The first time I remember camping I was seven at the oldest. Papa and his girlfriend Gail took me. I was so excited to spend the weekend with my papa. He loved to camp and go canoeing. In the middle of the night I started throwing up. Gail wasn’t sure we needed to go home. I was not well enough to make a decision either way, but was terribly disappointed to have ruined the weekend. I never got the opportunity to go with my wonderful funny papa again but we had days at the cottage before the cancer got too bad. I learned to love camping though eventually through the Girl Guides. With my mother as the Brownie, Girl Guide out and Pathfinder leader I got have these experiences with her. We girls learned how to cook pancakes on top of a tin with a candle under it ( an old apple juice tin works best), to sleep away from the edges of the tent and that you should stick to the manual when lighting a fire (hairspray is explosive). That you may fall through and break a tent if you run around at night trying to scare other girls by rustling their tent walls. Jumping in a lake feels really good when you don’t have a shower. There is a sense of accomplishment and wonder when your canoe reaches an island, like you are one of the few rare explorers to ever set foot in this majestic beautiful nature.
To be continued.
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