Our first ever night in a tent we got flooded out and had it moved to higher ground by a bunch of very considerate Scouts. We were very drunk (the rain had torrented down whilst we’d spent 4 hours in the nearby pub) and even more grateful than drunk.
This is really funny, particularly when drinking "brothers" moonshine and not waking up blind... Well written. (And I don't go camping but I do watch all the RV's drive by my house to the KOA up the road by the river/creek that always floods....)
OMG THE DOLPHIN! So, apart from enjoying your the wryness and dryness of your observations about married and professional life, I now have that weird yet enjoyable time-warp bump of knowing that we inhabited the same geography at the same time. (I lived on the junction of Victoria Park Rd/Mare Street for a decade, including 2013, and still burn with shame at the memory of a rendition of "Country House" which I offered The Dolphin one gin-sodden night more than ten years ago.)
A truly lovely piece of writing Will . I haven’t camped since I was about 10 years old ( now 56 ) and this just served to remind me of my good life choices 😂
I've also experienced flooding due to a faulty tent. Annoying in the moment, sure, but it's those memories that last the longest. Thanks for sharing your story!
I always love seeing my country and especially the region (ish) that I live in through non-native eyes.
By the way, if your hostess called the man "Brother," he was her brother, or possibly her brother-in-law. In much of the inland southeast, one's brother has a given name but no one who knows him will use it. "Sister," however, is usually an older auntie-type you know in a church context, but "Sissy" is your actual sister. If one has more than one sibling of a given gender, you might have "Brother" and "Little Brother" or "Baby Brother." Possibly "Brother Boy" or "Bubba," which is a corruption of "brother."
I have a dear friend whose eldest sibling is a pillar of his community and respected restauranteur and whose given name I had to Google because no one calls him anything but "Brother."
Our first ever night in a tent we got flooded out and had it moved to higher ground by a bunch of very considerate Scouts. We were very drunk (the rain had torrented down whilst we’d spent 4 hours in the nearby pub) and even more grateful than drunk.
This is really funny, particularly when drinking "brothers" moonshine and not waking up blind... Well written. (And I don't go camping but I do watch all the RV's drive by my house to the KOA up the road by the river/creek that always floods....)
"Be it the AW root beer that tasted like medicine or Hershey’s chocolate that tasted not entirely unlike vomit, it was all unfathomably different."
All, correct.
I remember the Dolphin! And Clarksdale is one of my favourite places in the USA.
OMG THE DOLPHIN! So, apart from enjoying your the wryness and dryness of your observations about married and professional life, I now have that weird yet enjoyable time-warp bump of knowing that we inhabited the same geography at the same time. (I lived on the junction of Victoria Park Rd/Mare Street for a decade, including 2013, and still burn with shame at the memory of a rendition of "Country House" which I offered The Dolphin one gin-sodden night more than ten years ago.)
A truly lovely piece of writing Will . I haven’t camped since I was about 10 years old ( now 56 ) and this just served to remind me of my good life choices 😂
I've also experienced flooding due to a faulty tent. Annoying in the moment, sure, but it's those memories that last the longest. Thanks for sharing your story!
Gorgeous essay. Funny, warm, wise. Interesting.
This was fun and I love the name: Honeymoon Campfire Potatoes
I always love seeing my country and especially the region (ish) that I live in through non-native eyes.
By the way, if your hostess called the man "Brother," he was her brother, or possibly her brother-in-law. In much of the inland southeast, one's brother has a given name but no one who knows him will use it. "Sister," however, is usually an older auntie-type you know in a church context, but "Sissy" is your actual sister. If one has more than one sibling of a given gender, you might have "Brother" and "Little Brother" or "Baby Brother." Possibly "Brother Boy" or "Bubba," which is a corruption of "brother."
I have a dear friend whose eldest sibling is a pillar of his community and respected restauranteur and whose given name I had to Google because no one calls him anything but "Brother."