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Good morning to you,

Good morning TOOoo you,

Good morning Good morning,

Good morning to you.

Hehe
I feel better today. Sorry about yesterday. Even before I knew I had cancer I hated laundry day. It’s hard not to wake up on the wrong side of the dirty clothes pile on laundry day. But today. . . I wake up early, I have clean clothes, they smell good, I feel better about the day. Haha. Yah, let’s run with that story.

Life, itself, is a gamble you know. Some bets are surer than others. Take the laundro-mat for instance. The only time I hear money falling out of a machine is at the laundro-mat when I put a twenty in the change machine. I always yell “Jackpot!” just to hear it come out of my own mouth. (And to see if any other laundro-nuts are awake) Come to think of it, the odds are the same at the laundro-mat as they are in the casino. You still come out broke, but at least you will smell good.

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. I think I will go be a neighbor.

Later, I have to go be a patient and get a CT scan.

Both of those things are new to me. Wonder when they will get old.

**********

Seems like all the grown-ups are busy this morning. That must be why all their children are following me around. I feel like the pied-piper. I had to go and wake up my own children to take over the entertaining of the tribal kids at this week’s “early-week party.” There is usually one “Tribe” at all times, especially now that school is out. This week there are two of them.

My Observations On “Tribal Campers”:

Every week there is always at least one “tribe”. Representatives of each branch of their tribal tree arrive with all their own offshoots and baby buds attached to their limbs. The moment they get to their assigned plot of land, they follow God’s command to be fruitful and multiply to the letter. Shaken free of their trunk, the buds scatter with the wind. You will find yourself wondering where they all came from and remembering fondly the time in college when you shoved 46 co-eds into a VW bug. The Tribe has arrived!

The Tribe brings with them fun and excitement. The fun begins with the break of dawn and continues until well after midnight. When they run out of fun at their campsite the buds will migrate to yours. The smell of your S’Mores will bring them in waves. Don’t be tempted to feed them! They are like Gremlins that multiply with water. Give one tribal bud a marshmallow and the rest of the offshoots will teleport in and take root around your fire pit - each with a pointy stick waving in your general direction.

In the morning, the buds will be back early and most likely in their pajamas, having either escaped their clan Tee-Pee undetected or having been shoo-ed out for asking too early for Cocoa Puffs.

“No, I don’t have any Cocoa Puffs for you. No, you can’t have any of my toast. Where is your momma? And does she know you are sucking on the salt shaker?”

The most common answer is “My mom is asleep. If I wake her up again I will be in big trouble.” Fancy that. My kids are still asleep when all of this is going on. They are not on vacation. They are not in a tent. They are snuggled up in their cocoon-like bunk rooms where it is still dark and dreamy. Wonder if I can slide in next to them?

You can tell the sophisticated city tribes from the rural country tribes pretty quickly. The country clans have less bottled water and a little more bottled beer. And their dogs are bigger. They tend to bring along an older trailer and a big tent. All the kids sleep in the tent and the grown-ups sleep in the trailer. This works well for them at Cocoa Puff time. The City people, however, not having room to store an RV, have fancy tents or rent cabins or both and are louder at night, believe it or not. They haven’t figured out that the fish bite better at dawn. (And the country people are keeping that a secret.) Their dogs are small and have names like “Jake” and “Bob” instead of “CuJoe” and “Killer”. But their children still hunt for Cocoa Puffs in the mornings just like their rural counterparts.

Without the excitement of Tribes, camping would be dull and boring. . . You know, peaceful and quiet. . . Who wants to hear the birds chirp and the fish jump anyway!!

Truth be told, I was a “Tribal Bud” myself as a child! And I turned out just fine.

And I was as happy to be there as I am to be here.

Maybe tomorrow, I will get a tent for the kids . . . I am out of Cocoa Puffs myself.

((Calm down. I know some pretty sophisticated people that live out in the country and some real wieners that live in the city. You know you laughed . . . Just a little bit!))