November 2021 Newsletter: "'Cause nothin' lasts forever, even cold November rain."
'"Cause nothin' lasts forever, even cold November rain." Thanks for that, Axl.
When you feel that cold November rain then you know that the US Midwestern camping season is over. While the rain doesn't last forever, you definitely don't want to spend time outdoors while it is here.
In the world of seasonal camping, the duration between setting up your camper for the season in the spring and winterizing it in the fall is five months; but it goes by in a flash. There is that sweet spot in late June when it feels as though summer will never end. You’ve been in it long enough that it feels like the new normal in your life. You can’t really visualize the end until late August, when the kids reluctantly return to school.
Campground life after summer ends is still great, but different, as it is somewhat diminished. You don’t get the lazy weekdays to lounge by the pool, swim in the lake, or stroll through the amusement park. Your visits to the campground are compressed into the weekend and entail the challenge of untangling conflicts with fall youth sports.
The final weekend at the RV is bittersweet. We see our seasonal neighbors for the final time, get in that last round of drinks and s’mores by the campfire, and bid farewell to the amusement park for the season. Out go all of the perishables and linen, in goes the anti-freeze to keep the water lines from bursting during the unforgiving Ohio winter.
As we pull away for the last time and head back home, that consistent escape from our “normal lives” is lost. We are back at our residence for the duration, save for a few weekend trips for travel sports and maybe a short getaway down south in late winter.
Over the camping “off-season”, I am hoping to finish the sequel to Sandusky Burning. As I write this I am about a third of the way through. The story will pick up immediately in the aftermath of the events that occurred in the early morning hours of June 23rd. Since I don't outline plots for my books, I have no idea how the story ends! That is the most exciting aspect of writing; I am often just as surprised as my readers as I steadily march through my first draft!
How do the campers at the Sandusky Shores campground deal with the fallout? Who does local law enforcement focus on, given that some of the cops may have been entangled in Randy’s blackmail traps? Did Mike and Brady’s final solution truly resolve their predicament or did it only make it worse? Stay tuned!
Take care,
Bryan