6 • May 2018 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.
FAMILY FAMILY FAMILY FAMILY Camping by Gabriel A. Fraire ~
gafraire@comcast.net
Healdsburg, CA. ~ As a child I only remember going camping twice. Once with the Boy Scouts and once when my family took a trip to Washington D.C. There were so many peo- ple at the D.C. campground we had to share tent pegs with the tent next to ours.
My wife grew
up camping. It was a fun activ- ity her family did most sum- mers.
When our
children were young we took them camping often. A few times they even had birthday parties out at the coast, some- times with sleepovers that involved camping. The girls,
and their friends, loved it. One time while my daughters and friends were all seated around the campfi re laughing and talking my wife inter- rupted them and said, “Girls be quiet and slowly get into the van.” Some of
the
girls started to ask ques- tions
but my
wife was swift in silencing them. “Inside quickly and I’ll
explain.”
The girls, all well-behaved,
did as asked and piled into the van. Then my wife said, as she pointed to a tree just behind where the girls had been sitting, “Look there.” It was a very larage skunk look-
Cermony
(Last Monday Night 6:30 pm) n
Transformation h
Intention Breath
n Cacao
ing right back at us. The girls squealed. The skunk just looked as us and ambled away. As we sat in the van looking in the direction in which the skunk ambled we could see the campfi re of the next set of campers. Sure enough in a few min- utes we heard a large amount of screaming and hollering. A few minutes later in the next camp site down the road more of the same. We sat there and listened as each camp site along the skunk path would break out in screams and hollers. The girls all looked at each other with big eyes smiling. Then one of the girls said, “That skunk sure knows how to make and entrance.” Then another girl piped in, “And we know how to make an exit.”
Gabriel A. Fraire has been a writer more than 45 years. He has written
fi ction and non-fi ction books, plays, poems, music lyrics, and news articles.
But, he writes about his children
exclusively for the Upbeat Times.
Upbeat in Mississippi!
Greetings Paul! I enjoyed sharing Upbeat News with mem- bers of the SF Corinthian Yacht Club on our Mississippi River Boat journey with stops along the way from New Orleans to Memphis. You and your publication are in good company. Not always easy to fi nd an issue, so I am sending in my subscription as I don’t want to ever miss a ‘Beat. Thanks so much for the smiles, giggles and a belly laugh or two or more! ~ Tari Nix of Windsor, California
ABOUT: The state has a population of approximately 3 million. It is the 32nd most extensive and the 32nd most populous of the 50 United States. Located in the center of the state, Jackson is the state capital and largest city, with a population of approximately 175,000 people.
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A California Corporation CA Bur RE License #01464899; NMLS License #360993 6 • May 2018 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. Energy and persistence conquer all things. ~ Benjamin Franklin
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