Camping

We are camping this weekend. 10 min from home but it may as well be 10 hours from home. The distinct aroma of nature. Yes, it is an entirely different aroma than is at my home 10 min down the road. Why is it we behave totally differently at camp than at home? Last night 6 of us laid down on blankets basically on the road to stargaze. When is the last time I even stopped to look up at the sky at home? Nevermind laying on gravel.

What makes camping magical?

When you see people from around town that you normally never chat with and suddenly you’re ‘happy to see them’. I feel like camping brings a lesson. It causes us to take a breath. Lift our eyes. Recharge. The smells, the sounds, the energy of everyone simultaneously letting go of their week. Smiling. Laughing. The sound of a bike whizzing past you. Kids yelling. And maybe it all brings me back to a childhood of camping. When we all slept in a huge canvas tent telling stories to fall asleep. We went to the tuck store every day to buy a 50 cent toffee. Nothing better. We swam in a seaweed infested lake from morning until night literally. Other than being called out for breakfast lunch and dinner. We dove for rocks half the day. No supervision. My cousin Ang and I took the dingy out across the massive lake and lost a paddle. No life jackets. No sunscreen. No food. No water.

Just living in the moment. That is what camping does.

Even today. It brings a moment. Where we are not scrambling to get to our next appointment or chore. I am filled with gratitude for the beautiful people we camped with and for their go with the flow attitude. It’s not often in life you connect with people who can go with the flow that way. With one hour's notice to get the campground, we pulled it together, shared resources and had an amazing time together. I swore I would never sleep in a tent again in my life.. and there I was no tarp on the tent, under the stars freezing cold with not enough blankets and an almost fully deflated air mattress on hard cold gravel. And grateful beyond.

Yes, I’d rather stay here tonight than go to my warm cushy king-sized bed. Unequivocally yes.