Unpack your Adjectives!
2006-05-30 // 9:14 a.m..
Do you remember that silly little song from the 70's- assuming you were alive then, you probably had to see it several times a day during saturday cartoons... For those who didn't though, I'll throw the lyrics out here:
----
Got home from camping last spring.
Saw people, places and things.
We barely had arrived,
Friends asked us to describe
The people, places and every last thing.
So we unpacked our adjectives.
I unpacked "frustrating" first.
Reached in and found the word "worst".
Then I picked "soggy" and
Next I picked "foggy" and
Then I was ready to tell them my tale.
'Cause I'd unpacked my adjectives.
Adjectives are words you use to really describe things,
Handy words to carry around.
Days are sunny or they're rainy
Boys are dumb or else they're brainy
Adjectives can show you which way.
Adjectives are often used to help us compare things,
To say how thin, how fat, how short, how tall.
Girls who are tall can get taller,
Boys who are small can get smaller,
Till one is the tallest
And the other's the smallest of all.
We hiked along without care.
Then we ran into a bear.
He was a hairy bear,
He was a scary bear,
We beat a hasty retreat from his lair.
And described him with adjectives.
}} {Whoah! Boy, that was one big, ugly bear!}
{You can even make adjectives out of the other parts of speech, like
verbs or nouns. All you have to do is tack on an ending, like "ic"
or "ish" or "ary". For example, this boy can grow up to be a huge
man, but still have a boyish face. "Boy" is a noun, but the ending
"ish" makes it an adjective. "Boyish": that describes the huge
man's face. Get it?}
Next time you go on a trip,
Remember this little tip:
The minute you get back,
They'll ask you this and that,
You can describe people, places and things...
Simply unpack your adjectives.
You can do it with adjectives.
Tell them 'bout it with adjectives.
You can shout it with adjectives.
----
Okay, so now that we've covered that little trivial bit of 70's edu-ma-cat-shun-al STUFF... We can get on to a blog entry. :) Yah, aren't I all helpful an'stuff? You betcha.
So this weekend was the much-anticipated CAMPING trip... (why did you know I was going to say that already? *cough*) We have been SO waiting for this. There's been much planning, much plotting of fun stuff, and much much MUCH bouncing around.
Needless to say, in the flood of mini-crises, we totally forgot to DO half the things on the 'to do' list. heh.
When going out camping, one must consider the following:
1) You could always TRY OUT the tent. This usually involves at least opening the package and setting it up once. Just once. Maybe laminating or putting the instructions in zippy bags in case of that oh-so-rare event of maybe oh... RAIN.
2) Consider wearing a Raincoat. Jacket. ANY kind of coat. Hel-looooo. Pacific Northwest?
3) Possibly bring something resembling a SLEEPING BAG. "I forgot to buy one untill I was out of money and now i'll make do with sheets on my oh-so-cool inflateable mattress" Is only useful if you're staying in a friend's apartment.
4) Remember that the dog doesn't like to be WET anymore than YOU do. (Oh, and speaking of the dog, consider bringing something resembling a TOWEL... especially if yours likes to... say... SLEEP IN YOUR BED... *shudder*)
5) For those with say, a stamina or dehydration disability of some kind... it might help NOT to exhaust yourself just beyond that limit BEFORE you actually expect to hike to a camping place and sleep in the rain.
I'm just not EVEN going further than that... cause as you might guess (or KNOW, if you're one of those who were /there/...) It was one of THOSE camping trips.
I'm so jealous.
Why, you ask? Because everyone else did the THANG... they piled into the little open cabins and dog-piled through the night, and I wimped out.
As soon as the 'drips' of rain leaking into the tent became 'trickles' (and even the wet dog was giving me dirty looks!) and the bedding began to get wet... I TOTALLY made a run (okay, more of a trudge) to the car, and straight for the one hour drive home. Yep. I wimped out SO bad...
I am SO glad I taught the dog the commands 'where's the car?' and 'road' (stay on the road/show me the road/trail) ... she basically trudged ahead, showing me the way down the curvy gravel path in the rain... across the suspension bridge (oooh, that sounds all melodramatic, but it looked AWESOME in the moonlight and fog) and across the parking lot right to the car. Damn I love that dog.) ...and I was doubly grateful for the fact that my friends, apparently anyway, do not hate my guts for wimping out.
It's kind of a conflicting feeling, wanting to do something so bad, and not being able to, that you end up ALMOST just laying down and bawling. I didn't let it get THAT far (because yes, in the past year I have adjusted to my limits) but I did feel pretty crappy about it. We had really looked foreward to this, and I was totally bummed to have to make a dash for it, and leave my other half in the care of our friends, to hope we could make it all work out in the morning when I came to pick him up...
It's probably good I did go, though- since I ended up having to take some heavy medicine for the muscle cramps that the cold and walking caused. I dunno what's up with my muscles near the old stoma scar, but that sucker can cramp up like a bull with lockjaw. All I could do was lay in a ball, or try and stretch out and ache, untill I gave it up and went home. (why didn't I take the meds there? I didn't PACK them. Now /that/ is poor planning. Even the DOG usually carries a few 'emergency' medicines for me... augh! I'd forgot to refill the emergency packet last time I used it!)
I slept on the sofa, because I was feelin' all nasty and stuff, and didn't want to sleep in a half-empty bed. (and don't EVEN think what yer thinkin'... the dog has a CRATE to sleep in at home, because otherwise there wouldn't be ROOM for two people... and I wasn't /that/ hard up... well. maybe so, cause I left her loose to sleep at the side of the futon couch, but still. *chuckle*) I wasn't gunna die waiting for morning- tho I was pretty chipper to hear my otherhalf call with news that everything had been pretty good, and had turned out for the better in the end. :)
I'm so jealous. There isn't anything cooler in the world than a camping trip. (unless it's a horse-packing trip, but hey. conveyance is the only real difference there.) I cannot WAIT untill I work myself up to being able to actually go out and DO things again. It's hard to imagine that there was a day when I would hike for 12 hours, and then camp for 7-14 days, before hiking out again... just... it seemed so easy, in those days! (of course, that was before my big health issues, but still)
I figure, maybe we can all do that again, and this time, I'll actually oh... BRING sleeping bags... and appropriate gear... and oh, maybe... a tent that doesn't suffer catastrophic failure overnight. (which ours apparently did, well after the Cap'n dissapeared into the cabin like a bright fella! It got soaked, collapsed, and was full of water. EW... an awesome friend took it home to dry out, and one of our friends is going to help us waterproof it... a pretty good plan, considering.)
This is one of those mega-long posts, I see... perhaps I should just leave it at that- I SO want to do this again... except actually plan correctly, pack right, and oh... STAY the night. (insert eye-rolling at self here)
Camping is cool.
Rain is just COLD.
;)
That concludes our lesson for the day. ;)
Listening to: Some 'court' show thingy
Consuming: Cola, even this early in the morning, yes.
Today my t-shirt should read: These cows aren't Mad... But they are dissapointed.
1 comments so far
golfwidow - 2006-05-30 15:28:54
I do not like camping. My idea of roughing it is decaf coffee.
On the other hand, yay, Schoolhouse Rock.
-------------------------------
The Cabin-Boy wanders off again. - 2006-06-15
She's gotta be the Cap'n's Baby NOW! - 2006-06-03
Unpack your Adjectives! - 2006-05-30
IT has arrived. - 2006-05-25
Stolen and Abused... - 2006-05-22
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