An incident occurred while we were away on the Isle of Wight recently that brought home to me the British stoicism in the face of adversity.
One night at the weekend we had the mother of all storms raging for a good few hours. The rain was torrential, and the wind screamed and whistled and brought down a blanket of leaves and twigs onto the decking. We heard on the news the following morning that there had been over 500 flashes of lightning during the night. Our holiday home was thankfully spared though, as it seems quite sturdily built with an added bonus of double glazing and central heating.
A little way away down towards the beach was a field of colourful tents containing perhaps about 200 campers. The field had been full when we had walked through it the previous day, and Sam and I both wondered how they had all fared during the storm. The next day when we took our usual morning walk down to the beach, the field was a tad waterlogged, but children were running about, barbeques were smoking, and families were sitting under blankets chatting and laughing, no doubt sharing events of the previous night. There did not appear to be any spaces where a family had perhaps given up and gone back home.
I must admit that if I had been in a tent I would have sought out a hotel room. Sam and I have camped with our boys at the Download music festival in similar bad weather, and remember the mud with its consistency of gravy, the bone-aching cold, and the inability to find any dry clothing. Plus a nasty effect from the lack of a memory foam mattress on ageing hips, and the noise of other people shouting “Oggy oggy oggy, oi oi oi!” well into the small hours. Never again!
Perhaps it’s because we’re older now and the families were all younger than us. I think nearly 60 year olds perhaps need a little bit of comfort! Would you have gone home or braved the weather and stayed in your tent? I know what I would have done…
Clive said:
I was put off camping 55 years ago when I was in the cubs, and haven’t been anywhere near a tent again since! Seeing things like Glastonbury on tv confirms I’ve made the right choice!
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Stevie Turner said:
Ha ha. My son went camping with the scouts, and when he came home everything in his bag was covered in toothpaste but his brush was dry! He told me they had enjoyed ‘many toothpaste fights’.
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Clive said:
We never did that. Maybe I’d have enjoyed it more if we had 😉
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Stevie Turner said:
He certainly did for sure.
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Osyth said:
What a beautifully British tale. I love the IoW by the way. On a tangent, I have a school friend walking the SWCP at the moment and those of us who are linked on FAceBook with him from those halcyon days are all egging him on but I can feel that we are silently thanking our lucky stars that it isn’t us out in the elements in a tent. Funny how we change ….
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Stevie Turner said:
Because of Leon I am now more patient and tolerant. Bless him.
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Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, MCC, SCAC said:
Unlike some of the others who are probably my age (even younger?), I do enjoy camping still and, once I fall asleep, it would take a lot more than rowdy campers making a racket to awaken me. I sleep like the dead.
However, in the type of rainstorm you described I doubt I would have felt safe staying – maybe in my van, hoping it would blow over, but definitely NOT in a wet tent with that much wind and lightening.
I’d have headed straight home with kids – no patience with being confined with all that youthful energy bottled up, unable to let them run around outside (and you know at least one would want to), Stoics indeed!
I’m glad the story ended happily for all.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMORE dot com)
ADD/EFD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
“It takes a village to transform a world!”
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Stevie Turner said:
My eldest son would have been the one running around outside in the rain!
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Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, MCC, SCAC said:
Although I always though I would have at least one child, I think God knew what He was doing not to lead me to motherhood. I would have been a nervous wreck, I’m sure.
xx,
mgh
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Sue Vincent said:
I’ve camped through storms like that, but these days, a nice warm room over a pub is more my style 🙂
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jenanita01 said:
I would have loved every minute!
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Stevie Turner said:
Good for you! I think you might be the only one though…
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jenanita01 said:
all the better… it’s mine, you see… all mine!
(I am insane, BTW)
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jenanita01 said:
Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks for the re-blog!
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franklparker said:
I like to think that I would have stuck it out. But, like others have said, I wouldn’t have been in the tent in the first place, the boss would have insisted on a comfy guest house – like the one we’re in right now!
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Stevie Turner said:
Ha ha, she’s got the right idea!
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fearlessinjesuschrist said:
Yes, I agree! I’ve done all my family camping and Girl Scout camping that I care to do! Camping now is a room at a motel!
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Stevie Turner said:
Hear hear!
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robjodiefilogomo said:
Ha—I wouldn’t be out camping in the first place!! I’m totally an indoor girl and a motel is my idea of camping!!
But kudos to those brave souls!
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
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Stevie Turner said:
You and me both.
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watchingthedaisies said:
I used to go camping but I love a bit of comfort now. I would definitely have gone indoors…
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Stevie Turner said:
I think it’s for the young people who have no aches and pains and don’t have very high standards in regards to accommodation!
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Shallow Reflections said:
I would not have been in the tent in the first place, Stevie, so there would be no decision to make when the storm hit. I dabbled in camping when my son was young, and though have some fond memories, overall it was not for me. Too wet, cold and uncomfortable. Bring on the hotel room!
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Stevie Turner said:
Absolutely. I have terrible memories of the mud at Download and being unable to lift my boot out of what seemed like stiff gravy. All the tents were covered in mud, plus all our possessions. My sons and husband had to physically lift me out of the mud!
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Shallow Reflections said:
Horrible indeed!
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