Dear Friend,
Today was a journeying day for me and my family. We spent most of the day on the road, joined by my kid’s teacher from school. We were headed off toward that dreaded swamp that I wrote about yesterday.
It seems that I overreacted. We arrived around noon at Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland. We are actually tent camping on the dunes behind the beach on the Atlantic shore.
What can I say? The scene is beautiful. The sand is white, with dunes piled high, tufts of sea grasses dotting their surface. “Wild” horses, called “ponies” here, walk around, unfenced and unmolested. I put wild in quotations because these ponies are actually quite tame.
On arrival, we opened the back of our van and began to unload our stuff. A pickup next to us did the same. At that moment, a pony walked right up, stuck his nose into the pickup bed, ripped open a plastic bag, removed a large ripe cantaloupe, and began a peaceful feast. Next, this pony begins to probe her nose into our van. She took a bite of a can of Sam’s Cola that we bought from Wal-Mart, but didn’t approve. Of course the can proceeded to squirt sticky drink everywhere.
While this action was taking place, other ponies had their way as well. One “grabbed” a watermelon from another pickup, and began his private munch fest. All of this within the first fifteen minutes of arrival.
My reaction to all of this? Well, yes, the horses made a pest of themselves, but it was a priceless experience. I don’t think that there are many places left in the world where you can experience “horse thievery” in such a unique way.
And my kids were here to see it all. Their reaction? My youngest son was a bit disconcerted by the size and boldness of the horses, though he has seen horses many times. My daughter seemed somewhat interested. I have no idea where my oldest son was. At his age, he just runs off with his pals. But it’s a safe place for that kind of thing, so we let him.
Despite all of this, the heat here is intense, and there is no shade. Our tent is a small oven. As we speak I am quietly hiding in our van, AC on, hoping no one will notice. 😉
But really, the thermometer on my rear view mirror says 116 degrees F in the direct sun. That’s too hot, and I need to get the gang under cover. We brought plenty of water and food. The kids ran in three different directions, and my wife, a responsible and sacrifice-oriented parent, feels that it is her duty to follow them all. I’m not sure how she will do that.
It seems to me that trying to shadow your kids puts the kids in charge and has the parent reacting, and exhausted. Then again, other parents are not responsible for watching my kids either. We put reasonable restrictions on their behavior and actions, and expect them to follow these. Do they always obey? Duh. But we also let them know of our disappointment when they act disrespectfully, and make sure that there is a consequence.
At some age, as a parent, I think that you just gotta let your kids go. Always in the safest environment possible, of course. But it’s not a rubber room. There are dangers. That’s the price we pay for letting them grow up. The alternative is to selfishly try to keep them as babies. I believe that far too many over-active parents do just that, and end up raising 40 year old teenagers in their basement. At least, that’s my opinion.
We are scheduled to be here today, tonight, tomorrow, and finally depart on Friday. Unfortunately, this heat is scheduled to leave us tonight, being exchanged with severe thunderstorms, and then heavy rain and much cooler temperatures through Friday. It is supposed to feel like the low 50’s F at night. If it was a clear night, that might be pleasant. However, one and a half inches of steady rain is forecast, which will certainly turn all of this nice dry white sand into a mucky mess.
I have repeated this forecast to my wife so often that she is quite sick of my voice. In truth, I want to bail out once the weather goes bad. There is nothing fun about living in a Wal-Mart tent in the middle of sand dunes soaking in 1.5 inches of cold rain, 20 mph winds whipping things up nicely.
Yeah, I know. Sir Edmund Hillary I’m not. I respect the h**l out of guys like that. And I think if climbing Mt. Everest was my passion, as it was his, you wouldn’t be listening to whining now. I’d be crowing. But that’s not my bag.
Right now I’m itching to get to Texas and pick out that motorhome. I just keep imagining how cool it would be to have it here right now. Sitting in the A/C. Drinking a cool drink. Taking a shower between dips in the ocean. And wouldn’t you know it, one of the other parents brought his big class c motorhome and parked it across from me. Now that’s the way to travel! :-))
Oh well, I’ll try to keep in touch as things progress. It really is beautiful here. And contrary to my earlier concerns, the breezy conditions have ensured that no mosquitos have been spotted. 😉
All the best,
Hugh
