Camping with the wild ponies

At some point on vacation, I’d like to relax, to enjoy quiet time and to connect with the natural outdoors. Not very long ago (haha), godparents GG and JA enrolled me and He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named brother in an overnight week-long camp with 4-H. During that time, I’ve learned to be reflective and to take advantage of silence. Despite the whirl of activities like swimming, hiking, group singing, arts & crafts, archery, horseback riding, bocce and canoeing, we have lots of quiet time.

This past 3-day weekend, quibbling niece (4), nephews (10, 2), Má Năm, her honorary son (14) and I camped at Eagles Nest campground on the Assateague National Seashore beaches. Let’s just say that each one of us connect to the natural world at different levels. Má Năm loves electricity and her various electronics (MP3 player, queen-size air mattress pump, fan, cell charger, alarm clock and some other gadgets I have never seen before or see her use them). I must say, she’s amazing behind the wheel. It has been a long time since I was last a passenger in a car. Of all the nail technicians I’ve worked with, she likes camping the most. Her honorary son enjoys sleep and very much looks forward to going home to see Disney’s "High School Musical" (or some cheesy TV kid show). His favorite part about the trip was playing in the Atlantic Ocean waves (until the lifeguards kicked us out of the water because of the approaching summer t-storms). Buzz-cut nephew likes to torture animals. I found various critters (sea urchins, water hermit crabs, fiddler crabs, snails) by the pier early in the AM and brought back for show-and-tell. Before I realized what had happened, the sea creatures were all dying or dead. He stone speared the giant jellyfish with sharp rocks from the shore and poked the hermit crabs out of their shells. He lured the wild ponies with M&M chocolates and purposely hit the ponies in the head with a stick. Behind all those "macho" attitudes, he’s really scared of bugs and all things that crawl and slither. Quibbling niece loves to ask "why? why? why? why?" and insists that I give thorough answers - but they don’t have to be correct; they just have to be within her realm of understanding, such as "if you don’t put that fish hook down, you’ll injure yourself; because the hook is pointy and sharp; because Zebco made it so that the fish won’t get away when it’s hooked by the mouth; because kids aren’t suppose to play with sharp objects; because I TELL YOU SO!". Youngest large-eyes nephew is quite a character. He keeps me sane simply by being himself. He wakes up earlier than the other campers and enjoys playing in the waves and digging for Emerita talpoida mole crabs. He likes to talk and easily befriends with nearby campers. At nightfall he persist that I tell him a story “ngày xủa ngày xữa…” for everyone to hear before bedtime.

When everyone’s asleep, and Má Năm has had her third glass of red wine, I make my escape with a couple of Heinekens out to the edge of the fishing pier. On the first night, I was on the dark side of the lone thin pier and counted the shooting stars. I also saw teenagers skinny dipped at the dock, yelling “OMG, it’s cold! it’s cold! Ahhh. Haha. Jelly! Sh*t! What the h*ll was that!?” So much for quiet time, but I didn’t (couldn’t) complain. It was too amusing. When it finally got all quiet, I got to thinking. Ok, anybody that knows me know that I hate thinking, so technically I was contemplating, contemplating about why my hands aren’t silky smooth, why my second toe is longer than the big one, why the monkey bite scar (among many others) is still noticeable, why my PJ’s got a hole in it, and why Metallica songs are in my head and why I didn’t ask for that gentleman’s number at the hookah bar??? Before heading back to the communal tent, I skipped a few stones and walked back to my campsite satisfied. With the stressful world we live in, I’m glad to have the air in my lungs and the growing circle of friends and family that care about each other despite the dramas and rumors.

Being in the outdoors setting teaches us how to be calm and reflective. Moments of contemplation (when we get them) help us to relax and slow down. It’s one of the best parts about camping. The beers help too (when the kids are asleep). I am, however, delighted to be back in the city, back to work, back to civilization. It is a shame that since I’ve been gone, Israel has been bombing Lebanon. There’s nothing good that will come out of this. The invasion has already destabilized Lebanon. If someone had bombed my airport, my cell-phone networks, bridges and killing my civilians in my Sims City, I'd retaliate with utmost force. Seriously, the attacks have to stop; Lebanon is having a hard time already, politically and emotionally. I do hope both sides will soon find a way to end the violence. Nowal has an online petition for Israel to leave - come on over to support that appeal.