The Great Outdoors

A coffeepot preset the night before announces its completion of brewing by gurgling angrily at the world. A man stalks from the bedroom of his home wearing beat up, but warm clothing and a pair of boots with lots of miles behind them but still in good shape. The house is quiet. Two small children are checked on and covers that were kicked off during the night are replaced. Smiling at his sleeping children he wonders if maybe middle age isn't as far away as he thinks it is. Stepping outside into the brisk morning air, he finds a certain satisfaction in the birds announcing the arrival of the sun. As the truck is started, chock full of camping equipment and beer, all is good with the world.
As the truck pulls up to another home, a second man wearing much the same clothing and holding a cup of coffee. "About damn time!", he sounds off with loud enough to wake the closest two blocks. "Get bent" replies the first man with equal zeal. "You got your junk ready?" he asks. The truck is loaded and as it pulls away for a weekend in the mountains, or in the woods, or in the open plains or well, anywhere.

For hundreds of years men have performed this ritual of retreating to the great outdoors to escape the rigors of civilization for rest and relaxation. But the question asked by many that don't camp, men and women alike is why? What could the reason be that would motivate men to drive, hike, ride to a remote area and live in less than comfortable surroundings? Eat food that isn't properly cooked, or not healthy and do things they normally wouldn't? The need to tough it out, be independent, or just plain get away for awhile is ingrained in to the fiber of men.
For some men, just setting up a camp in the middle of nowhere, the feeling of living like some kind of adventurer or pioneer. Wood has to be chopped, tents set up, and coolers to be arranged. Once the tent is set up, the inside arranged with sleeping bags, and assorted gadgets played with, the picture is complete. The bottom line is this, it is just plain fun to carve a small niche in the wilderness and make it your own for short while. Basically, it is the adult version of the pillow and blanket fort for men. But like all of God's creatures, man must eat.
Most of the food brought along into the wilds tends to border on the hazardous. Dangerous concoctions such as Bob's Cajun Flaming hot chili, kippered herrings or sardines oozing oil or mustard sauce. The whole idea of cooking over a fire even if its to warm something up in a pan makes the overall experience that much better. Cooking lends to the rustic charm that appeals to all campers. As always, eggs and bacon are the standard for morning meals. The sound of bacon cooking and the smell of coffee boiling in an old beat up pot is music to the camper's ears. Mealtime should be fun, the key to camp cookery is simplicity. Anything in a can or made of pork is appropriate, that and the ability to be garnished with onions.
There is another, more serious side to camping though not always addressed. The ability that certain events or occurrences have over the camper is the hidden appeal to the entire trip. Watching a hawk glide over a patch of woods, unknowing of its ability to make the watcher stand and stare until over the horizon. The way the sun, coupled with a babbling brook, can induce sleep better than any drug. Last but not least the fire the very center of any camp, but why you ask. The fire pit is the great provider, a place to cook, stay warm, and for some a center of prayer and worship. Sitting around a fire late at night, being drawing onto one's inner self, into the fire's very center, a magnet for the inner soul. For each person it is different visions, lost love, a regret or the death of a friend. Whispering phantoms that creep from the mist into the foremost of the mind, taking the camper back into a place where memories are stored and renewed for viewing. Fires are magical places that are more than utilitarian in their use, they heal the soul and take it to new places.

The beginning of this paper asked why do men make this pseudo pilgrimage into the great outdoors. The writer of this paper is not a psychologist, or even claims to be philosophical, just a man analyzing his own experience and that of some others he has camped with. The thrill of being somewhere new and just existing there. Surviving on your own wits, and with the gastronomical delights you have brought along and prepared for yourself. Soul searching found in a mere fire and the promise from nature that there is good in the world. As long as there are men in the world that have a longing to fend for themselves and go somewhere most won't, there will always be camping.