tyler was surprised to have his head go under the water momentarily, despite his life jacket, the first time he jumped off the boat after we’d dropped anchor in a cove. He almost started to cry, but his mom talked him out of it. A few minutes later, he scrambled back up the ladder and onto the boat.
“That was awesome!” he exclaimed with glee.
“Awesome” was his word of the weekend. Walking in the woods near the campsite with him, I was amused as he stopped to pick up a little branch. “Look at this cool stick! Awesome!” he said in his most excited 3-year-old’s voice. Some 10 feet later, he dropped the now apparently passe tree branch to pick up another one. “Look at this awesome stick!” he proclaimed. It was like his stick smorgasbord.
I had mustered all the bravery I could to plan to stay overnight both Friday and Saturday, sleeping on the ground in a tent. Now, I don’t mind the hard ground — I can be uncomfortable; it’s OK — but my lower back doesn’t like it one bit. Even with some cushioning, that night Friday (well, one out of two isn’t bad) was a tough one for my back.
But I wasn’t the only one struggling. Three feet away in the tent, Tyler lay on top of his sleeping bag, with his stuffed koala bear and Miami Dolphins pillow near, and kicked his feet around, obviously restless and unable to doze off.
I was thinking what a wimp I am for not being able to sleep on the ground one night. I tried to concentrate on the rhythmic singing of the crickets, alternated with the buzz of cicadas. The crickets reminded me of growing up in the country, windows open on hot summer nights, listening to them until I fell fast and happily asleep.
Tyler’s not so familiar with the hum of crickets.
“I can’t sleep with all this noise!” he said finally.
I chuckled. Well, we weren’t in Timbuktu that night, either, but we at least were brave enough to get out of our usual element. It was nice to be in the woods and out on the lake, even though it was hot. It was good just to be together as a family, most of all.
And I do like experiencing the “wilderness” a bit up close. At one point, I sat by the fire, looked up into the tall canopy of trees, and thought how nice it was to just commune with nature.
Off to my right, Olivia, 5, and Tyler started fighting over a stick. Someone threw an acorn that hit me in the belly. At one point, one of the kids started crying. “She took my glow stick!” someone wailed.
Ahhhhh. It was good to get away.
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Mike P wrote on Aug 12, 2009 10:52 PM:
With state camping sites now being 30 bucks a night, best not to add chiropractor expenses to the steep fees of roughing it.
Keep an eye out when camping stuff gets cleared out, and get an air bed. Use it for a guest bed between camping, or keep it stowed where it won't get critter holes. I have one thats 10 years old. Was sleeping on it in a gully washer downpour at turkey run, and it was floating in my tent, with me on it. 7 inches of rain in 24 hrs I think we got. Good to have room to float your luggage too, and anything else you think might be good to keep dry or at least not submerged, if it ever happens. Never hurts to pack some ziplocks, and trash bags, to water proof cellphones, wallet, luggage and ye ole trash bag poncho works in a pinch. Soaked to the bone folks sure won't be laughing at you long. I ziplock important keep dry stuff when boating or fishing too. "