Summer Camping

In which I write an abecedarian and take lots of photos - the perfect combo, really.

I love that the combination of poetry and photos can help me keep the memories of our camping holiday alive. I was inspired by Margaret, once again, to write an abecedarian. I love the constraints of having to use the alphabet! I've written it out here but also included a canva copy so you can see the alphabet more clearly, just for satisfaction’s sake. I've experienced it before that I've read someone's acrostic poem on my phone and because of the small screen I couldn't work out the word she'd used and it made it hard to properly appreciate her work. So hopefully showing my abecedarian both ways helps!

Please note that I'm very pleased with myself for finding an x word that kind of works. Yes, I had to look up what it meant. No, I don't think I'm using it in the exact right way, but man, does it sound pretty cool.

An Abecedarian For Our First Day Camping 

After spending three days packing and trying to keep our children from listless
boredom as they wait - asking for their help but not receiving it - we make it to our 
campsite under the lush peppermint gums,
dripping with sunlight, orange gravel making 
everything instantly dusty, including the one year old, still crawling.
Finally, we are here, on our family holiday, ready to relax and enjoy nature. 

Greta and Annie get on their bikes, riding around to explore and visit cousins, 
hair flying wildly behind them as they navigate sandy patches with Grandma. 
Isaac refuses his nap for an hour, but I win that battle, 
just in time to sit down with my book,
kick up my feet, and sigh contentedly, this is what I came for.

Laughter abounds amongst the young cousins and
my heart fills with joy as I see them playing together,
no inhibitions among family, they are truly themselves with each 
other. When Isaac wakes, I get my turn to wander around,
peek at the other campsites and say hi to all my in-laws. Everyone is 
quickly at home among the hush of the bush, not worrying about 
rushing anywhere or proving anything. 

Stretching our legs, we take the youngest ones 
to the jumping pillow, watching as Isaac crawls around and Annie jumps
up and flops down. I love how my children enjoy this so 
voraciously, so fervently, with full abandon. I capture their smiles on camera.

We eat dinner in the fresh air, tired and rosy. Before we came here our hearts were
xeric and barren from the past year, 
yet now, even after just an afternoon at a campsite, we already feel refreshed, 
zest for life returning. 

That spiky little spider up there is commonly known as a Christmas Spider or a Jewel Spider. Now, I'm not a huge spider fan by any means. They usually give me the heebie-jeebies but I've never seen one of these before! And they are so unique and interesting to look at! There were a number of them near our campsite and even though my girls are even less fans of spiders than me, they could appreciate these funky looking Christmas Spiders.

Thanks for reading! I'd love to know: do you go camping? Do you find going away on holidays relaxing or stressful? Feel free to comment or reply!