Spontaneous and Unedited
We’re home! We’re home! And we had fun - lots of it! We’re sunburned, dirty, car is coated with mud, it’s going to take me the rest of the afternoon to clean the tent - but it was a wonderful, community oriented, happy, fun experience, and I quite frankly can’t wait to do it again.
I have to go remove the mud from everything (yes, that too) now, but I’ll write more tomorrow.
You know how when you sometimes make a funny, and you think it’s sooooo funny that you can’t stop laughing and you’re pretty damn sure no one else will get the utter hilarity of the joke?
Well.
I was just filling out these required health forms for Bear and me for the camp out this weekend. On his I listed my father and his father as the emergency contacts. You know, grandfather and father. On mine I listed the same two people, except on the “Relationship” space, I wrote father and albatross.
I’ve revised my attitude completely on this camping thing. I’ll be disappointed now if we don’t go. Yes, I haven’t done any real camping (ie, with a tent) since I was 12, but that’s no reason to shy away now. Bear is going to have lots to do, and lots of other boys to hang out with - and there’s no reason to think that this won’t be a huge amount of fun.
Just in case, though, I’m hiding a 6 pack in the bottom of the cooler.
Yesterday after a long day of vomitting and other nasty symptoms of a stomach virus, I attended a cub scout den meeting. Bear wasn’t there, and since I hadn’t been able to get a hold of his father - I didn’t know until I raced to the house in a panic afterwards (was Bear in the hospital? Did he get eaten by a snake during his field trip to the environmental center?? Why wasn’t he at the den meeting???) that Bear had disposed of his lunch on the carpet during art class. He was fine by the time I saw him. Anyway, during the den meeting, I was assured that Bear and I wouldn’t be left to sleep in the car if I failed to erect the tent. (In otherwords, I’ll have help with all that stuff.)
So, last night, I began assembling the things we’ll need. We have a tent, sleeping bags, pillows, bug spray, sunscreen, a cooler, etc. My dad tried to put together one of the old fishing poles in his closet for Bear to use, but after a bunch of fiddling - it looks like we’re just going to have to pick up a new one somewhere. Every boy needs his own fishing pole.
We’re supposed to have big, huge ass storms today so it’s going to be a little muddy. But, I’m thinking that’s just going to make the experience all the more traditional and fun or something.
I feel like a jerk because I was so freaked out about this before. I couldn’t help but feel even more alone because I don’t know anyone who would want to do this with us who knows anything about camping. But, I think we’re going to have a great time and we won’t be alone.
Today, my horoscope says:
It’s all about life balance. Pushing yourself beyond your limits will actually hurt you in the end. Once you regain a sense of equilibrium — for mind, body and soul — you’ll actually get more done in less time.
Check.
It looks like I am going to be spending the weekend outdoors and under the stars (or at least in a tent) on a [expletives deleted] cubscout campout. I am not a woman who is made for camping, and probably with my emotional state as [expletive verb deleted] up as it is - my son is going to come home calling me a freak. Great. Just what I need. But Goddamnit, I will be SuperMom if I fucking have to be.
Okay - that’s the wrong attitude. To say I was caught unaware would be a more accurate portrayal of what’s going through my head. I’d been thinking of taking the girls to a festival near Austin, and so was getting all excited about that when Bear’s dad called and dropped this particular bit of news.
I haven’t been camping since that summer I lived in a tent in Ireland - and that wasn’t camping, as much as it was sleeping in a tent. I can do this. I can go without a shower for the better part of 48 hours. It will be fun, and I’ll be able to keep a close eye on my son. We’ll see flowers and nature trails and we’ll fish and there will be a bonfire! All wonderful things, and all terrific experiences for a boy to have with his mom, and a hundred other boys with their moms and dads. Maybe the parents that are divorced (and I get the feeling that there aren’t many in this crowd) can all sit in a little circle away from the marrieds and have boring talks about custody arrangements and making life run smoothly on a single income. Or maybe, we can show each other our rabbits. Now, that would be fun.
