Camping In

10/09/2018

Time camping isn’t spent it’s invested.

Growing up our vacations involved camping out as we traveled across country to attend annual denominational meetings. Later I spent time camping as part of my job as an historian and archeologist. This is a passion I was able to pass on to my son as we took vacations in the wilderness of the desert west. I recall one trip in particular where we rushed off and left all but the basics at home. It was an interesting trip as we improvised or foraged for food, fire and bedding.

For the last several days I’ve experienced a new phenomenon I call camping in. An unexpected surgery took us to an out of town hospital on short notice. I didn’t understand the scope or duration of what we were getting into so I didn’t properly prepare, bringing only the basics. Thankfully I’ve been able to stay in a small alcove in the room with a couch, chair and small table. It’s also means I wash clothes in the sink and hike down to the cafeteria to forage for food.

THOUGHTS: Camping out shaped my view of the environment and humans place in the world. Camping in provided a similar understanding of both our frailness and ability for innovation. Humans are an amazing species that have proven our ability to overcome the odds to survive. We have also proven our willingness to destroy any obstacle that challenges our dominance. Perhaps the true worth of our intellect is to innovatively find ways to coexist with the environment we have consistently proven we can overcome.