I was reading The Art of Manliness by Brett and Kate McKay and upon reading both the chapter about being a father, and the chapter on the great outdoors, I was reminded of how much I can't wait to take my son camping for the first time, just father and son. I think it's a real bonding experience that sadly many kids (and fathers for that matter) do not get to experience. Something about being out alone in the wilderness, showing your kid how to start a campfire, sleeping under the stars...it's something so pure. I find it difficult to get it into words. I look forward to the day that Henry and I can get out there and pitch a tent and just spend some time together, experiencing new things, away from it all. There is something to be said for just spending time out in nature, away from the television and the internet and everything else. Who doesn't want to get away for a weekend? And what better way to get away? I don't think I'll be able to take him this summer with the new baby and all, but I hope we can at least pitch a tent in the back yard and hang out around the fire pit.
As a side note, people talk about apple pie, but to me the real quintessential American desert is the s'more. Parents and kids, sitting around the campfire that they built, roasting marshmallows, squeezing them between slabs of graham cracker and chocolate, just spending time together as a family--what could be better than that?
