Unless something truly terrible happens to you when you go camping ...

... then surely you will look back on whatever happens to you and laugh about it long and hard. For instance, last weekend, when I went camping on Mother's Day, I set up an impermeable tarp beneath our tent, then a rainstorm came down, the water pooled in the tarp beneath our tent, and we all got flooded out! On the good side, this is one Mother's Day that I will not soon forget. It will be etched in my memory forever. That's one of the great things about sleeping under the stars. The memories remain in your head forever, and yet our recollections of discomfort and rushing around, bailing out our families and draping our rain-soaked undies on an oak bough to dry, tend to mellow out over time, like certain bottles of Bigfoot Barleywine. I look forward to getting out on the book trail, meeting you all, and hearing your camping highlights and horror stories. I think you all know by now that camping contains the full range of human experience, from ecstasy to confusion and chilblains.
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