From the Campground

Where to start.   Might as well go with some of the lessons a Campground Novice faces.

Since I had no idea of what to expect, it was going to be an adventure.  Hey, how bad could it be?  So here I am.  A college graduate with years in corporate America.  That should have given me enough experiences to survive whatever comes my way. (If you had ever met my last manager, you would agree)    Right?   Oh, No.   Silly, foolish me.

 We opened this past Memorial Day.  The property had been abandoned for many years when we purchased it.  That’s a story for another day. Well, the Grand opening was a success. The campground was about 75% full and that was very encouraging.  Over the summer, business was up and down.  Since this was our first year, we did not know what to expect.

 As I expected, 99% of those entering our park were totally wonderful people. I really believe that Campers seem to be cut from a certain fabric. Care & respect for others, love the environment, fun loving, honest, trustworthy and always helpful. Good people, no matter where they call home. It was fun to meet folks from everywhere. And to watch campers meet & interface with each other.  I know of two families who exchanged email addresses and are already planning on next year’s get-together on the same week.

    But there are those little “situations”.  Take for example, the women who wanted me to get the tree frogs to be quiet at night.  She tried “shusss”, but they did not seem to understand that. 
Or the novice campers who mistook a large housecat for a Wild Bobcat.
And one of my favorites.  A darling little girl about 5 years old, I’ll call Kathy. She came to me looking for a magic No Grow Stone.  After a few detail-seeking questions on my part, it turned out that Kathy was afraid of getting older. Apparently an adult in her life was fond of stating that the older you get, the worse life gets.  So, Kathy had asked her Paw-Paw (grandfather) how to avoid getting bigger.  He had creatively advised her to find a magic rock and wear it on her head to stop the growing.  And the best place for discovering magic rocks would be in the Tennessee woods.  Since she did not know which rocks were the magic ones, she came to me for help.   Poor child but what choice did she have?
Periodically, I find geodes and set them aside.  Although they are small, the flat side is perfect for staying on the top of some cute brown curls.  Kathy was thrilled but the next day informed me that she had decided that since it was too hard to play and wear the stone, she was going to let a little growing happen. But thanked me for the Magic Stone anyways.