What It's All About

I was doing the dishes at our family campsite in beautiful Spring Mills campground in Southern Indiana  amongst mature pine trees, breathing fragrant air, every pore of my body glad to be able to exchange air with the outdoors.  Really, just giving the body a chance to be outdoors exchanging a fresh air almost like a leaf itself--reveling in the simple of fact of being outside--that really is what camping it all about:  The chance to be a leaf for three or four days, doing everything from cooking to sleeping outside!

Sometimes I get home from camping and I can't believe how much I put up with dank and dirty smells dwelling in the city:  the car exhaust, drippy smells from behind the washing machine, you name it.  To just stand in the treed cathedral of a forrest doing dishes is a real treat.

For many years family camping I have had the mindset, "If I can just get THIS done or THAT done, then I can get to what camping is all about--"  But, I now realize that this attitude will make me miserable since about 80% of camping is spent doing routine chores.  Tent family camping isn't really the chance to get away from it all; it's the chance to do it all (or most of it), outside in nature. I suppose that's what some folks hate about camping in the first place, but it's something I am learning to love and has me yearning for more. In some ways, camping makes chores harder:  I mean, you have to haul your water three or four times a day like Laura Ingels Wilder, but on the other hand, every day life is simpler.  there are no floors to sweep or counters to polish, and if an ant wants to take away the crumbs on the ground, more power to it--this is there home, too.  Standards are more relaxed and cleaning dishes just means cleaning them enough with simple elements: cold water, a little biodegradable soap, and a dishtowel--all in the company of a small yellow flower and a whistling catbird.

No, I am not waiting to get done with the dishes so I can get back to camping: Doing the dishes must become a part of camping if the whole experience is to be enjoyed.   After all,  how many people have a kitchen like this? Take time to enjoy the routines of life outdoors, and don't worry about getting it done so you can get back to camping.  Doing the routine outdoors is the joy of camping.