Wild and Wonderful.

There is a place I know that never fails to pull me in. Lake Sherwood has always had my heart. It's one of those places I don't know if I could live without. Every summer(okay, every fall, spring and winter too)I have visited those lake shores. This summer marks the lake's 50th anniversary, and it's fair to say that I have grown up right with it. In fact, I've camped there just about ever summer of all my 29 years.

I often wonder as I put my toes in that cold water, how much of that water has been there forever and is the same, and how much of it has changed, how much of it has slipped through the little damn and into the creeks, rivers and oceans? I wonder how old some of those trees I walk under are, and I wonder how many of them are the same age as me?Those woody campsites are a meeting place for my family every summer. 20-30 Tinchers roam around the open spaces and cram around the nightly camp fires and make new memories and remember old ones. People dear to us have gone, but I always feel them there. I guess because that place was always a constant. You could always bet on a family camping trip. I'm glad for it. As we bring new people in and all the new littles file in, I hope they always get that feeling I get when I'm there. I hope those lake shores and pine needle paths hold memories for them too.

I missed this year's family camping trip because I was on the road. I was bummed about it, but I knew I'd not be able to go a few days with out that place. I headed up for the past week with a few of my favorite people and naturally, we made a new memories to add to the list. The biggest memory will be the nightly visits from Teddy the Bear, who liked to walk behind my tent at night on his way to wreck the trash cans. Did I ever tell you that I'm afraid of bears? This was a week full of facing my fears! I guess though, I lived to tell about it.