I wanna go camping.......
Aug. 10th, 2004 10:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1But first, a computer note: The 128Mb memory chip has been purchased and installed. So far, everything is going extremely well. I have 30% free memory, instead of the 10% or less I often have after starting Eudora and IE. Damn memory-inensive programs. And double-damn programs with memory leaks.
I know I spend too much time in front of this thing. Sometimes I just want to get away from computers for a while, and reconnect with the outside world. In other words, get in touch with my Wild Man. I'm spending too much of this nice summer inside! But since I'm job-hunting, and a good chuck of the job search tasks and responses are done by computer, that's not a viable option right now.
Since it's been so cool this summer, I've been sleeping with the window open and the A/C off. And I've been hearing quite a summer symphony. Birds chipring in the morning. Cicadas in the afternoon. Crickets and other crtitters at night. I should bring out the tape recorder and record these sounds, so I can listen to them year-round.
These sounds also remind me of summers past, when I wasn't so concerned about bills, allergies, sunburn, and deadlines. When I was active in Boy Scouts (1975-82), we'd spend a week at one of the council's camps. For my first three summers in the troop, my troop and I went to Camp Scouthaven, in Freedom, NY. There was a small lake for swimming and boating, a bonfire area, a dining lodge, a trading post and craft lodge, and several campsites which had semi-permanent "baker tents" which used wooden pallets for floors and had cots. Each campsite had a permanent latrine area with running water, a stainless steel sink, a urinal, and two sit-down toilets. And each campsite also had a permanent fire pit area.
It was like heaven -- nothing to worry about except being on time for meals and merit badge classes that were more fun than work. The food was typical summer-camp chow, complete with 'bug juice' -- if you didn't like what was being served, there was PB&J on the table. We also had lots of silly skits, announcements (what a horrible way to die...), chants, and songs (Be kind to your web-footed friends...). And at evening ceremonies, when they lowered the flag, they had a small (24" long) cannon that made a BIG sound when they set it off! It echoed and reverberated throughout the surrounding area. And we also created some crazy traditions, like kidnapping one of the younger scouts' Piglet doll and running it up the flagpole. And there were plenty of stories and adventures to tell, like the time it poured during our outing for Camping merit badge, and 20+ boys (and a few leaders) huddled up in a 6-man lean-to on Council Hill.
In later years, we went to Camp Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee (pronounced "ta-WAH-yee"), which had an interesting feature: it was adjacent to Camp Seven Hills Goodyear -- a Girl Scout camp. And there were plenty of trips to the fence that separated the camps. (I'm presuming there was a fence, since I didn't get that far.) I also joined the older Scouts' week-long canoeing expeditions to Algonquin Provincial Park ('80) and Northern Lights Canoe Base ('82, '83).
Those were great times. As far as I know, Scouthaven still exists -- the council sold Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee to raise funds and lower costs -- and a new generation of Scouts is learning the joy of camping.
I haven't been camping too much since those days -- a trip to Allegheny State Park with my college fraternity in '88, a "Starfleet Bivouac" with one of the Star Trek clubs in '93 where I chased after raccoons with a Super Soaker, and two trips with my wife -- one to Caesar Creek State Park in the fall of '96, and the other to a cabin at Hueston Woods State Park in early '98.
Yeah, it's time to go back out there, pitch the tent, roll out the sleeping bag(s), and go back to nature. I need a break from all these electronic gizmos and thr four walls of home. Unfortunately, The Girl is a little too young to appreciate the joys of camping, unless it's in a very safe and flat spot.
I know I spend too much time in front of this thing. Sometimes I just want to get away from computers for a while, and reconnect with the outside world. In other words, get in touch with my Wild Man. I'm spending too much of this nice summer inside! But since I'm job-hunting, and a good chuck of the job search tasks and responses are done by computer, that's not a viable option right now.
Since it's been so cool this summer, I've been sleeping with the window open and the A/C off. And I've been hearing quite a summer symphony. Birds chipring in the morning. Cicadas in the afternoon. Crickets and other crtitters at night. I should bring out the tape recorder and record these sounds, so I can listen to them year-round.
These sounds also remind me of summers past, when I wasn't so concerned about bills, allergies, sunburn, and deadlines. When I was active in Boy Scouts (1975-82), we'd spend a week at one of the council's camps. For my first three summers in the troop, my troop and I went to Camp Scouthaven, in Freedom, NY. There was a small lake for swimming and boating, a bonfire area, a dining lodge, a trading post and craft lodge, and several campsites which had semi-permanent "baker tents" which used wooden pallets for floors and had cots. Each campsite had a permanent latrine area with running water, a stainless steel sink, a urinal, and two sit-down toilets. And each campsite also had a permanent fire pit area.
It was like heaven -- nothing to worry about except being on time for meals and merit badge classes that were more fun than work. The food was typical summer-camp chow, complete with 'bug juice' -- if you didn't like what was being served, there was PB&J on the table. We also had lots of silly skits, announcements (what a horrible way to die...), chants, and songs (Be kind to your web-footed friends...). And at evening ceremonies, when they lowered the flag, they had a small (24" long) cannon that made a BIG sound when they set it off! It echoed and reverberated throughout the surrounding area. And we also created some crazy traditions, like kidnapping one of the younger scouts' Piglet doll and running it up the flagpole. And there were plenty of stories and adventures to tell, like the time it poured during our outing for Camping merit badge, and 20+ boys (and a few leaders) huddled up in a 6-man lean-to on Council Hill.
In later years, we went to Camp Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee (pronounced "ta-WAH-yee"), which had an interesting feature: it was adjacent to Camp Seven Hills Goodyear -- a Girl Scout camp. And there were plenty of trips to the fence that separated the camps. (I'm presuming there was a fence, since I didn't get that far.) I also joined the older Scouts' week-long canoeing expeditions to Algonquin Provincial Park ('80) and Northern Lights Canoe Base ('82, '83).
Those were great times. As far as I know, Scouthaven still exists -- the council sold Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee to raise funds and lower costs -- and a new generation of Scouts is learning the joy of camping.
I haven't been camping too much since those days -- a trip to Allegheny State Park with my college fraternity in '88, a "Starfleet Bivouac" with one of the Star Trek clubs in '93 where I chased after raccoons with a Super Soaker, and two trips with my wife -- one to Caesar Creek State Park in the fall of '96, and the other to a cabin at Hueston Woods State Park in early '98.
Yeah, it's time to go back out there, pitch the tent, roll out the sleeping bag(s), and go back to nature. I need a break from all these electronic gizmos and thr four walls of home. Unfortunately, The Girl is a little too young to appreciate the joys of camping, unless it's in a very safe and flat spot.
