Camping and I go back a long ways together. I guess I was
five when I did my first camping along a muddy Pecan Bayou (small
river). There were no modern conviences. We slept in the station
wagon (vechiles we used before vans and minivans).The toilet facilites
were a bush off the beaten path. No electricity and No running water,
unless you count the Bayou.
There would be a quite a crew assembled. My Family three kids and Mom and Dad.... My
Grandparent...various Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. This was usually My
Mimi's (Grandmother) family. They are all comedians and love practical jokes.
We have old 8mm home movies of some of these characters in action. This group also enjoyed
cooking and eating well. They could fry up the best catfish you have ever had! Seems like
there was always a pot of beans and cornbread. My Uncle's were the main cooks and it was like
watching the Three Stooges except they could really cook. But it was always fun to watch cause
they were always picking on one another.
I know this maybe hard for you to visualize but I see it
in my mind like it was yesterday. My Uncles, Wayne, Rege,and Tom were
cooking over a campfire. We had a table set up with all the goodies.
The women were at another table drinking tea and chatting. Us kids were running around playing
cowboys and indians. Uncle Wayne had this apron on except that he had it on backwards. Strange sight to see
a cook with his apron on backwards. He was bent over stiring the beans. My dad was taking the home movies of them
cooking when Uncle Tom and Rege reached over and flipped the apron up revealing a large hole in Uncle Waynes pants. Everyone rolled.
Uncle Wayne threatened the two of the with the spoon in his hand but it was too late the damange had been done.
Why am I telling you all of this. Because I learned a lot about life and love and family from those campouts.
I learned that you can have fun and kid around without loosing respect for each other. The funniest things are not those on T.V. but those times that
you share with family and friends. I think that a lot of people today miss out on the important lessons to be learned setting by a campfire hearing people talk about family history
and beliefs. There is almost a mystic quality to it....a passing on of tradition.
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