Skyespace

It's Tradition

My mom used to say, "When you have your own family, then you can do what you want." This usually was her final response to my whining about not wanting to go to church or a family reunion or get-together. Things we have to do because we always did them - traditions.
I guess I always knew what she meant but, since I don't have any kids of my own, I never really considered that I may have already started my own traditions. The longest standing of these, I think, is our annual camping trip with friends. This has come to be known simply as Little Fan, so named for the campground where we have spent about week for the last 5 summers.

We just got home and uploaded the photos. Here are a few of my favorites:

As usual, we ate richly, drank copiously and laughed relentlessly. We got to see friends from out of town and say a proper 'goodbye' to friends soon to leave town. The weather was a concern since last years' rainy excursion but we lucked out with a lot of sun this time, evidenced by more than a few burns. The good thing about the bad weather last year was the addition of a new custom wherein all the campers partake in a talent show. It was such a hit that it will likely become an annual event. Though I have no photographic proof, the skills displayed were feats of magic, sing alongs, juggling, joke telling and savant-like puzzle solving skills.

The thing we look forward to most though is floating in the river. Little Fan is situated on a fork of the Clackamas and the Collawash so I'm not really sure which river it is but it's so cold that we usually don't swim so much as bob around on inflated water toys, cold beverage in hand. Seems simple but it's totally the highlight.

So now that we're home and everything is put away, as usual I am already looking forward to floating the river next year. Despite the dirt and discomfort of "roughing it," the tradition is one I cherish. And the dirt eventually washes off.