Camp as a Row of Tents

This post isn't about gay people, but it's been so long since I managed to blog anything, I thought I needed an attention-grabbing title. What I really want to tell you is that I slept in the tent last night. In the back yard. And loved it.

I could tell you that the reason I did this was that my daughter's little friend was sleeping over and had never slept in a tent before and her mother was having kittens about it. This would be true.

I could tell you that the reason I did it was because it gave me a chance to cuddle my son who is morphing into a man before my very eyes and won't be interested in sleeping with his mother for very much longer (well, we hope that happens, anyway). This would also be true.

I could tell you that my mother never let us sleep out and never let me spend the night with a friend who was sleeping out and I'm making up for lost time. This would also be true.

But the underlying reason that at my age, I chose sleep out in a tent in the backyard instead of in my really comfortable bed with my really comfortable husband is this: I wanted to.

It was an absolutely gorgeous evening and as I was setting up the tents for the kids, I felt myself go into camping mode. So, I kicked off my shoes and got into it. Once the tents were "furnished" and the kids were in their pyjamas in the tents, I felt a bit sorry I wasn't staying out too.

During my "this is the last" trip into the house to fetch the torch, I threw on my pyjamas and grabbed my book, telling myself I'd hang out in the tent with the boy and read until I was sure that they were all settled for the night.

The boy was delighted with this plan and pressed his warm back into mine and promptly fell asleep. I lay there in the cool night air, lulled by the sounds of whispering girls and a sleeping boy, the warbling birds and the traffic in the distance and thought, "I think I'll stay".

As I drifted off I tried to capture the sensations; I'll cherish this memory in my old age....assuming of course that I reach old age with any kind of memory intact.