from Camping, Saturday evening

[from crib notes written very late Saturday evening, August 4. I was grumpy and simply tired and had a headache, and was writing by moonlight, so I kept it short. Augmented – major content added.]

Okay, so, here’s a little story…

Overnight, I considered my plight. I was, in fact, not alot different from the bland naive fellow. If I identified my operating mode as a problem, then I had an obligation to explore alternatives and seek better solutions. So with a sense of exploration and a heart to “what the heck!” I set out on my day.

My new pancake receipe worked! …once I added the right amount of water. Unfortunately, I blew out the ziplock once while mixing it, and ended up with a glob on my shin, and a very slimy sticky bag. *laughing* But I managed to make repairs, continued mixing, and made aproximately 15 3″ lemon pancakes. My tent was pitched away from any tent cities, but it was in an area of sparse free-standing trees, so I had neighbors, all veiying for precious shade.

Thus isolated from the tent cities, anyone up early in the morning, sitting on a deflated vinyl alligator using a backcountry cookstove (which are noisy) to make a big breakfast is bound to draw some attention. As it was, I drew my neighbor from the north side, who came over to ask about the model of stove I was using (Optimus Nova – kickbutt awesome). He is from Nebraska and works with the Boy Scouts, so we swapped hardware stories and he told me tails of camping and biking in Nebraska.

I had minimal dishes – only the skillet (the pancake batter is kneeded in the ziplock it came in, and a corner is nibbled off to facillitate pouring it on the skillet. I used a paper plate to eat off of) – which was good, as it was rapidly becoming warm and I no longer wanted to remain seated. Instead, I went to the beach and inflated my alligator.

No, really, I did this by myself. In public!! *g*

It was about 9:45, and there was to be a raft race at 11am. The alligator is our canoeing mascot – we inflate him and drag’em behind the canoe on all our trips. Seeing how I haven’t been canoeing in about 6 years, I needed time to check him for leaks, and so on. I blew him up and did find a leak, so I brought him back to my tent and used some Seam Grip to try and seal the hole.

In my running around the previous evening, I had heard Dee’s name mentioned. Dee is a member of the board of this facility, and I had met her briefly months before when I stumbled into my auxillary office as a Board meeting was breaking up. I was immediately attracted to her in the curious sense – this was someone I wanted to get to know better. [note for later]

However, I had failed to bump into her during my outings to the Land over the previous months, and meeting her had slipped from my mind until I heard her name mentioned last night. I was pleased that she was here, and that I might actually have an opportunity to say hello and get to know her a bit.

I was then delighted after patching my gator, when I wandered up to the Barn to see if I could help, and low and behold Dee was working concessions. As Mike, the caretaker, was busy with other chores, I joined her behind the table and we began to talk. At one point, while still making small talk, she commented, “thats why I am working concessions. I really don’t have anybody special to share this event with, so I just come and work here instead.” Hmmm…..

“Me, too” I added, as I got up to get a burrito from the freezer for a guest.

So I stayed, and we talked. We developed a symbiosis, where the two of us were “looking out for” each other as much as the customers. If she was up getting food or merchandise for a customer, I’d step in while her back was turned to debit the customer’s account. She did likewise. And any need that the other expressed, we tried to instantly meet, whether is was helping a customer, or more personal like needing a drink of water.

I skipped the raft race. I was doing something more important. I was being a buddy.

I felt the groove. I haven’t felt it for a long time, and it felt good. To be building and working off of each other, building each other up and have it reciprocated, with no expectations expressed or implied of the other. This was pure service. Pure love, by my definition. The basis of lasting friendship. And, moreover, more simply, and more to my point from the night before – unplanned, uncommitted. It was just “happening” of its own momentum.

At one point, when things were busy and each of us was interested in taking a little break, she mentioned about “having found a buddy”. Those words. Magic. I was proud and humbled at the same time.

We talked briefly about her relationships. She had mentioned earlier that part of why she didn’t have anyone out here was because she thought she must “scare them off”. I found nothing scary about her. When she talked about past marriages and breakups, I did some math and found that she must be around 50 years old. I’d might have guessed 40, but not 50. I shrugged it off. What I “was about” here wasn’t about age, it was about friendship and common bonds and needs.

My plans for the Saturday had always included grilling a steak for dinner. I had planned (in my head) to use an existing fire from where others had been cooking their own dinner. Unfortunately, that was the extent of my planning. I hadn’t purchased the food yet, and learned in asking around that most of the others were eating cold dinners (sandwiches) out in the meadow in front of the stage.

So shortly after when Dee came back from her break, I asked her if she’d like to join me for steak for dinner. She accepted. I asked what cut she preferred, and she hemhawed, obviously embarrased to say. So I volunteered “..because I’m getting ribeye, and would be happy to pick up whatever you wanted”. She admitted that ribeye was her fav too, but she wasn’t going to “beg” for such a cut. We laughed it off, then I left for the store.

I also bought steak for Mike. I believe the workers need to be well treated, and to me that means well fed. The ribeyes only came in two packs, so he got T-bone. I later learned that he shared part of his steak with another volunteer, which warmed my heart greatly – I like it when a gift keeps on giving, and I am glad he felt comfortable doing so.

(cont’d)