Monday, 8 March 1999
Camping
Jason is driving me nuts about camping. It is spring break week and it is traditional that we go camping during spring break. He doesn't want to hear about job interviews. I even told him that the forecast predicted rain and lots of it. He said, "Well, that never stopped us before!" Daniel came over with all of his camping stuff. I mentioned the weather to him as well. He said, "It never stopped us before!" Great minds.
Actually, I love camping in the rain. The world is so fresh and clean smelling -- and, as I've mentioned, I love the smell of wet dirt. One time we were out sitting around our campfire at the Brazos river, roasting marshmallows for the s'mores when the ranch owner came down to tell us there was some severe weather heading our way. Being the nice mom that I am, I sacrificed my 'good' tent so that the boys would be all snug. I was in Jason's little 5' X 5' tent curled up in the middle of it trying not to touch the edges (tents leak when you touch the fabric). The wind was blowing so hard that it bent the dome tent down so that it came within a few inches of my nose on the big gusts. In the morning, I was the only one who was dry. Somehow the boys managed to lose the rain fly off the top of my tent.
Probably one of the best camping memories that I have is of camping in the rain. I was at the Brazos again, only on the other side of the river. It was a gentle rain and I was camping alone -- a rare treat. A warm summer rain -- so I sat with my back against a tree, getting wet and listening to the raindrops sizzling in the campfire. It was a near religious experience.
One of my favorite things is when the birds and butterflies come out from wherever they've been after the rain. The world sparkles and I couldn't think of a better decoration than butterflies or background sound than bird songs.
