Time out

I’ve always loved being in the woods and especially so in the fall and winter. When I was young I would spend several days camping alone. I would find a remote spot near a creek or a lake where I wouldn’t be bothered by anyone or anything and spend the days hiking and fishing. At night I would stare at the sky and wonder what the future would hold.

When my oldest daughter was born I was certain I would miss the woods and for several years I gave up the time I spent there. As my daughter grew older we would go out for picnics and she loved to explore any and every trail we might find. We blazed quite a few of our own. Finally the time came that I thought she was ready so I took her for her first camping trip. She loved every minute of daylight as always but when the evening approached the sounds from the woods began to crawl up her spine and I watched her grow silent, listening, her eyes growing ever wider. She stayed very close from dusk until dawn and sleep was only something we said we should do. No subject was to hard for her that night as long as it kept me awake and together we measured the universe.

Breakfast came before dawn and by the time the sun was full her eyes could hardly stay open. I packed up our things and loaded the car and we made the trip back home in silence. I expected her to sleep but she just sat staring, not looking, just thinking. I could see she was soaking it in. We pulled up to our drive and she collected her self, then looked over at me and smiled. I turned off the car and her little arms reached around my neck. She said “Thank you Daddy. I really like camping but I’d never want to go without you”. I realized it then and I told her so too, “sweetheart I’d never want to go without you either”.

That was many years ago and though we’ve each made a few trips without the other we’ve proved we were honest in what we’d said that day. My little sweetheart is 25 now and I’m not Daddy anymore, just Dad, but there’s a chill in the air and her question today is the same one she’s had since that first night in the woods, “Dad, when are we going camping again” ?