Back Yard
I've lived in this house for 5 1/2 years and tonight for the very first time it occurred to me that it would be really fun to pitch a tent in the back yard and sleep out there some night. I have no idea why I never thought of that before... I am obviously too estranged from my inner ten-year-old. Just because I'm about to be 46 doesn't mean that a night in the tent with a sleeping bag and a flashlight and a book and a couple of chocolate bars and the dog wouldn't totally rock.
The fact of having a back yard at all is a weirdly grownup thing to begin with. I still think of myself as a bit of a fuckup, even though I'm not, really. But you know how it is... once you fit your self-image into a niche you're comfortable with, it's hard to shift. I've always seen myself as kind of a gifted underachiever and been good with that. All these accouterments of adulthood -- house and garage and kid in college -- still strike me as incongruous sometimes, even if I did come by them honestly.
However: I do have a back yard. And a tent, I think, unless I lent it to someone and forgot to get it back. And a sleeping bag, and a flashlight. I have a couple of books. And the best dog in the world, to keep me safe from marauding raccoons looking for chocolate bars.
One night this summer, I will do this. You all can hold me to it.
(The photo is worth clicking on.)
The fact of having a back yard at all is a weirdly grownup thing to begin with. I still think of myself as a bit of a fuckup, even though I'm not, really. But you know how it is... once you fit your self-image into a niche you're comfortable with, it's hard to shift. I've always seen myself as kind of a gifted underachiever and been good with that. All these accouterments of adulthood -- house and garage and kid in college -- still strike me as incongruous sometimes, even if I did come by them honestly.
However: I do have a back yard. And a tent, I think, unless I lent it to someone and forgot to get it back. And a sleeping bag, and a flashlight. I have a couple of books. And the best dog in the world, to keep me safe from marauding raccoons looking for chocolate bars.
One night this summer, I will do this. You all can hold me to it.(The photo is worth clicking on.)
Labels: confessional, home
posted by Lisa at 11:34 PM
4 Comments:
What a terrific idea! Britt and I used to camp all the time during the GS years, but I haven't done it since.
And, yes, those raccoons are marvelous. I love that you have raccoons in your trees.
N sleeps outside under the stars at least once a summer. The late Lester used to keep him company, but would sit and stare at him anxiously all night long.
Do it. A couple of summers ago I slept in a backyard tent every night. It was wonderful.
Those lessees you have in yout back yard... Camping is wonderful, sans the fire in the city, although you can have a grill or even a small fire pit! You want to know the best, from a decade of Adirondack camping - a bear won't visit you for a burger - except my hubby John and his smallish brown bear friend Hershey the chocolate lab! You are cleared to camp :).
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