Will that be electrified or non-electrified?

Cold enough for ya??? Is this not the longest winter ever? What’s with the -46 windchill here in Saskatoon this morning? It’s the kind of weather that will do serious damage to any brass monkey. It feels like January….not the week before the donning of spring.

It’s a great time for The Eagles to be touring through Saskatoon isn’t it? I’m sure they were thinking of this very moment in time when they came up with the album title Hell Freezes Over. Don, Glenn, Joe and Tim……welcome to Saskatchewan. Enjoy our hospitality. You’ll find Hot Shots, Kamik boots and long johns just down the street at Midtown Plaza. The Bay also has those fuzzy hats with the ear flaps. Make sure to stock up on Great Western Pil as you exit town on your way to Winnipeg. Oh and by the way, please resist the temptation of using your tongue to test the temperature of anything metal. You might want to let your beer can warm up before indulging.

So pardon me while my mind wanders off to that far away time….. A time of warm weather, lots of girls, sleeping outdoors and sitting around a campfire.

As a kid, my family and I used to go camping from the first day of summer holidays to the last day before school started in September. I remember those times like they were yesterday. Where did the time go? We didn’t venture too far away. We used to call Pike Lake Provincial Park “home” for the summer. Home on wheels was a 17 foot Jayco. My brother and I were always involved in sports that took us into late July or early August so we camped at the Park and were still close enough to home to continue with our activities. Mom and dad could still work during the day and come back in the evening.

So, the younger Souster and I were able to hang with our buddies in the campground all day and “cruise chicks” on our bmx bikes. We were the definition of cool…..or not. Swimming lessons in the am followed by Kraft Dinner for lunch and regular trips to “The Huddle” for candy in the afternoon. I even managed to ride the bike back home when I was bored. 16 miles one way. That was hard on the seat. No parent interference. Life was good. We’d hit the playground after dark. It was always so much easier to meet girls when you didn’t have to look them in the eyes. The evenings always seemed to end sitting around a campfire.

Mom and dad slept in the trailer while little Bro and I tented it. Luxury and independence came in the form of a 4 man tent with a 5 inch TV and no parental interference. This was my favorite part of camping. To this day, my favorite time of summer is sitting out on the deck or veranda and watching a good old fashioned prairie thunder storm. Tenting made this easy to do. I’d lay in the tent and watch the lite show ALL night. The sound of the rain falling was so soothing. Falling asleep….no problem. Gotta get up the next day to scan the campsites for “new merchandise”.

If I recall, we started camping when I was around 8 or 9. That lasted till about the time of high school graduation. Then, it was no longer cool to be seen camping with the parents. They cramped our style. They had rules. “No driving around the park with the stereo cranked!” “Cut some firewood while we’re gone today!” “Yes, you have to take swimming lessons again this summer!” Ahhh, swimming lessons. That was money well spent. I took swimming lessons all summer, every year, for about 5 or 6 years. To this day, I still can’t tread water for more than 10 seconds. It might have had something to do with the fact that Pike Lake was shallow enough out at the dock for me to stand on the bottom. I could wail away with my arms and egg beater like crazy. All the while I would stop and tippy-toe on the bottom. Man……that was worthy of some kind of an acting award. Instead I got a crappy maroon badge. By the way, what is a sunfish or a swim kids 2? Bring back red, maroon and orange. I think that was as high as I got. I don’t even know what color was after that. I’m pretty sure I was only a couple badges away from being a full fledged life guard.

Back then you didn’t have to re-mortgage your house to camp either. Did you want an electrified site or non-electrified? Hmmmm let me see……$7 bucks a day or $4? “Come on dad, pay the 7. We gotta have those patio lanterns plugged in for mood lighting.” The last time I was at Pike Lake, it was 20 bones a night…..NON-electrified. Sorry, there’s not enough 30-something females on bmx’s to convince me to pay that.

Ah well……back to reality. Gotta go warm up the brass monkey and slip him into a pair of Fruit of the Looms. Can’t let the poor little bugger get a chill. Ah crap…..gotta go plug in the car!

-Troy-