Do you camp? Or do you run faster than Yusain Bolt as far from a tent as possible? Does “camp” in your lexicon mean blokes in ball gowns?
Well, this may not be your billy of bush tea…on the other hand, you might like to start your shiny new year with a new hobby.In which case, I’m happy to explain some of the terminology.
Once upon a time…when we “went camping” it involved a canvas tent, half a dozen wooden poles with iron spikes in one end (and if you didn’t have the smarts to know which end went uppermost…you found out the hard way) and fiendish fold-up camp cots whose hinges were known to sever fingers.After a few years of hauling small children and clumsy husbands off to ER for sutures, someone had the idea of sleeping on a Li-lo, that inflatable bed which is more comfortable and affords a nice lie-down when you’ve come close to a heart attack after puffing into the damn’ thing for half an hour, before you have to wrestle with a folding card table whose hinges were designed by the cot people. (It might be a good idea to take a couple of bricks or off-cuts of timber because the odds against camping on perfectly level ground are roughly the same as David Cameron leading Britain back into Europe’s embrace.) All cooked food was cooked over open flame.No, Muriel, not a whopping great gas bottle-with-a-dish-rack. A proper fire of dead, fallen branches with a cast iron pan for the frying of bacon.And a kettle big enough to boil enough water to wash the greasy pan and plates.Entertainment on such trips was very much d.i.y. Hiking, swimming in creeks or the sea, reading in the tent if it rained. Packing up the whole soggy mess if it kept raining and heading home.
And then came “glamping.” This is a recently-coined term for “glamourous camping.” This new way seems to involve rather more money than I ever spent on a couple of days at a lake or seaside…For starters, one seems to need an all -terrain gas-guzzling behemoth to tow another behemoth which affords box spring bunk beds, slide-out table (ah! learned your lesson from those old camp cot hinges, did you?) microwave oven, TV/video,an extensive range of cookware, fridge,gas-fired cook top…Oh, you can have an electronics chap sort out a suitable satellite dish to be mounted on the roof so you can watch the footy/cricket/ASE updates.
For only a little more money you could have ALL this in a single vehicle package. Big plus, you could add bike racks, allowing a BMX-y work-out before you sit down to your evening meal and the new season of whatever TV show you absolutely must see.
Well, today I learned that an ancient tradition is being revived and is known now as “champing.”
In days of yore, devout pilgrims walked miles to places of holy worship. Along the way, they were given shelter and basic food within the walls of monasteries, churches, convents. At no cost, though the wealthy hedged their bets with a donation of coin!
In England, You Can Camp in Abandoned Medieval Churches [article from twitter] http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-england-you-can-camp-in-abandoned-medieval-churches
The Sunbirds have finished their nest and Mrs Bird is (I presume!) sitting on eggs. I’ll keep an eye on things. My camera software and computer are,apparently,not speaking so I have no new pictures today.If continued bad language still doesn’t work I’ll use a camera whose obsolete software is running on The Man’s computer…are you keeping up, you at the back! Here’s one from the other day…
And because “pretty” is important, here’s an impulse purchase of a Calla lily…
Oh! It’s December the thirty oneth. If you’re off to drown the last of this decidedly iffy year, be careful. I need my readers to support my scribbling habit in 2017!
I wish you health, happiness and fewer idiots eligible to vote!
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