But in spite of the leaking mattress and crawling around, we were working it out. We decided to put our comfy comforter on top of the air mattress which was about 1/4 filled and to sleep on the comforter.That should cushion the rocks, we reasoned. We had two small “throws” to put on top of us. By 1:30 though, the air mattress was 0% filled, and even though Mike seemed to be sleeping ok, I hadn’t been that lucky. Finally, I gave up on wrestling with the rocks and for control of the “throw”, and I took little Scooter and myself to the car. It was pitch dark, but we managed to stumble into the passenger side. As we snuggled together we were able to actually obtain that cherished state of bliss called sleep. (I can speak for Scooter because if he hadn’t been sleeping, I would have known it). After two full hours of heaven, Scooter and I were awakened by the beep from the driver’s door, and a face appeared in the window of the car. I knew it had to be Mike, or was strongly hoping it was, and I was right. Mike mumbled something incoherent, pulled back his side of the seat and was out in two minutes. While Scooter and Mike were snoring away and, from the scent in the car, were both processing the Provolone cheese on Mike’s sandwich, I began to examine my life and how I ended up sleeping on rocks in a tent at 71 1/2 years of age. Of course that thought started me thinking about mankind’s purpose on earth, the origin of the universe, and how great it was that palm trees and eucalyptus trees were originally imported to California – stuff like that. When the sun just barely started to come up, I reached under the seat for the book, “I, Carlos” by my friend Casey Dorman and I continued to read as the sun kept rising in the sky. At about 7:15, I couldn’t stand being awake and alone any longer, so I opened the passenger door with great flourish. It worked. Mike and Scooter blinked open their eyes, and our night in the car was officially ended. After “processing” the experience from the night before, Mike and I decided that our next step is simple. We just have to figure out which of the four adult kids in our life would like to have a really nice, spanking new Coleman tent for their very own.
Message for today: If you find yourself giving up some things as you age, don’t feel bad. Remember: It isn’t because we can’t do certain things (like camping on rocks) when we get older; it’s just because there comes a point when we decide we just don’t want to.
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