Tidbit #7- A Summers Camp

Hello Everyone:

Now that the gardening season is up and running, let's turn our attention to some summer fun.

During Dora's childhood, every August the West Coast Indian tribes would travel for important ceremonies to Seattle. Celebrations such as legal marriages would take place. On their way they would stop at Saturna Island and the Chief would ask permission to camp on Dora's family's land for three days. The bartering began.

The Chief was a 'stern man' – with a twinkle in his eye – who dramatized the negotiations between goods and accommodation. Used canoes and paddles were usually items Dora and her brother and sisters received in the exchange.

The many relatives I have talked to, share the same remembrance of Dora- she loved the outdoors. I have written in previous posts the childhood Dora and her siblings had living with a beach and an ocean as their backyard. They collected materials to build tree houses and repair canoes. They kept seagulls as pets. They enjoyed a wonderful Christmas one year when a boat lost its load of mandarin oranges and the boxes floated to their beach.

This love of nature opened up the world of camping to Dora since she was privy to childhood memories of the Indians. One couple remembers Dora camping on one of the Gulf Islands' Indian Reserve, every summer for a month at a time. Having attained permission to camp, she would set up entire cooking tents and tarps and with her dog and boat would invite her relatives to come and stay with her.

On a summers evening, Dora told me a story of one memorable camping trip she took on the northern part of the Island. Her voice was a whisper as I became entranced – as only a storyteller like Dora could draw –anticipating the next words. She put her forefinger beside her nose and said: "Shh. You can just hear it coming."

She called it the 12 o'clock bear. A bear, obviously used to people, didn’t settle my nerves as I listened in rapt attention to its routing around the campsite looking for food. Dora, as fearless as she was, began to leave a single apple on the bare picnic table and from that day forward, the bear showed up for his daily treat at 12 o'clock sharp.

For all campers reading this, I have one final bit of 'Dora lore' on camping. Take mac and cheese and put it in the bottom of a can, add a can of tuna on top, followed by a can of kernel corn on top. Heat it up and in Dora's words, "It makes a satisfying good camping dinner."

Enjoy your summer's camping trips!

LisaBri