by Phyllis McCrossin
We are still here. I guess that means we are here (at this campground) for the duration.
It’s interesting to see the campers come and go. Big and fancy motor homes, equally big and fancy travel trailers line the campsites on the weekends. King and I watch them as they pull in, expand their “homes” with slide-outs and bring out the coolers, lawn chairs, outdoor grills and awnings. We are not quite that fancy but we are comfortable.
In the trees are the primitive sites and tent campers find respite from the heat in the shade. Those of us in the sun either bake or turn on the air conditioning.
By Monday afternoons the campground is generally empty. But oh, the activity over the weekend. The owners have started hosting a farm market on the grounds from 3 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays. The vendors sell baked goods, craft items, BBQ and more. It’s rather nice to be able to walk over and browse. I’d invite anyone in the South Haven area over the weekend to check it out. Wear your mask. Practice social distancing.
Saturday a couple pulled in next to us. They had just come from an RV sales place in Grand Rapids and are doing a trial by fire with their new trailer for the next two weeks. It’s a nice trailer and it was fun to watch as they set it up and discovered all the bells and whistles it has to offer. There are a lot of them.
Bells and whistles on our trailer? Ummm. No. As I said we are not that fancy. The old Shasta we owned before this one had a roof air conditioner. This one does not. Last week, with temperatures predicted to soar into the 90s, our youngest son decided he did not want to come for a visit and find baked Mom and Dad inside the trailer.
So he bought a portable air conditioner. It’s the kind that sits on the floor with a large hose vent for the exhaust. After considerable debate King relented and let me block off the back screen door with foam core board (the kind that’s used for school projects) and vent it out the hole for the door handle. We never use that door anyway. He thought we should set it up in the shower and vent it out the top trailer vent. We tried it. The bathroom was freezing. The rest of the trailer – not so much. We now have it set up in the back.
Prior to installation the inside trailer temperature reached 100 degrees. It truly does help keep us from baking.
Days have kind of melded into one another. King gets up, putters around the outside of the trailer (Sometimes he starts a fire – sometimes it’s on the hottest of days), takes our dog, Cindy, for a walk and then we sit outside in companionable silence. For us 40-some years of togetherness basically means we’ve said all there is to say to one another.
Since I am the family communication person, he’ll ask, “Hear from anyone?” And I will give him the Cliff Notes version of a conversation with whatever child I’ve chatted with via messenger or text. Later in the morning he’ll get up from his lawn chair and go into the trailer. I know it’s a sign he is getting ready to head to the store, but I’ll wait until he says, “Are you ready?” because if I get up and get my stuff together he’ll sit back down and wait until going to the store is, once again, his idea. Rather than have us ready to go to the store at the same time, he would rather wait in the truck drumming the steering wheel with his fingers while I get my purse, find the keys and lock the trailer. It’s his way.
Our trips to town include a drive through the parking lot at the North Beach in South Haven. I call it “checking to see if there is still water in Lake Michigan.” Then we head to the gas station where he buys scratch-off lottery tickets, lemonade, beef jerky for Cindy and an ice tea for me.
It’s the same every day. Tuesday evenings are reserved for golf league. It’s the reason we stay in one place for the summer. Well, it’s the Tuesday evening golf league and twice a month golf scrambles that keep us here. And yes, he practices social distancing.
Sunday morning was one of those golf scramble days. So I sat alone and watched a few neighboring campers pack up and get ready to head home for the week. I would be lying if I said I envied them. I’m quite content where I am.
Life may sound mundane, but it’s peaceful.
