Heading to CBLI With a Great Deal of Trepidation

Last Wednesday, as I sat at my computer reading my morning mail (most of it useless, as usual), without turning in any awkward manner or twisting or anything, I felt a sudden spasm of pain in the small of my back.  Since then, I have been battling another long-standing backache.  Although it hasn't been nearly as bad as the last episode, when I was immobilized on the floor and unable to even get up and getting to my bed to lie flat took over a half hour of painstakingly inching my way.

The difficulty lies in the fact that we are scheduled to leave for CBLI tomorrow.  I'm somewhat grateful to have planned a leisurely amble there.  We will drive an hour and a half to Grandma's house, where we will have lunch and move about for a bit, then will drive two and a half more hours to DeKalb, where we will stop in to visit and stay overnight with our dear friends, the Olsens.  Finally, that leaves only an hour and a half stint to camp on Friday morning.  This will be far easier on my back than a straight five hour drive would have been.

Still, I'm feeling such dread over the situation.  If my back doesn't improve, I'll be there unloading all of our things and walking extensively throughout the ten-day encampment.  I usually look forward to this camp so much, but I'm feeling "a great deal of trepidation."

This is reminiscent of a saying from one of the books we have packed to bring along for the drive - Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson series, where the pig, Mercy Watson, likes "hot toast with a great deal of butter!"  We've also packed DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux.  I'm hoping the boys will enjoy Despereaux as much as the third graders did back in Ms. Sharon McKee's classroom when I worked with her in DeKalb years ago.

I tried hard not to pack many of my own books to read because a fellow camper messaged me to say that she will be offering a free library in bins outside the front of their cabin.  She took the idea from this delightful website where others are blazing a trail of great literature love in their neck of the woods.  I have plucked about fifteen books from our shelves to contribute and hope to find something good to pick up for myself to read.  I think it's a fantastic idea.  Hopefully, the zealous regulators in Madison, Wisconsin, will stay far away from our little Camp Lake, Wisconsin free library (they are establishing regulations for these private book offerings in people's individual yards - ridiculous!).

I'm also feeling a bit of trepidation for another item we are packing - fishing poles.  The boys are eager to fish this year, but I'm less than eager to spend my afternoon free times sitting in the heat at the dock worried that one of them will get a rusty hook (which is about all we have left - I must go buy some newer hooks) lodged in their arm or something.  This fear is not a frivolous one.  When Bryce was little and spent loads of time down at the docks each day at CBLI, he actually did hook another boy's arm.  That little boy got his just revenge, though, when he put my car in drive and it took off (driver-less) up the concrete wall around the pop-stand.  Yikes!  Of course, I shouldn't have left Bryce and his buddy in the car, with the keys still in the ignition, while I ran over to the soda machine to grab them a quick soda.  Lesson learned.

I know we'll make tons of happy memories (just like the memories of the fish hook and the runaway car and the year Bryce was so sick I couldn't leave him in the room to even run to get some food for myself).  The boys are certainly excited.  I just wish I could feel a sense of peace about my back and the rigours of walking (not to mention climbing all those stairs for the zip-line ... urgh).