Simply summer

There’s a simplicity that seems to come with summer. All the running around to kid activities, meetings for various groups and organizations, seems to wind down. The whole atmosphere of life seems more relaxed. It is, after all, summer. And we’ve waited all year for it.

I love summer for this very reason. There’s a joyful anticipation leading up to the beloved season. As a kid, sitting in the hot classrooms hearing the buzz of the lawnmower outside, I could just feel the school year coming to an end, and the anticipation of summer to come.

Things seem easier in summer – not just for me, but also in nature. The fruits of more challenging month’s labor come to fruition in summer, and it happens so naturally. Seeds planted in spring climb effortlessly and abundantly on the stakes and trellises put there earlier to control the direction of their climb. In summer they climb with ease. Gorgeous flowers make way for luscious fruits, and it happens beautifully and naturally.

The waves of the ocean gently lap the shore – a quiet contrast to the fierce winter waves that crash to shore. There’s calm to the sea. Summer is in the air. The birds fly playfully overhead, and all seems so worry free.

I need summer to put life in the proper perspective. Nothing does this more than going on a family camping trip. The success of the trip is in the careful planning, like the staked vine. Bring simply what you truly need. Prepare for all conditions. Make sure your equipment is in working order. Matches, batteries, bug spray and Band-Aids – a must. Games, books, and recreational equipment, and you’ve got the makings of a simply delightful summer vacation.

The amazing thing about camping is that you can get by and appreciate the simplicity of it all. Cooking dinners – often times from cans, for some reason tastes so much better when eaten outdoors. There’s more time to savor the coffee and sit in the great outdoors noting the gifts of nature that surround you. Everything is scaled down and simply works.

I do, however, draw the line when it comes to the shower. Hot water is a must in my book! Armed with a bar of Ivory soap – I wash my body, and then wash my shirt worn that day. Towel and shirt on the line, the summer breeze has it dry by the next day – the same can be done with other garments – you can travel light and still be fresh as a daisy. Providing, of course, the weather cooperates.

When Mother Nature fails to deliver optimum dry camping conditions, there’s always the local laundry mat – an experience that evokes flashbacks to college days. Nonetheless, the job can get done.

Camping is truly quality family time, requiring cooperation and compromise in close confined living conditions (in our case, a tent). Your day becomes a labor for the necessities of simple living. From fetching water, wood, and tending a fire – to cooking over a campfire and washing dishes by boiling water to trekking off to the bathroom – the things that happen in your everyday are a conscious and mindful chore that is part of a day of camping and in the great outdoors – it is simply fun!

My kids have been camping since they were first born. Like me, they look forward to it each year. To my relief, and surprise, recently one of my children announced that he hoped to have a few days of rain on the next camping trip because he loved hanging out with the whole family in the tent playing games. Playing games as a family somehow seems to be reserved only to camping trips these days. At home, it seems the computer and TV are the activities of choice.

Camping allows me to ponder each year: How much more do I really need? With the basics – food, shelter, hot and cold running water, quality time with family, surrounded by natures plentiful bounty – this is simply summer. Aside from the prerequisite – warm temperatures and sunshine – what more do we really need?