CAMP (summer ‘23)

Drop off…

We dropped Nola off at camp in Wisconsin today. She’ll be gone for a month. We hope that she has a great time and makes lifelong friends.

Everyone was so damn friendly. Every single checkpoint someone was waving and smiling and wishing us well. The whole place smelled of deep pine air freshener. And there were cookies laid out and lemonade. So many fresh faced eager kids finally on their own away from their parents. Gah, I love camp!

I gave Nola some advice before we pulled away. “Listen,” I said. “You find the biggest camper in your cabin. The biggest, meanest, toughest kid and you make sure everyone is watching and then you lay that kid out flat. Maybe pop them in the nose so there’s lots of blood. Because it’s not about friendship, ok? It’s about respect. Have fun, punkin.”

On the way back from dropping Nola off we stopped at an outlet mall. I sucked in air through my teeth when I turned the corner and saw ‘Beef Jerky Experience’.

“I need to stop in here for a second,” I said to Pam.

“Fine, but don’t buy anything.”

I opened the door and looked at the rows and rows and racks and racks of beef jerky. The whole place, all beef jerky…

Proprietor: Hi.