call of the wild

ahhhh camping... sweet memories of laying in the woods, gazing at the stars through that little mesh window of my musty tent. wiggling in my sleeping bag trying find a comfortable position amongst the rocks and twigs in an attempt to ward off the coming backache and neck crick. wide-eyed and shivering, not only from the cold, but in anticipation of dad bursting into my tent any second to scare the pe-diddle out of me. there was something about dark woods and creepy night sounds that turned dad into this night stalking, ninja boggyman. jumping from trees, lurking in the shrubs, sneaking around just outside of the light of the campfire waiting for the opportunity to leap out with a BLAGA-BLAGA-BLAGGAAA!!! and then scurry giggling back into the darkness while everyone else screamed like little girls..

campfire meals were always the best. where else (and why) would you purposely eat a marshmallow that had been charred to a withered ball of ash? of course, camping was always a great excuse to try out some of those freeze dried scrambled eggs (just add creek water and stir).. am i the only one that secretly hoped our cache of long-storage food would be the first nuclear target on russia's world war III agenda?? well, it seems only fair that i subject my kids to the same outdoorsy experiences that i had as a kid.. so, over the weekend, i took the boys camping.

actually, i need to back up to friday night when my excited camping buddy, john, called with news that his mother had trapped a raccoon and wondered if we'd like to take it camping with us (and i don't mean as a pet)..i'm starting to miss those freeze-dried eggs..

saturday morning found christian, elijah, jeremiah, john, and i standing in the woods. john, (who from now will be known as 'cookie' in honor of all great chuck wagon cooks) started building his kitchen campfire while me and the boys man-handled the tents. our first campfire lunch was boiled potatoes and onions, cornbread, and fried black perch. (the fish was also provided by john's mountainwoman mother). even though the fish was really good, it was clouded by the foreboding fact that a raccoon roast was in our very near future..afterwards, we took the boys on a smorgasbord of camping activities which included squirrel hunting, fishing, and proper indian scalping techniques. of course, i dizzily photo documented all of our outdoor adventures and took a score of breathtakingly amazing pictures. unfortunately, my stupid canon powershot erased every photo before i could download.. so, you will have to take my word that we, the before mentioned campers, did nibble, taste, and yes, eat raccoon fricassee on the evening of saturday, oct 27 in the year of our (oh my) Lord 2007....oddly, it wasn't half bad..i wouldn't look for it anytime soon as your local mcD's; but our campfire guru, cookie, did a splendiforous job making a potentially life scarring incident actually pleasant..

after eating a raccoon, the rest of the venture was down hill. we broke camp sunday and immediately began planning our next trip.

as a matter of fact, starting monday, i'm keeping a cooler in the trunk of my car. i've acquired a hankering to try one of the armadillos i keep seeing on the side of the road..