Reminders for the next camping trip:

• Coffee mug. You deserve a proper mug.
• Fires are all about kindling. Love is about the little things too. Tend to your love. Let it breathe.
• jk. jk.
• The cooler has shifted its category in your mind: it is now a chair. Still, you must secure the cooler/chair before bed.
• Late at night as the animals growl and fight over the raw bratwurst in your cooler/chair, you can Google that phrase that comes to mind about “nature in tooth and claw…” what’s that from?
• Wikipedia says the phrase is properly “nature red in tooth and claw” and it’s from Tennyson, though was in use before he used the phrase. Good to know as the rough breasts growl and fight over your food; then slouch off towards Milwaukee in the morning.
• Don’t forget to interrogate the race / class assumptions inherent in state park camping. Also: bug spray.
• This is family bonding time: you must bond every single second or else you have failed camping.
• As I have gotten more mature, I crave the charred ends of marshmallows; the bitter truth in the sweet s’more.
• There was also a “Tooth and Claw” episode of Doctor Who about werewolves or something.
• Basically, a campground is a very fancy parking lot with toilet facilities.
• Car camping is basically about logistics: the state of your trunk right now reflects your mind exactly.
• This is the only time a spork is an appropriate utensil.