Watching the clouds go by

My parents drove up to camp this morning so that they'd be the first to arrive. My son Shaggy Hair Boy and his girlfriend Smiley Girl stopped here on their way to get the big tent out of the garage and their bicycles. Tie-Dye Brother-in-law and Taekwondo Nephew left this afternoon, pulling a boat on a trailer behind the car. My daughter drove with Sailor Boy and Boy-in-Black.

Reports came in by cell phone as family members arrived at camp. My husband, With-a-Why, and I will drive up in the morning. Other family members will arrive as the week goes on.

My parents' camp is a peninsula of oak trees surrounded by cattails on a river that runs between two countries. We all gather there every July, setting up tents under the trees for a week of living outside.

We'll play bocce and horseshoes and cornhole. I've packed my journal, several books, and my camera. We'll take out the canoes and the kayaks, and we'll swim in the cold river water. With-a-Why and I will be taking the two-person kayak out every morning to practice for a week-long trip we're taking in August.

At night, we'll play cards or sit by the campfire. Shaggy Hair Boy packed a keyboard, along with books of music. My father will have his clarinet with him, or perhaps his saxophone. My brother will bring his guitar. Probably no one will remember to bring a flashlight.

I'll be offline all week, and I'm looking forward to that. I love lazy summer days when there's nothing to do but take another swim, lounge about on sunheated rocks, and stare at the clouds in the sky.