Dirty, smelly, and half nudey

Alas, summer officially ended with one last hurrah: the annual "unoffical" ward campout at North Higgins Lake. Matt and I have been going on and off for the past six years even though we haven't lived here that long. We'd usually come up and join his parents. Anyway, now that I'm in the ward, I have to say it is a somewhat odd and incredibly fun trip at the same time. About one third of the ward comes and we take up one side of the campground. Every night there's a potluck dinner at somebody's site and there's usually upwards of 20 kids running through and around everyone's tents and pop-ups. They're like packs of wild dogs hunting down the last bit of summer fun. Elyse was all but invisible the three days we were there. She'd turn up every once in a while to tell me where she was going next and down at the beach we could never get her out of the water. The pot lucks turn into fireside chats as all the adults sit around a campfire and talk until late at night. It's fun to catch up on what everyone's been doing that summer and it's also one of the rare times you see people breeching that age barrier you so often get in Relief Society. Old people sit with the young moms and vice versa. Now that I've been here a while and recognize all the people I usually see dressed in their Sunday best every Sabbath, it was somewhat of a shock to trek down to the beech and see these same sober Mormons bare legged and bare chested, frolicking in the water. It was like they were practically naked in my eyes because I'm so used to seeing them dressed from neck to knee. And then I realized...I'm half naked too. How embarrassing. I kept trying to keep looking everyone in the eye. My embarrassment wore off eventually, as I realized it's campouts like this that sort of pull me closer to these people, the ones I interract with a lot and even the ones I don't. I've seen their whitey white legs and chests, make-up less faces, and sat shoulder to shoulder with people just as dirty and smelly as I am. And on Sundays we have a sacrament service in the woods (with our bishop's permission) and I get to hear the sweetest testimonies from people that I truly respect. It's the best testimony meeting of the year, even though we're still in our jeans and in pony tails. And at the end of it all, I go home feeling like everyone there is my friend and we're a real ward family. It's a great fortifying experience. School started this morning. My little Paul has been gone all day. I sure hope he makes a friend. And listens to his teacher. That boy has a tendancy to wander around in la la land and miss everything else that is going on. It's kind of quiet here with just me and Luke. Luke cried when we dropped Paul off and he's asked where Paul and Elyse are a few times today. Poor kid. He's stuck with boring mom now for the year.