It was a surprise when Charles asked me if it would be possible for me to teach him about camping while Wally was gone to Pine River Camp. Wally and I had been going off camping for weekends for as long as I had known Charles. He had never said anything about wanting to go and I guess I just assumed that camping was out of his realm.
He explained to me that we always came home sounding like we had so much fun and he wanted to see if it really was fun. He also said he wanted to go without Wally the first time so that Wally did not think he was stupid. I assured him that Wally would not have thought he was stupid but that he had never had the opportunity to go camping. There is a first time to do new things when no one expects you to know how.
I am not real sure exactly how my relationship with Charles got started except that we met roller skating. The move to Detroit had been very difficult to say the least and the boys and I made quite a few friends at the roller rink. Charles was always very nice and skating had become someplace to go and forget a for awhile the bad aspects of the move and my marriage. People were glad to see us and there was lots of laughter.
Charles had grown up very poor, single Mother but was very conscious about not looking poor from the day he could walk. He told me the stories how he only had two pairs of pants and one pair of shoes. In high school he washed one pair of pants every evening and polished his shoes. He worked at a lot of odd jobs from the time he was fourteen and went to cosmetology school. He married, had two daughters and a thriving beauty salon especially in the late sixties and seventies when wigs were so popular.
When I met him he and his partner, Allen, owned a men's toupee shop and seemed to do very well. He had been divorced for years but was very close to his two daughters. Being around Wally was a whole new thing for him. But in truth I think Wally and I were a little different from anyone he knew. One of his finest points was that he never said anything about my slightly off the wall ideas and ventures. It was almost like he just enjoyed watching and being around to see what would happen next.
When we moved to Birmingham and got Bowser he became a regular fixture at the house. He had never had a dog or cats but fell instantly in love with mine.
As far as I was concerned Charles and I were friends. I had the feeling he would have liked it to be more but I was not in anyway ready for any kind of commitment. So we avoided getting into a conversation about anything serious and just had a good time together. Besides it was a whole new experience for me to get to go fun places and dress up to go out to dinner.
The first week Wally was gone I kept my nose down and got lots of work done. It was a lot easier to not have to worry about cooking, cleaning and what was the boy doing all day while I was gone. His new thing before he went off to camp was to rearrange the furniture. It seemed like I came home to a new house everyday. Maybe my interior design skills were rubbing off on him.
The weekend was the Fourth of July and I picked Bay City to go camping at. The beach was not as nice as some of the others but they were having a big fireworks display on Saturday night to celebrate the holiday.
Saturday morning bright and early Charles showed up ready to go. Hehad asked a thousand questions during the week as to what to wear and what to bring. He asked about food and my answer was just bring yourself being prepared for cool nights and warm days. The rest I had handled.
It took us about two hours to unload the Bronco and set up all the stuff. He was pretty amazed to see how simple it all really was. Lunch consisted of sandwiches since I did not want to light a campfire during the day. After lunch we hiked through the woods surrounding the camp and then let Bowser play on the beach and in the water of Lake Michigan. I always found it interesting that Bowser loved to play in the water. His vet in Birmingham swore he was 100% Old English Sheepdog which he should know since he owned two of them. The Vet said Sheepdogs hate the water but Bowser loved to run and play in it.
Not really wanting to impress Charles with my cooking skills but to show him camping does not have to be all hot dogs and hamburgers I made roasted corn on the cob and grilled Salmon for dinner. He was surprised and very happy. Hmmm....I may have overplayed my hand as he would want to go camping every time Wally and I went. Then it was time to head off for the fireworks display.
Do I need to say that was a big mistake? At the first loud bang Bowser went beserk. There was no way to get him to stop shaking or crying. We tried putting him in the Bronco but the noise was as loud in side as it was outside. We finally decided to go back to the camp ground which did not help either as you could still hear them. Our final effort to help him was to drive 20 miles down the highway to a roadside rest stop and wait the fireworks out. I have never felt so srry for an animal in my life than I did that night. All Bowser wanted to do was to sit in my lap with his head on my shoulder and whimper.
After a pretty good nights sleep in our two separate bags with Bowser in between we ate a good breakfast, another hike in the woods and then it was time to break camp and head for home. Charles did very well for the first time out and he said it was really a lot more fun than he had ever thought.
My answering machine did not have a quiet and peaceful weekend. Life gets more interesting everyday.
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