35 Comments
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Kate Henry's avatar

Awwww..............first camper. Pooooor baby! YEs there are still coyotes and screach owls and acorns falling from the trees. I like all the camping things, except the screach owls.

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

Thanks, Kate, for reading this for the second time! That is over and above the call of friendship. Stay well, kid.

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Kate Henry's avatar

Great read a dozen times ))) Got a team working on the 28yrs left to my contract ))) K

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

I had no idea your days were numbered!

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Kate Henry's avatar

Silly kid. All our days are numbered. We usually just chug along and leave when time is up without a clue of when that might be. Made a deal 2 years ago for 30 yr contract. Health team knows about this and is working to make it happen. Test everything and repair what needs fixing. Behave in the meantime. )) Could maybe might make it. )))

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Sue Cauhape's avatar

Men sleeps like logs which makes them lousy babysitters. Women, for better or worse, are Nature's alarm system, hearing every little peep.

As I read this, I thought of my daughter on her one and only deer hunting trek with her husband. That particular adventure was more than she bargained for, but at least she gave it a try.

I wonder if there was a hierarchy of people chosen to sleep near the cave's entrance?

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

Oh, I feel sure there was. The biggest, strongest most volatile ones. Thanks for reading and commenting, Sue!

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Switter’s World's avatar

I compensate for my ability to sleep through hurrinadoquakes by taking my dog with me. Watchdogging is what she trained for and what she does for a living.

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Wade Terry's avatar

Isn’t it interesting how our primal history can be awakened and be so real…. Camping is in my past as well. No more.

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

If I never have to sleep on the ground again, it will be too soon. Especially with these old bones. Thanks for reading my story, Wade. I read your surprising story, too!

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James Ron's avatar

Ha! Good one, Sharron. Pretty funny. But yes, I think they felt that way early on.

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

Now, you, on the other hand, were a camper, I imagine. Or would that be your character Jimmy Swann?

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James Ron's avatar

I have done a lot of camping, not as much as of late. Early on, I didn't do much thinking about going camping, now I tend to think too much about it - I get in my own way. LOL

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Janice Walton's avatar

What a great ending ! We did a lot of camping when the kids were young - mostly in a tent camper and that was fine - except for night visits to the restrooms. We actually spent a night in a tent - once was enough.

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

I hear you, Janice. I tried it a couple of times plus loooooong day hikes. Not for me. I want my bed in a room with an open window.

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Mark Starlin's avatar

Her and my wife agree. Although, I think it is mainly the lack of a bathroom situation.

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

Ha ha ha, yes! The whole forest is a man's bathroom. Maybe not so easy for fastidious women...

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Rebecca Holden's avatar

So's the beach! Had to relocate from my last sitting-on-the-beach spot to down below the high-tide mark (rookie error). It was absolutely revolting! 🤣

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

ha ha ha! yes.

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Richard Blaisdell's avatar

One more ghost story to shiver in your sleeping bag lying on scattered leaves. Enough to keep anyone awake all night, watch moon and stars fall. Who can sleep with crackle of fires and nightmares that are at the center of camp.

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

Who, indeed? Mostly men, I think.

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Richard Blaisdell's avatar

No judgement. The sun is rising. Coffee’s to be made.

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Jill CampbellMason's avatar

This hit me wonderfully as I'm just reading the book BEAR which has a couple of sisters on one of the San Juan Islands who have seen a bear, large one, near their remote house and have two entirely different reactions--new this year. I think you would like it. Got it from the library.

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

I will look for it, Jill. Thanks for the recommendation.

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Jim Cummings's avatar

Love this one Sharron. And remember, If God had intended for people to sleep on the ground, he wouldn't have invented the Winnebago.

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

Right on!

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Switter’s World's avatar

Hey, if you are a solid sleeper, you won’t even know that something ate you during the night. I think that’s a feature, not a bug.

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palmisanocj@yahoo.com's avatar

Hmm…not 100% sure how to read that last line but am reminded of the saying, “be careful what you wish for”! ❤️

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

That last line is merely a reflection of my own aversion to sleeping out. Camping is anathema to me.

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K.C. Knouse's avatar

You put me in that forest with your exquisite description. Me thinks the main character had too vivid an imagination. She is probably a writer!

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

Hah! Excellent guess, my friend. Much of my fiction is autobiography in very thin disguise.

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Rebecca Holden's avatar

Loved this, Sharron - it's great to read it again! I never liked camping in a tent..... and this lady doesn't even have THAT! 🫣

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Nathan Slake's avatar

"Is this what early humans felt when sleeping in their caves — always frightened, always on guard, ready to do battle at every moment?"

I'm sure it was, and I'm sure a lot of that innate instinct lingers still.

Great story, Sharron. Really like the ending.

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Sharron Bassano's avatar

Thank you Nathan. I tried to keep the time frame open until the very end showing it to be modern era. Not sure how successful I was... Always trying to improve, anyway...

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Nathan Slake's avatar

It was great! Very successful.

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