Oh, for one more camp out
In the late '50s and early '60s, it was the time of year when we went on camp outs. Then, like now, it was so hot that we could barely imagine spending time inside when there was a whole summer world out there.
There were reasons why we spent so much time outdoors, and in activities like camping. The most obvious was that there were very few houses that had central air conditioning. Yes, a few home owners did begin to put window units in their homes during this time, but there were a lot of homes with only fans. Thus the shade in the daytime and the evening coolness were welcome respites from muggy hot houses.
Another reason we were outside so much, was that there were not nearly so many forms of entertainment then as now. Yes we had television, but here in pre-cable Nevada, we mostly had a handful of stations when the reception on the antenna was good. One of the first camping outings I remember was with my grandfather, Ben Hart. He used to take a part of his vacation and go to Claremore, Okla. He and my grandmother had relatives there who owned a mineral bath house. I guess these baths were like Hot Springs. They were reputed to have healing qualities.
While we were there, he took me twice with another fellow named Tom Kenyon, on fishing and camping outings. We camped on the river below the Grand Lake Dam. Tom was sort of like a guide and what I really remember the most was that he was married to a full blooded Indian. Her hair was really white and I was entranced by her skin and Indian features. The only Indians I had ever seen were in westerns, so this was a big deal.
We would arrive at the river just before sundown. We did not have a tent, just some sleeping mattresses.
They cooked over an open fire and I thought it was the neatest thing I had ever seen, watching them prepare the fire and the food.
We rose early -- about 3 a.m. The dam gates had been closed during the night so the river had dropped really low. I could see huge fish swimming in large pools in the sand bars close to where we were going to launch the boat. We had a flashlight and a dip net, so I wanted to know why we did not just dip up some of these big fish. They both laughed and told me there was no sport in that; besides, they said, it was illegal. As we went fishing, I found out there were plenty of fish to be caught the regular way. I had tried fishing many times without much success, but on this trip I was able to do a lot better.
I remember another great thing on the river, too. On the banks there were a lot of black fishermen who Tom said were from Tulsa. I had not seen many black people in my life, so this got my attention. Tom would yell at them to see if they were doing any good, and they would pull these huge stringers of fish up for us to see. When I asked why we weren't catching any of these, Tom just grinned and replied that those were carp they were catching. To this day, I have never eaten any carp; and folks, it has nothing to do with the name, either.
Oh, if I could just go one more time with the two of them. Watch them fish, skillfully move the boat, fix the camp and cook out. Those are memories worth the effort.
I had other regular camp outs mostly during my junior high days. My two best friends, Randy Emery and Jim Leigh, lived close by. We had a really big back yard and my parents would let us camp out there several times during the summer.
We would take great pleasure in these times of freedom. We would always sneak out long after everyone had gone to bed. There was something magical about riding a bike around town and checking out the night life of Nevada. We usually saved some fireworks from our Fourth of July stash. One of our favorite tricks was to find cigarette butts that had been thrown down. We would use them as fuses to place delayed explosions. All you had to do was light the end and put the other end on the firecracker fuse. It would take several minutes for the thing to go off. We liked to put them close to friends' houses so we could ask them the next day if it woke them.
Before we finally went to sleep, we would lay there, the three of us looking at the stars. We were always trying to see airplanes or even what we hoped were satellites like Sputnik.
No one knew who went to sleep first, we just woke up and it was morning with the dew covering us. There was a special smell to the air, and the sounds of the animals made it seem like a great place to be alive.
As I write this they are calling for the hottest day of the year tomorrow. Most of us are huddled in our homes enjoying the artificial coolness. Wouldn't it be great to have one last camp out again? Wouldn't you trade almost anything to be able to go back?