For me, camping is about the experience of a modified return to nature (and I mean a good and benevolent nature.....Rousseau's nature; not Hobbes). Though I am a big fan of electricity and the internet, I enjoy the break from my technological life that camping represents. I write in a regular paper diary while I am away and I read and read and read. We go to bed when the dark settles over camp and we wake up when the sun rises over the shady pine trees. Experience tells me that I will return to my daily life with greater enthusiasm for the ease of daily living in the 21st century as well as a respect for the simple things that are more timeless in their appeal.
JT brings some toys when we head off to camp, but usually the things that become most valuable are the sticks and special trees that he and his buddy D find in the pine forest where we camp. The boys dig in the sand on the beach and collect treasures from the ocean. They ride their bikes for miles and miles and miles, fueled by games from their imagination.
JT has never complained about the lack of television or things to do when we camp. Camping teaches him that a strong body and an imaginative mind are the two things we need the most in life. And that's what I value the most about our retreat to nature.
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