There is something about summer that measures time differently than any other marker in my life.
We are home from holidays, a camping trip in our new (to us) tent trailer that we bought to share with my parents and a good friend. We went to Shuswap Lake Provincial Campground, which was a hallmark of my growing up years.
I first fell in love with the Shuswap driving to Surrey for a grade 7 band trip. I loved the water (surprise) and I begged my parents to go there the following summer. We made the trek, in our old 1970's camping trailer. We ran across Shuswap Lake Provincial Campground and drove up, hoping to get a spot. We tried to get in, and were waitlisted. We stayed at Frank's across the road, andwe were there for a couple nights. Franks's was a campsite with full power, a few trees, and a lot of dust. But it was what you did, to wait to get into the park. The next years, we phoned ahead.
My brother brought his two best friends, and I brought a good friend of mine, and over the years a few others to share in our time at the lake. I remember playing MASH in the back of my parents old van, and writing notes back and forth so no one could hear us. Talking about boys, of course! We pulled up each year, my parents set up the tent trailer, and we set up our tent, suitcases, journals, magazines and books.
We spent our days getting up and reading, laying in bed, and eating brunch. We usually packed up, and headed to the beach for the day. We blew up our dingy and paddled (or swam, in my case. J used to prefer to paddle, if I remember right!) out to the buoys and tied our dingy there for a day of chatting, and sunbathing. We would meander back to shore for a snack, or at the end of the day, or if we wanted to sit and read for a while.
The time just before supper was often a favorite of mine. J and I would go for a shower, try and see if we were anymore tanned than the day before, blow dry our hair, and put some makeup on. We would leisurely ride our bikes back under the huge cedar trees, balancing our bags on our bikes so we would make it back to our site. Once our bags were deposited back in our tent, we would often either go back to reading, or take another bike or walk around the park. Smoke from fires and the smell of supper filled the campground, and we felt perfectly safe wandering up and down the lanes; seeing all the different camp set ups, and talking about all the important things going on in our lives. I loved that time of day, the sun peeking through the trees, lighting up the smoke from the fires. It was a lazy reflective time.Night times consisted of supper, dishes, and a walk to the ice cream store. My dad loves to people watch, and we would sit and eat our ice cream, laugh, and try to get away from the wasps! We then made our way back to start a fire, and play some cards. We were often the last ones up, after playing a good game of rummy.
As we got older, we were more independant of our parents. We walked for longer, talked quieter, and distanced ourselves. One year, a couple groups of boys met us on our dingy in the lake, and stayed out to chat with us for a while. I remember our fathers' pacing the lakeshore, wondering if they should come out and rescue us. We went to the park to play frisbee, rented four-wheel two-person bikes, and played uno with our new 'friends', while our parents looked on a bit worried. Looking back, the summer stories and the summer romance seem like a rite of passage.
When Cody and I got married, we packed up our small car, and headed out! Our air mattress got a leak, and our stove broke. We headed back to the trusty Canadian Tire in Salmon Arm to replace these necessities. We stayed up late, played cards, read Harry Potter and had some foundational talks for the beginning of our marriage. We went twice, with friends coming to visit.
Then came the year of the Storm. The song by Kenny Chesney, Spirit of a Storm was our anthem that year. We ended up at Shuswap on not the greatest terms with Cody's job, and some big decisions to make. It rained the whole few days we were there. It was heavy, and not the same. We were away then, for a year after that. Then last year, we decided to try something new. Look for a new campground. Maybe something that would be just as good, we had left on bad terms after all. I was pregnant, and we made it to Fintry Campground on Okanagan Lake, after trying 5 or 6 other campgrounds. It was 37 degrees outside, and the campground was terrible. After that, we said we would go back to Shuswap.Nothing else felt the same.
And we did. We booked in for 10 nights, and 3 days before we left picked up a tent trailer. We took Ella on her first camping trip.
Many things have changed since those first summers. Franks' is gone, an empty field with the front entry booth sits where people used to wait expectantly, hoping to get into Shuswap. The small park store has been replaced with a big Park Store that keeps changing owners. The ice cream shops stays the same, my favorite this year was Birthday Cake, just for the record. The four-wheel bikes are back, although not the same ones.There is a Rona is Scotch Creek, so we don't have to drive all the way to Salmon Arm when our BBQ breaks down, like it did this year.
My days no longer look the same. Late nights have been replaced by very early mornings, and night sleeping has been replaced with multiple nursing sessions. Showers are fit in whenever possible, and leisurely walks through the campground at suppertime have been replaced with making dinner myself, feeding and bathing Ella. Cody and I share nights to go play mini-golf or go for ice cream. Afternoons at the beach are also traded off. It wasn't an easy transition. I didn't get to swim or read on the beach until the very last day. But it was still just as refreshing as ever. I love the feeling of diving into the water, the cold taking your breath away, and the stress of life melting off your back.
I was in the shower one night, and two teenage girls were charging their phones by the sink. They called a boy, who we could all hear talking back to them. They all laughed everytime the toilet got flushed, and at first I thought it was a bit ridiculous. Come on girls, its a public washroom. Then, a lady around 40 flushed the toilet and came out, offering to wash her hands right in the phones' microphone so the boy would believe that the girls weren't just flushing for fun. She laughed and helped them right along.
My friend that came with us so many summers said goodbye to her mom 2 years ago, in our year of the Storm. She will never join us there. One of my brothers friends' returned with us, and a couple new friends came to visit. Family, grandmas, aunts and uncles came to see Ella.
And so time has passed. I have grown up, and each day let go of myself, only to cherish the moments with family, a swim in the lake, or an hour lost in a summer novel. At the beginning of last summer, on our quest to find a new campground and new excitement, I wondered if we were in a rut. Should we be more adventureous? Go somewhere new?
I'm thankful for the life we have, deep in my soul. We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful country, and I am so blessed with the family and friends I grew up with, and the family I have now.
