Take Me Out to the Campground

    I'm back! We've been busy (which I'm sure you all can relate to) and I've been gone for a bit of time, too . . . at the one of the most glorious places one can go on a short vacation. I happen to have just thought of my own rendition of a song that is perfect to describe it.

The Campground.

(Read this with the "Take Me out to the Ball Game" tune in mind.)

Take me out to the campground,

Take me out to the woods;

Let's set up the tents

And get out the s'mores.

I don't care if they burn; 

I'll get more.

For it's camp-camp-camping for me,

And if it rains it's a shame,

Yet I'll stay, stay, stay out there

All the same!

   

   Anyway, yeah, that's where we've been. (And by the way, I don't prefer a rainy camping trip . . . but it sounded effective, so . . .) And I've brought back more than pictures with me; I've brought stories. Okay, let me tell you about them before I unleash the photographs.

(1) I was sitting innocently in front of the camp fire in the deepening twilight when I took note of some random bird that wouldn't stop flapping around over our campsite. Crazy bird, go to sleep. Oh ho. That just went to show the fact that I obviously hadn't been paying any attention, or I could've distinguished the difference between the chirp of a bird and the squeak of a bat. Now, I'm going to up and say it: I do not like bats and they make me uneasy. I know they won't hurt me unless I try to touch them or something (which I certainly would not do of my own free will), but they strike me as kind of weird. Oh well. Maybe it's just me?

(2) We went swimming in a nearby lake. The shallow end, which basically came up to just over my waist, was refreshing and pleasantly warm. I thought I might need to wear sandals if the bottom was rocky, but as it turned out, once you got past the shore (and the rocks were smooth anyway), it was delightfully sandy. 

I headed out to the buoys, growing more pleased as I learned that this was indeed a very pleasant spot for a swim. Well, that was until I tried venturing past the "shallow end" buoys into the deep end . . . which did have buoys, too. (Don't worry; I wasn't breaking the rules.) I thought it might be fun to swim for "real". 

Ha ha. Little did I know that I was going right into a patch of my sea-faring arch-enemy: seaweed. After a few dramatic events, I came to the decision that the shallow end was perfectly fine and certainly fit for me. I'm not too fond of swimming in super deep water anyway. I like to be able to feel or at least see the bottom. But anyhow, I learned a lesson: seaweed does not care how you feel about it, and it will not move out into the middle of the lake and away from the designated swimming area just cause you don't like it. *sigh* Inconsiderate plants. *laughs*

   Alright, after all that, maybe you would like me to pause my rambling and show the pictures now? Great idea; I was just thinking the same thing! Well, here you go:

                       Got a little visitor in our campsite!

   Our puppy's first camping trip! She leaps away when we splash her with water at home, but she showed her true colors when she soaked herself at the beach in her attempts to eat the waves breaking on the shore. Silly girl.

   Yep, that's all. Of course, I am glad when we get home after camping trips, but it's fun while it lasts. The first day is the most fun because you know you have a whole camping trip to have fun, and the last day is most sad, because it's all over now. Smelling campfires, roasting s'mores (or burning them, if you're like me), and hearing the quiet murmuring and rustling in early mornings, accompanied by the sound of zippers zipping and unzipping. Snuggling in the cozy jacket or hoodie, watching the flames flicker in the ring, and wondering how in the world the Lord did it. 

   He made all this, no matter what anyone else says. It wasn't evolution; it wasn't the big bang. No, the Creator of all this is even more incredible than anything man could dream up. It is impossible to explain away God's patent that He placed on all his creation. It is obvious that only an infinitely wise, all-powerful God could have made all this out of nothing, for He needed nothing but His word. Even nature itself testifies to His role as Creator and Lord. 

   Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all it contains; let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness. 

Psalm 96:11-13

Signed,

Martha