The Sepia prompt for this Saturday is a man in a raincoat standing outside a tent. I can't recall any camping photos from my ancestors' photo albums, and myself I never liked camping. On holiday trips in my childhood with my parents we used to stay at b&b hostels or cabins - no luxury, but at least a proper roof over our heads in the night.
So - how do I even know that I don't like camping?
For a year or two when I was 10-11 years old, I was a junior girl scout (brownie). As long as we kept indoors in a basement room tying knots on a rope and playing games, I don't think I objected too much. But the summer before I turned eleven, I was sent to a Big Summer Camp for a week. I hated it. Everything from carrying my dad's backpack (much too big and heavy for me), to the uniform (blouse, belt, skirt - all a bit too tight for comfort), to sleeping in a tent, to cooking outdoors, to the primitive outhouse toilets, to being around lots of people all the time. And at least one night it rained enough for everything in our tent to get soaked.
My memories of details are as blurry now as the photographs I took with an old camera of my dad's. 55 years later I don't think I have to worry much about anyone recognizing themselves (or anyone else) in these photos, should they ever happen to accidentally come across this posts.
Greeting the Flag in the morning
Lots and lots of similar tents...
My own version of a tent (drawn in my album)
For some obscure reason they had named it the Eskimo camp.
Well, I do still kind of shiver just thinking about it...!
Campfire at night. If this was a recent photo my impression would be everyone was staring at their mobile phones and tablets. But as there weren't any such things back in 1966, it must have been something else! (Perhaps the Scout Song Book?)
I never went on another scout camp or overnight hike; and can only remember two more occasions, up in my early twenties, when I tried spending the night in a tent at all. Both times, it was just for one night. The second time, it was meant to be two nights, but I got bad reactions to my grass allergy. There was a gang of us and somehow we managed to rearrange things and I went back home early with some other people than those I came with. I've never made another attempt at camping since!
Great post. Maybe their writing in their journals if they're not reading books. There's certainly a lot of campers close together.
ReplyDeleteSandra, while I do remember there were song books, I can't recall any other kinds of books from that camp.
Deletethe only thing I read about your camping out that i would like is the camp fire, but not if i had to sleep in a tent, or cook on the fire, or go to a camp like this. so there is an advantage of being really poor. i have never been to a camp and never camped out. even motels away from home I don't sleep well. a sleeping bag makes me shiver to even think of it. my brother used to camp in the back yard with his friend and when older did the camp out thing in tents, he loved it. all i wanted was a warm bed and my books
ReplyDeleteSandra, yes, I can well imagine that the fire might be the one thing that might attract you ;)
DeleteSong books is a good guess. We aren't all meant for camping. I loved camping with Girl Scouts and took my daughter's troop when I was an adult. But... I also have my limits. My husband got soaked on his first Boy Scout campout and promptly quit. No family camping for us! haha
ReplyDeleteKathy, later on in my teens and twenties I went on other sorts of camps a few times - but those were campsites with indoors accommodation, and did not involve tents (nor cooking the main meals outdoors).
DeleteI hate camping as well. So did my mom. She used to say...man has worked so hard to make progress with air conditioning and beautiful lawns and houses, then we want to stay outside with the bugs and dirt!
ReplyDeleteWell phrased by your mum, Ginny ;)
DeleteVery entertaining post. I also went to Girl Scout camp, although we somehow managed to have wooden structures with beds. But I do remember it being very cold...and the trip to the outhouse with a flashlight as challenging indeed.
ReplyDeleteThanks Molly. Quite a few churches here have summer camp sites of that kind, wooden buildings and dormitories with bunk beds. I had some experience of those too back in my youth. Better than tents, but these days I definitely crave even more comfort! :)
DeleteWell, we're all different. I began camping with my family when I was seven and loved every moment of it every year for 54 years. Finally, when my husband and I hit our sixties & found ourselves having to get up and visit the outhouse in the middle of the night, hoping we didn't meet a bear on the way in the dark, we decided perhaps renting cabins was a better way to go. It was either that or invest in an RV and we didn't have the funds to do that, let alone find & pay for a place to store it in the off season. So cabins it was. I still miss the adventure and sights and sounds of camping, but indoor plumbing & a well-equipped kitchen do help me miss it less. :)
ReplyDeleteAs you say, LaN, we're all different... ;)
DeleteCamping is something I have occasionally done when I was much younger, but never to the extent of actually enjoying it. Give me a nice cottage for rent, or a warm, clean hotel room with my own bed, shower and toilet anytime! As you know, I love the outdoors and need my long walks and Black Forest hikes to keep sane, but I would not want to camp out there.
ReplyDeleteMeike, the older I get, the more I appreciate a comfortable hotel room when travelling...
DeleteCamping isn't for everyone and back in the day it was more primitive than the high-tech equipment available today. My dad was in the army and our family started camping using old army surplus tents and sleeping bags. Everything in green khaki and smelling like old socks.
ReplyDeleteMike, that's pretty much how I remember that scout camp. Very army-like! ;)
DeleteI cannot stand camping, probably because I like to sleep in an actual bed with my home comforts around me although my parents did take my siblings and I just about every year when I was growing up.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I too prefer a comfortable bed and home-like environment.
DeleteMust admit your feelings about camping are much the same as mine. What put me off for good and all was rats.
ReplyDelete