This last weekend was the kind of first I like to write about. First camp out in a tent with all of us, including Skagit. This Summer I didn't get a chance to backpack in like I have the past few years with Astrid. The smoke which is stuck in our valley much of the time has kept us from enjoying long periods of time in the outdoors (with the little ones) in these late Summer months. So before much more time passed I thought we should camp out on the island at least once this Summer! Everyone else agreed.
So late in the afternoon on Saturday Astrid and I paddled out and set up camp.
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Astrid found some rocks near the dock that she wanted to take with us to the island. |
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Skaggy swam as you can see. |
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Self portrait. We were trying to decide exactly where to sit the tent before we started. |
If I hadn't come I would have missed out on the story Jeff read Astrid by flashlight...(thank goodness for 1600 iso!)

and this wouldn't have happened, either!:
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My pal, Campbell and I waited patiently for the other half of our family to wake up! |
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This was the smokey sunrise taken from the canoe as I paddled the back to the dock with the gals. Jeff stayed to break down the tent whileI started the coffee and made breakfast on the mainland! |
On the way home Sunday I called my Grammy Folsom and as I described it to her "it was sooo soooooo much fun... in a sleepless kind of a way." That spurred her to tell me the story about the night she and Auntie Carlene stayed out on the island with some of the cousins and the mosquitoes were so thick they couldn't get them all out of the tent and it was almost unbearable and Christine (my cousin) sneezed all night from allergies, and.. and.. and. She also told me about the time she was 13 or 14 and wanted so badly to go camping that her parents arranged for an 18 year old girl to take her for the week (she wasn't allowed to go camping with all her brothers). It rained the entire week they were out and she says she remembers laughing above all else. Everything was waterlogged and just awful and there is (Gram) Agnes laughing up a storm at the whole affair. The 18 year old didn't know what do think about her...but they stayed in touch for years after the harrowing camping experience. In both instances she said that they had the time of their lives and I believe it. Mostly because I'm the kind of person who thinks that if you don't have some sort of hurdle (large or small) or shared hardship it's a trip that won't cling to memory.
This one will cling to memory for quite some time.
1 comment:
I read something interesting and this reminded me of it. We perceive our life by memory. We plan, but yet the richness of who we are is held in memory. If we are then our memories, then the richer and fuller they are; the richer and fuller we are. The interesting part is that memory isn't created in the day-to-day. We don't remember each day of work, or washing laundry. We remember those things that are unique; events that create a handle, if you will. This trip to the island was such an event. It was no doubt a bit of a pain for you, but you'll remember it. These are the kind of things that make us richer and fuller. Yes, we have to live in the moment, but it is memory and the depth of experience that enriches those day-to-day moments.
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