Below is another excerpt that I found from the June 2008 Marchives. 

Hope you enjoy, Mark

I enjoy a late nite swim and I took a quick dippity do at the pool late last nite. While there, this father was pushing his two kids, prob 5 and 3, on air mattresses.  I watched awhile as he pushed them hard as the USS Alabama could muster and in unison all three of them laughed loudly as they zoomed across their chlorinated ocean on Navy boats in a battle only they can relate to. After each successful launch and repeatedly and predictably the lil boy would order the captain “do it again, daddy”.  As ordered, the captain did it again with the results of the crew being as excited as the first time.

I regal in those scenes. Why doesn’t CNN show those? In amidst all of the bad fathers, death and dying, natural disasters and gas prices, wouldn’t it be great to see a father pushing his children out of love and devotion? It reassures me that all is ok. God has not forsaken our planet like a lot of people would love to believe.

We had a very relaxing, near comatose day yesterday. Slept in, well..we do that every day here. LOL. But we slept in, puttered around the camper, did some reading, went to the pool several times, I went shopping for a few camper things at a Camping World and NOBODY was there to nag me to hurry up. Whilst there, I heard a couple talking like “you think we’ll need this?” “why would we want this?” or “what IS this?”

So, Captain CAMPER here intervened. Donned in Happy Camper cape, I flew to their rescue. Yes,  I asked them if they were new campers and they blew a sigh of relief and said does it show? I scooped the green family of four under my cape and took them around and told them what THAT was for, how THAT was cheaper at WalMart and how you NEVER EVER leave that valve open without a sewer hose.  They were overcome with the mechanics of this, but I explained some and referred them to a forum that would help them. I bid them goodbye and took my wares and flew off into the sunset….knowing that yet another camper’s angst was laid to rest by Captain Camper.  (yea, ok…..too much Indiana Jones the day before)

Back to the trailer and cooked a nice supper outside where we ate cause the weather is so perfilicious down here.  Then we went for a walk around the park, tossed some football, talked with some neighbors. I had to go ask a neighbor for a solid quarter so Sharon could do some laundry and made some new friends there. I spoke with the owner of the park for awhile, roamed around.

Later, probably a little too late but we are on vacation, we ate a watermelon and watched National Treasure 2. Good movie, but not as good as the first. Know why? cause it is so obvious that Nicky Cage had his face tightened up and a hair transplant. Jeez. Indiana Jones let his hair go gray. Just disappointing watching poor Nicky be so plastic. But the kids liked it and that’s what’s important.

We cleaned up the sticky watermelon and greasy steak dishes and dirty clothes lying everywhere. We kissed each other goodnite and bunked down for another nite’s sleep in our peaceful world in a camper.

And today, we are headed back to the beach and then later this evening, starting towards home. That’s ok. Home is a good place. It’s not the beach, but I do wonder if you lived here, would it ALWAYS be this good? I mean, if you worked in a chocolate factory, would you put chocolate on everything you eat at home??

Daddies reading this: Do it again. Even if you are not a daddy. Find someone special in your life…

and do it again, daddy.

I know that I will.

That’s the best that I can tell about it,

~Mark