Country Campout

Saturday morning I woke up and sat on the front porch swing with my younger brother Arnold.  I was sipping hot chocolate as he was enjoying his first cup of coffee for the morning.  We sat enjoying the morning, listening to the birds, and chatting about life.  We were on the front porch swing at my grandma's farmhouse.  This front porch swing is iconic.  We have spent hours swinging back and forth while talking at family gatherings or just staring off across the fields on a summer evening.  This morning my brother and I were looking out over bright green wheat fields washed clean after the rain watching the sun rise higher into the eastern sky.  We shared memories from childhood, caught up on our current lives, and even contemplated the future.  We both happened to be on the porch since we were the early birds who couldn't sleep in on a Saturday morning.  We were hosting several friends for a relaxing weekend in the country.  I had been planning this weekend for a while and this moment on the porch was exactly what I had hoped for-- spending some quality time reconnecting with friends.

Over the past year I have taken on a role of social event planner in my circle of friends.  As an introvert I have no idea how this happened but I came to realize that I enjoyed spending time with my friends and this didn't happen spontaneously as introverts so some planning was needed.  It started with a camping trip last summer with a few friends from college and off and on throughout the year we have gotten together for evenings or weekends.  A common theme I keep hearing from friends is that it is difficult to find people our age to hang out with.  Some are from small towns where they are the only young adults.  Others have just moved to larger areas where getting to know people can be tough.  Everyone seemed to crave community and fellowship.  My friend Hillary and I planned this weekend as a way to encourage young adults that community is still possible and as a time to connect with old friends and build new relationships.

All week I watched the forecast for the upcoming weekend predicting rain and a lot of it.  Lately any time I set a date for camping it ends of raining.  Sure enough Friday at work I watched it rain constantly all day long.  My parents suggested that maybe we should add mud volleyball to the list of activities.  The beauty of this "camp out" was that camping was optional.  Since we were hosting it at my grandma's house which my parents have turned into a guest house there was plenty of room for everyone to sleep inside--nice and dry.

Friday evening people started trickling in from across the state after work.  We had chili for dinner (thanks Mom for making it) and gathered around the dinning room table.  About half the group that evening were family so we have eaten a number of meals at this table.  However we could not remember eating a meal that was so quiet with calm conversation that everyone was able to participate in.  We love family dinners but the smaller group was pleasant too.  The rest of the evening was a game night with several rounds of Taboo and a Dutch Blitz tournament.  This crowd was not so quiet and calm under the pressure of competing at Dutch Blitz.  Finally around midnight I hit the hay but I think the party was still going strong.

The next morning started with some porch swing time and breakfast.  We then gathered most of the crew for a Saturday morning run.  A few gals were training for a half marathon and needed to put in 6 miles so Arnold and I joined them.  Arnold isn't an avid runner but I am glad he joined in.  Our SAG wagon drop us off 6 miles north of town and we were to run back.  Arnold and I continued to share memories from childhood and comment on the different birds we saw.  At one point we broke out into a gospel song medley including Swing Low Sweet Chariots and I'll Fly Away which might have caused us to speed up the pace for the other gals a little too much.  Over the final 1/2 mile there was some humorous military style chants to push us to the end.   

The afternoon included napping, reading, some strategy games for those who were so inclined, and watercolor painting.  The watercolors were a result of left over supplies from our Pinterest party the previous week and it was fun to see everyone's creative sides.  I also talked a few people into setting up tents since the weather had cleared for camping.

Saturday evening we moved the party outdoors and cooked a dinner of hobo packs on the fire pit.  Thank goodness we had a whole slew of gals in the kitchen putting together these  packets.  I had the easy task of putting them on the fire and enjoying the beautiful evening while supervising the fire.  As the sun went down it got pretty chilly around the fire so we had to pull out jackets, coats, and sleeping bags to keep warm.  I had brought back a snow suit that we had borrow from Arnold for Arthur's ski trip.  My cousin Eleanor decided that it would be the perfect outfit to wear to keep toasty by the fire.  We sang around the fire and roasted s'mores.  Observing the group around the fire I noticed that some in attendance I had known my entire life.  They often say that you don't keep your friends from high school but that wasn't true in this situation.  Of course many of us went to college together and our friendship has deepened further.  I also saw friends that I have had for several years that I was introduced to by other friends.  I couldn't help but wander about the few people I had just met that weekend if in a few years friendships would grow from the seeds of this weekend-- I hope so.

After the camp fire had died down a few of us decided to stargaze.  The clouds had cleared for the most part and it was relatively dark.  Someone had a stargazing app which was incredibly handy.  You point the phone towards the night sky and it shows the stars and constellations in that part of the sky.  We were able to pick out several constellations but my favorite was probably seeing the planet Jupiter shining the brightest in the night sky.

I talked my friend Delores into sharing my tent with me since my usual tent buddy, Arthur, had to stay home since he had obligations at church.  Delores and I were roommates for 1 semester and shared a (large) dorm room so surely we could share a (small) tent?  Of course I'm not sure I have forgiven her for hiding a person in my closet who scared me to death when I opened the door when I got back from taking a shower.  While it was chilly we made a nest of about 4 sleeping bags and it was pretty cozy.  I didn't sleep great which seems to be a downside to camping-- I like camping and love sleeping but the two just haven't seemed to mix together well yet.

Sunday morning breakfast was delicious-- pancakes, eggs and bacon, and fruit.  While sitting at breakfast someone looks out the window and notices that the neighbors' dog Sarge is running across the yard.  Sarge had spent a good deal of the weekend with us so that wasn't surprising but when we realized Sarge had a wallet in his mouth it got more exciting.  Sarge does have a reputation for carrying off unattended objects when he comes to visit-- rugs, shoes, etc.  Luckily Sarge dropped the wallet in the yard when called and didn't take off to the large mud puddle.  We still don't really know how Sarge got a hold of the wallet since it was zipped inside a tent, but thankfully we saw him or else it would have been a rough way to end the weekend.

When I got home late Sunday afternoon Arthur and I swapped stories from the weekend.  We were both exhausted but had had a good time (he watched the Spurs tromp the Thunder in Game 1).  I commented to Arthur, "Delores (who is a social butterfly) thought it would be fun if we had a get together every weekend."  I mentioned that it is "probably not going to happen but we will do it again sometime.  Just I'm not planning anything for a while."  Arthur looked at me and put his hand on my forehead.  He asked, "Are you sure you are okay?"  Normally I am planning several outings at a time and sometimes I find it more fun than actually doing what I plan.  "No more planning, at least for tonight and maybe not even tomorrow", I replied.  Omnia Vincit Amor.

Thank you to Lindsey (aka Eleanor) for sharing all the photos in this post.