“The air here is delicious. Later on I heard the noise of croquet balls, and looked out again, and it was Charles Wilcox practising; they are keen on all games.” E. M. Forster: Howard’s End: Chapter 1

The air was delicious and fragrant with pine and campfire. All around us people were gathered round individual camps, children ran and folks smiled. Camping at Silver Lake, near Marble Falls Washington was a wonderful experience.

We had only intended to stay one night, since we had an engagement for another party on Saturday. But after weighing the options, we went to the party and turned around and came back right afterwards. We wanted to be in the woods.

I played my first game of bocce ball at the barbecue and then once we got back to camp another game struck up among our little group of campers. As we tromped through the mild woods behind our campsite I found myself thinking about E.M. Forester.

“Some complicated game had been playing up and down the hillside all the afternoon. What it was and exactly how the players had sided, Lucy was slow to discover.”
- Chapter 7, A Room With a View – by E.M. Forster

Here we were a group of young adults, tossing balls on the lawn and laughing. Small conversation sprung up between individuals but we all walked together and felt the excitement of each toss as a group.

Finally, once we exhausted our aiming skills we built up the fire and gathered round for general merrymaking. I noted in the morning that not all the beer was drunk–which made me feel quite adult–despite it not being my beer and having only an empty wine bottle to show for myself. In good company, we were all around well-behaved with plenty of laughter and scandalous stories to share.

So, we ended our lovely weekend with soot covered clothes, and spots of marshmallow sticking here and there. And as one Camp Clubber put it, “It feels like it’s been a week since I was at work, ” and that I think sums of the success of our adventures in camping for the weekend.