Decamp by Camping

We live in strange and unusual times.  

As a Geezer, I know this because I've seen a lot of strange and unusual stuff. So has my husband.  Between us, we have 13 decades of strange and unusual experience.  But COVID-19, along with a divisive Presidential election, has created an environment that is, well, too strange.  We need Less Strange...and More Wild!  WILD - like Wilderness...

When we first heard in February that a California relative was postponing her wedding because of the coronavirus, we were skeptical that COVID would make a serious impact in the United States.  By March, however, there were several cases in the Washington, DC area, and we realized that it was time for our outgoing personalities to stay inside.  

After all, we were Geezers - the at-risk demographic!

We isolated ourselves at home on March 16.  No more sharing lawn mowers and tamales with our neighbors.  No more live music and dancing at bars on weekends.  No more dreams of summer vacations at Rehoboth Beach, and no more plans to attend an annual convention - to be held in Paris this year!  

Even though I worked from home, my employers weren't working - so, on top of everything else:  No more income!

By the end of June, we were stir crazy.

Twice a month I ventured out of our house to go shopping for groceries and liquor.  When I got home, I removed my shoes outside the door, stepped inside, pulled the drapes, and stripped off my clothes for immediate machine washing.  

I took each purchase and dropped it into a tub of soapy water.  Yes, I washed the orange juice bottle...and each individual egg...and boxes of pasta.  (I soon learned that pasta in cardboard boxes doesn't hold up well when submerged, so I gave the outside an all-over swipe with a baby wipe and stashed the spaghetti out of the way until I hoped it was "safe.")

There were no sports on television, yet my Geezer Guy was constantly staring at the screen.  He had discovered a new diversion - one he'd never had the interest or time to explore before:  mid-century foreign films by Kurasawa, Fellini, Bergman, and Truffaut. Every language of the globe was spoken in our living room, but my husband silently withdrew and focused on the subtitles.

I, on the other hand, was increasingly addicted to Pinterest, Facebook, and Zoom.  Every night I held a virtual Happy Hour with my friends and put a major dent in the boxed wine.

 

As the weather became warmer, Geezer John and I fantasized about swaying palm trees and umbrella rum drinks.  When we rolled our battery-dead vehicles onto the street, it seemed perfectly natural to us to transform the empty carport into a tiki bar with hammocks, gurgling fountains, and paper lanterns. 

The neighbors watched us from their windows.  They were beginning to worry about our sanity.  And so were we.

June brought the summer heat and humidity.  We desperately considered buying a baby pool for cooling off in the backyard.  But then, in the glow of the carport tiki bar, we Saw the Light:  Camping!

Socially distanced camping!  If we camped, we wouldn't have to worry about sharing an elevator and lobby space at a hotel, or wonder if our room had been disinfected before check in.  We could avoid restaurants by cooking s'mores over a campfire!  The Wilderness was calling our names!

We hadn't gone camping in years, but it would be easy!  Right?!  We could take quick get-aways from home to enjoy cool breezes by the ocean and chilly nights in the Appalachian Mountains.  We would sleep under the stars as we did Way Back When - back before we became Geezers.

We made a decision to decamp from the heat, humidity, foreign films, social media, the White House, and coronavirus.  Decamp by Camping.

Next week:  Was that a Bear?