Life

Life

Our first time camping in the mountains. Dad set up the trip for my brother, Jimmy, who wanted to join the cub scouts after school started up again. Dad had been a boy scout. I was invited along because he wanted it to seem like a family thing. Mom came too, not a happy camper, but she wanted Jimmy joining the cub scouts to be exciting too, Dad said this would work. I heard all this much later on in life.

We drove up the “mountain” after lunch. Roger’s Hill, they call it, I found that out when I was old enough to hang out with my peers, rather than my parents. That day Dad called it “The Mountain.” Toward the top, we parked and “hiked in” to our camping spot. Dad was so excited, us kids too. Mom, not so much.

Dad set up the tent and Mom had to make a fire. I saw her use her lighter, though we had brought matches. The fire was very smoky, I heard years later Mom used the wood that Dad gave her to use... The smoke made our eyes water and it was just windy enough up there that we actually had to put the fire out to stop it. That’s when we realized Dad had left the food basket at home, on the back step.

On the very quiet ride home, we stopped for burgers. I think Dad was trying to make amends with Mom. At least, she wouldn’t need to cook. After dinner we found out our car had been stolen from the parking lot.

Jimmy did still join cub scouts, and he made it all the way up to Eagle Scout. Eventually, he was cast as the clown on a very popular TV show. Now that’s life.