Oklahoma – April Coker, Author

I just returned from a camping trip I shouldn’t have gone on. (Yes, this former English teacher just ended a sentence with a preposition. I’m not ashamed.) Why would I say such a thing? What happened? Was there a camping catastrophe, a glamping goof, a trailer trauma? Nope, none of those. It was just too darn hot!

This campout was at a beautiful new campground in Oklahoma called the Do Drop Inn RV Resort at Lake Texoma. It isn’t actually on the lake, but it’s close enough to provide easy access. Maybe I should have taken advantage of the lake to cool off, but I didn’t, unfortunately.

You may be unaware that little vintage trailers like mine are not insulated. The only thing between you and the great outdoors is a layer of plywood and a thin layer of metal called the skin. I guess no one thought to insulate these little trailers. Maybe it would have made it too comfortable–more like being at home than camping. I don’t know, but my little trailer heats up like a tin box in the bright summer sun.

Miss Millie resting in the bright sun.
Even if she was hot inside, I still love her!

Don’t you have air conditioning? You bet I do. The last vacation I took without air conditioning was when I was a kid on a family vacation and I had no choice. That’s the summer I brought my Donny Osmond album to play at my cousin Donna’s house and it warped before we got there. You Gen X’s and Millenials probably don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. When vinyl gets too hot, it warps or bends, making the record almost impossible to play. (Search “warped record album” images and you’ll see.)

I still have it! Notice my Color Street thumbnail
matches his pants!

The problem is that the little portable unit that I have nestled under my dinette table in my camper just can’t keep up when the temps go above 90 degrees. I was comfortable at night but as the day heated up it got more and more uncomfortable. The first full day of camping I went thrift shopping and returned around 4:00 pm. I tried to rest but it was so uncomfortable in my camper that I quickly dressed for dinner (Denim & Diamonds was the theme) and headed to the clubhouse two hours early to escape the heat.

This is my honkin’ A/C unit. The louver at the top opens and blows cold air, but it doesn’t keep up very well. Everything behind it stays scorching hot!

Although I enjoyed getting to see my camping friends, a few I hadn’t seen for over a year, I found this entire campout less enjoyable than others. It was just too hot to sit around outside a campfire or around someone’s camper, or even out on the deck and visit. Everything had to be done inside. Of course, that is also the case when it rains, but at least I’m not sweating. I could have hung out in the pool but I would have gotten sunburned since there was no shade there at all.

Me in my “denim and diamonds.” That expression on my face?
Who knows?

So what is the solution? Not going camping in September is the simplest solution. Maybe I could get someone to take the skin off my trailer and add insulation. Or maybe I could invent a giant popup canopy to park under. Or maybe I will pull that portable a/c unit out and install a window unit in one wall. I know one thing: camping in a vintage trailer in the bright summer sun ain’t for me any more. I’d just as soon be at home in the a/c looking at all the pictures of the campout on Facebook.

What about you? Do you enjoy summer camping, or like me, do you prefer cooler weather?

XOXO

Have you seen the news clips of the aftermath of the Moore, Oklahoma tornado? The scenes of the parents and teachers of those elementary students are heart-wrenching.

There is the mother who finally finds her child with his teacher and collapses on her neck with happy tears of gratitude. There is that teacher who claps his hands and calls to all fifth (or maybe sixth) graders to join him so their parents can find them. Then there is the young teacher who covered the bodies of her small students and held on to keep them and her from being sucked away by the tornado.

Another teacher herded teachers and students out of their usual hallway shelter into restrooms and closets to get them out of harm’s way. Sadly, another teacher was found dead sheltering several students who had also perished. She gave her life protecting her students.

The media portrays these teachers as heroes, and rightly so. However, I don’t believe I know of a teacher who wouldn’t do the same to protect her charges from harm. One teacher said she was determined to hand her kids back to the parents who had entrusted them to her.

Teachers are more than disseminators of information. Really great teachers develop relationships with their students and consider them their own children in a way. Their concerns, trials, and successes become ours as teachers. We are the children’s guardians by day, seeing to their mental, emotional, social, and physical needs. We love them, perhaps not in the same sense or depth as their parents, but we do love them. Yes, even those who are hard to love!

The Moore tornado is a horrible tragedy. Adults and children died, more were injured, and many more lost everything they had. But the toll would have been much worse had not dedicated teachers rose beyond the call of their profession to keep their students safe.

May God bless teachers. May God bless kids and their parents. And may God bless all those affected by the Oklahoma tornadoes.

XOXO