Last spring I mentioned to a friend that it was almost time to head out to our camp and she responded, “I don’t know what you like about that place.” She went on to say that I spent my weekends there doing some of the same stuff that I do at home – cooking, cleaning, and listening to the kids fight over nothing. We have to pack up every Friday and fight the traffic on the Pike. We share the camp with my brother and sister-in-law, so we clean up when we leave on Sunday. Seems like a hassle.
For some reason it feels different out there. In fact, it’s not even so much about liking the place, it’s more of a NEED. I NEED to go there because it’s the ONLY place that I relax. I know, I should just learn how to relax at home but so far I haven’t been able to master that. There’s always laundry piled up, errands to run, or emails demanding my attention…if I ever lay around for a day at home I’m almost always deathly ill.
Our camp in Holland (MA) is a tiny (600 SF) ranch, on a tiny (.16 acre) lot that’s basically vertical. We have a small beach on Hamilton Reservoir that we share with 7 other houses. I honestly don’t know why I can’t relax anywhere else, but as soon as I turn onto Holland Road on the way out of Sturbridge I feel so happy, even though just 10 minutes prior I was wearing earplugs to cut the volume of the whining and screaming coming from the back seat.
We arrived at camp around 6 p.m. last Friday, with pizza that we picked up on the way. I ate dinner, drank 2 Oranj & Frescas, and fell asleep at 7 and slept for almost 12 hours (I usually sleep 5-6 hours per night). Over the 3-day weekend I read 2 entire books, took at least 3 naps, played games, made s’mores, and went for a couple of walks. We made a trip to civilization on Saturday to load up on provisions, and spent a few hours at Old Sturbridge Village, where we take full advantage of our membership. Today I found the energy to knock a few things off the to-do list, followed by more reading and another nap.
I expect that the kids will eventually think camp is boring and start giving me trouble about going, but right now they love it as much as I do. They love to play in the water and fish, but tonight when I asked Aliya why she loved camp, she said it was because we get to spend a lot of time together there. I don’t know how many years I have before the kids get sick of spending time with us, but for now, that’s what I like about that place.