Friday, June 13, 2014

The Ends

174/365


Well, there it is. Our tent.  
It is 15 years old, after all.  I guess I should be really glad and triumphant and all that, that we are finally throwing it away.  It failed us miserably on our last camping trip - leaking in 4 places at the first sight of rain.  Only I'm not glad.  I see it as an End.  My Aunt Debbie and Uncle Bob gave us that tent, way back when my family liked me.  We'd gone camping with them as newlyweds, just married a couple months, we went to Michigan and camped with them, borrowing my Mom's 2 person tent.  Now you know, if it says 2 person, it really means 2 dwarves, not 2 full size people.  And certainly not with the cots that my mother lent us.  There was only room for those 2 cots, and our ankles in between.  Our suitcases stayed in the car that trip.  We must've been pitiful, because Aunt Debbie and Uncle Bob got us that tent the following Christmas.  It was so luxourious, having 2 spacious rooms to camp in, when we were just us.  We chaperoned for a teen outing at church, just us, and had so much space.  I thought that tent would last forever.  I didn't know tents don't always last.  But since ours failed, I keep hearing similar stories, of people who threw their soggy tents out at the park rather than even bring the mess home.  We stared at our mess for over a week, trying to figure out what to do about it. 
 Pitch it.  
And probably rent a camper next time. 

Honestly though, I'd rather go camping with Aunt Debbie again.  

Anyway, I've been thinking about her all week. So much.  She was Catholic.  And Chris has been learning all about the Rosary at the St. M's VBS this week.  The last time I said the Rosary was at her funeral.  After the viewing, there was a special prayer time, and we girls stayed to pray.  It felt so good to pray so much that it became a meditation, I know Aunt Debbie would have approved.   She would have loved seeing Christopher singing today at his VBS finale.  


They sang their own songs, about prayer.  I must confess, I'm not a very good Catholic.  I tried to recite, and sing along where I could.  I can kind of fudge it to look like I know what I'm doing.  I lucked out when they did some  variations of hymns I knew.  But I had to laugh that I was able to really belt it out along with the kids when they sang that Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above song from Sister Act, I knew every word of that one. ;)  
  

But I found out at the end, this one was written by a parishioner.  That was pretty nifty too.  I love the part about bead by bead they pray.  


It was Sam's last day of Gymnastics Camp too.  He had a wonderful time.  When I saw what he was wearing today (he hadn't been dressed yet when I took Chris to St. M's), I thought, oh my, it's perfectly clear that he dressed himself: a green shirt, with red and black shorts.   But then I saw his flip flops that he made at gymnastics camp.  They really tie the whole outfit together.  Another finale.  


 Jacob did not approve that I stepped outside.  Today he has not wanted to let me out of his sight.


Not even so I could get a picture of this. 
It was the first sunny day in days, the temperature was perfect.  The sky was cloudless, and in the 70s.  
It also happens to be a full moon and a Friday the 13th.   It's not supposed to line up like that for another 40 years, but I don't care so much about that.  I wish I could have just parked myself in a hammock for a while and watched birds and planes flit across the beautiful blue sky.  It might have been hard today.  The sky would have given Montana (Big Sky Country) a run for its money.  


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