This past Friday evening, Andrew, Aaron, Hoss and I tent camped at Sangchris State Park which is located 20 minutes from Springfield on Sangchris Lake. The name "Sangchris Lake" is derived from the fact that it lies in both Sangamon and Christian counties.
Everything seemed to come together for us to take this adventure this past weekend. Connie was in Chicago with a couple of girl-friends and 6000 other women at a Women's Conference. Aaron had Friday off from school and I was not preaching Sunday. And the weather was suppose to be gorgeous.
It had been a while since we had been camping together and I really was looking forward to spending time with my sons. (Lydia was invited but was unable to attend - she said she was baby sitting) Through the whole process I learned some lessons.
1. Lesson #1 It is easier to pack for a week in Florida not camping than 1 night at Sangchris Lake camping. Tent, tarp, food, utensils, coolers, camp stove, lantern, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, fire-wood, bug spray, fishing poles, etc, etc. It was no small chore to cram all the gear into my small car and still have room for Aaron, me, and a nervous 80 pound Old English Bulldog. I will never get all the white hair out of my car, ever. There had to be something illegal about how we were traveling down the road. One significant thing I overlooked about tent camping - you cannot drive up to your camp site. So, Aaron and I had to lug all of our camping stuff to where we would be spending the night. And, all the while, we had to deal with dear ole Hoss.
2. Lesson #2 Hoss the dog is fun to be around at home, but he does not belong on a camping trip. Aaron and I knew we had made a potential error when we took Hoss out of the car at the lake. He was on sensory overload. All the sights, sounds, and smells that greeted him tripped some sort of latent trigger in his doggy brain. He wanted to run to meet all his doggy neighbors, run to every tree, chase every squirrel, and meet all the other campers - all at the same time. And, Hoss has poor leash etiquette. On this trip I was imagining a shock collar in his future. The low point happened when a couple walked by our camp site with their dainty lap dog dancing on the end of its delicate pink leash. Hoss was pouting under a pic-nic table to which he was tied. He spied the prissy little canine and all of his adrenalin came flooding back. He lunged at Trixie almost dragging the table behind him. The couple stormed away throwing epitaphs over their shoulders at the barbarians with the wild-dog for a pet. That is why, in the above picture, you see Hoss in his new home. And, going to bed with Hoss in the tent with us, that is a whole other story.
3. Lesson #3 Spending time away from almost everything with your sons is a good thing. Andrew arrived about five, following his Friday afternoon class. We were all delighted to see him. Aaron and I had not gotten much beyond setting up the tent because we were too physically spent from dragging 500 pounds of camping baggage to the site and emotionally traumatized from having to cope with Hoss. So, Andrew promptly started supper. Getting a hot meal was a real pick-me-up and we all relaxed a bit. We all three laughed, a lot. We built a fire and played cards into the night. We talked about sports, and politics, and girls, and faith, and a myriad of other topics, large and small.
Aaron and I arrived back in Gibson at noon on Saturday. Andrew had school-work to get to and Aaron and I would need most of Saturday afternoon to unpack. Next time, I will plan at least two nights - because of so much work in a 24 hour period. And, I will leave Hoss at home. I am prayerful that there is a next time. All the work and aggravation was overshadowed by the joy of spending time with my sons. It is humbling to see how good the Lord has been to me. And, I am sure that Lydia and Connie are most anxious to join the fun the next time we go. There is nothing that excites them more than the prospect of spending the night on the ground without a bathroom and sleeping in a tent now filled with dog hair.
Everything seemed to come together for us to take this adventure this past weekend. Connie was in Chicago with a couple of girl-friends and 6000 other women at a Women's Conference. Aaron had Friday off from school and I was not preaching Sunday. And the weather was suppose to be gorgeous.
It had been a while since we had been camping together and I really was looking forward to spending time with my sons. (Lydia was invited but was unable to attend - she said she was baby sitting) Through the whole process I learned some lessons.
1. Lesson #1 It is easier to pack for a week in Florida not camping than 1 night at Sangchris Lake camping. Tent, tarp, food, utensils, coolers, camp stove, lantern, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, fire-wood, bug spray, fishing poles, etc, etc. It was no small chore to cram all the gear into my small car and still have room for Aaron, me, and a nervous 80 pound Old English Bulldog. I will never get all the white hair out of my car, ever. There had to be something illegal about how we were traveling down the road. One significant thing I overlooked about tent camping - you cannot drive up to your camp site. So, Aaron and I had to lug all of our camping stuff to where we would be spending the night. And, all the while, we had to deal with dear ole Hoss.
2. Lesson #2 Hoss the dog is fun to be around at home, but he does not belong on a camping trip. Aaron and I knew we had made a potential error when we took Hoss out of the car at the lake. He was on sensory overload. All the sights, sounds, and smells that greeted him tripped some sort of latent trigger in his doggy brain. He wanted to run to meet all his doggy neighbors, run to every tree, chase every squirrel, and meet all the other campers - all at the same time. And, Hoss has poor leash etiquette. On this trip I was imagining a shock collar in his future. The low point happened when a couple walked by our camp site with their dainty lap dog dancing on the end of its delicate pink leash. Hoss was pouting under a pic-nic table to which he was tied. He spied the prissy little canine and all of his adrenalin came flooding back. He lunged at Trixie almost dragging the table behind him. The couple stormed away throwing epitaphs over their shoulders at the barbarians with the wild-dog for a pet. That is why, in the above picture, you see Hoss in his new home. And, going to bed with Hoss in the tent with us, that is a whole other story.
3. Lesson #3 Spending time away from almost everything with your sons is a good thing. Andrew arrived about five, following his Friday afternoon class. We were all delighted to see him. Aaron and I had not gotten much beyond setting up the tent because we were too physically spent from dragging 500 pounds of camping baggage to the site and emotionally traumatized from having to cope with Hoss. So, Andrew promptly started supper. Getting a hot meal was a real pick-me-up and we all relaxed a bit. We all three laughed, a lot. We built a fire and played cards into the night. We talked about sports, and politics, and girls, and faith, and a myriad of other topics, large and small.
Aaron and I arrived back in Gibson at noon on Saturday. Andrew had school-work to get to and Aaron and I would need most of Saturday afternoon to unpack. Next time, I will plan at least two nights - because of so much work in a 24 hour period. And, I will leave Hoss at home. I am prayerful that there is a next time. All the work and aggravation was overshadowed by the joy of spending time with my sons. It is humbling to see how good the Lord has been to me. And, I am sure that Lydia and Connie are most anxious to join the fun the next time we go. There is nothing that excites them more than the prospect of spending the night on the ground without a bathroom and sleeping in a tent now filled with dog hair.
1 comment:
Great story. However, I think I detected a small amount of hyperbole. My father-in-law thought any story worth telling deserved some enhancement. You story made me miss my "little" boys. - Larry David
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