There is one category of individuals left out of this great article: the campers who loved camp so much they modeled their adult lives on camp life. In my case, I moved to the woods and live, as I have often described it, "camped out." Of course, much of my philosophy -- living lightly on the earth -- has also informed my lifestyle, but I have, for years, credited my deep love of girl scout camp back in SE Iowa for my choice of location and style of living.
Camp Sacajawea, near Iowa City, was heaven as far as I'm concerned. I loved the horses and riding most of all. In fact, I can barely remember much of anything else -- oh, the scavenger hunts and finding the daddy long legs for them in the latrine and telling scary stories at night in our tent cabins. . . . O.K., I actually have lots of memories. But I found a letter I wrote to my parents back then which tells which horses are still at camp and names every one of them. I remember the rides through the glorious Iowa countryside -- pure enchantment. Bliss.
So now I live in a half-log cabin and my outhouse is as clean and neat as the latrines at camp. I live among the wildlife, mostly alone with nature and still enchanted by the experience. My neighbors are foxes, bears, wildcats, deer, mountain lions and . . . you get the picture.
Ah, camp! Along with Weekly Readers, going to the library, the county fair and swimming, one of the yummy joys of summer in small town Iowa and the perfect childhood.
