Falling

[from Dover's Spot Illustrations from Women's Magazines of the Teens and Twenties]

I've been meaning to recommend to all lovers of vintage images that you go to the Vintage Workshop site and sign up for their e-newsletter; you'll get a free image every month (and you get a couple of free images just for signing up). I've also purchased download collections from them and can commend their system and the quality of the images they sell.

We head off on a camping trip this afternoon and will make our annual visit to the Bolton Fair tomorrow; if you live in the area and are looking for a quaint fall fair, I heartily recommend this one (but also recommend getting there early). I think it will be our last year camping at these particular camp grounds since it appears they are now really catering to RVs and don't expect many tent campers (although with gas prices, I am surprised anyone can afford to drive an RV anywhere anymore...why not just book a room at the Ritz and save money?). I'm also bummed because even though I booked the specific site that we wanted back in June, I got a phone call earlier in the week alerting us that we'd been bumped off that site (NOW they point out the fine print that reserves their right to use the term "reservation" lightly) and will, I think, be more in the thick of RV-ville. Oh well. Two nights, camp fires, roasted hot dogs, marshmallows, stars, snuggled up together in a tent, a day at the fair -- lots to look forward to! We started doing these sort of "junior camping" trips a few years ago to introduce Dean to the experience in way that allowed us a big escape hatch (in that we weren't going too far from home, flush toilets and running water available). Our very first trip with Dean, we took him to our favorite place in Vermont, but thunderstorms sent us home early and the 3.5 hour drive taught us a little something about how to better adapt to the needs of a youngster.

Camping is a prime example of the differing trajectories between parents in their mid- to late-40s and a 9-year-old boy; our needs, abilities, and interests still intersect but I worry a little about how much longer they still will. Ken bought a second air mattress to put under his first one to help (we hope!) alleviate any potential issues for the pinched nerves in his shoulders and the challenge of sleeping on the ground. This keeps us pretty firmly in the "car camping" category (that is, going to a camp site you can drive to, as opposed to one that you backpack to). Would we still have it in us to backpack? Well, better to enjoy what we can do than to worry about what we're not doing, I guess. More s'mores, anyone?