Part 1: The Camp
We crossed the cattle guard over the stream and pulled up at the gate. I stepped out of the pickup and took the keys to the padlock. The tractor trail on the other side looked like it had recently been sprayed with weed killer, so I knew the neighbor Dad paid to keep the property up was keeping the bargain.
In the winter this was a hunting camp, but in February Dianne and I would have it all to ourselves for a few days. No office for me, no dance classes for her to teach. Seven miles down a gravel road and a mile up this logging road would bring us to the privacy of our grey cabin with the steep pitched roof and a porch all the way around its big single room.
Dianne roused herself in the passenger seat as I locked the gate behind us and climbed back into the truck. She had slept the last seventy miles. "Almost there, Hon?" she moaned.
"Yeah, Baby," I said.
"I don't remember the trees so close to the road like this."
"Dad said the logging company clear cut this section about three years ago and replanted it. When you were here those trees were only knee high."
"Oh yeah, now I remember" she said as we rounded a turn and the cabin came into view.
Dad had a great explanation for the unusual style of the cabin. The original builder had obviously studied traditional architecture and built and African style raised wooden cottage for his camp. "Keeps it cool on hot summer nights by drawing air up through the roof" Dad was fond of telling his guests. If his clients liked to hunt Dad would bring them here in deer season. Most of them went home with an ice chest full of fresh venison and a new contract with Dad.
The place had been in Mom's family for years before she met Dad. She and her sisters would spend summers here when Grandma wanted to get "out of the city" as the old moneyed families used to say. Mom and Aunt Jenny followed the tradition by bringing my little sister, cousins and me up here. It was crowded at times with five kids, two moms and on weekends two dads but very happy. The neat part for younger kids was that kids six years old didn't wear clothes during their summer stay. I know that sounds like something out of the YaYa Sisterhood but it was the way Grandma then Mom and Aunt Jenny raised their families.
Di's only visit here was for a family reunion July 4 barbeque and we didn't get to spend the night. Now it would be an inexpensive vacation for a few days.
When I stopped the truck Di grabbed the smaller of our two ice chests before I could say "I'll get that" and started up the steps to the porch. The ancient refrigerator that in true Southern style always stood on the porch had been replaced by a new one that would keep our beer and food cold. Around the side of the house was and outdoor shower, a "kid wash" as Aunt Jenny used to call it as she herded us through it at sunsets.
"Hey Di" I said as she put away the contents of the ice chest. "Did you get inside at all last year?"
"No, I just looked through the windows. Did you really use the kid wash?
"Every day. Come on, let me show you to our room." I unlocked the door, turned to Di and swept her up like a newlywed. "Just for luck" I said as I carried her over the threshold.
"Always the romantic" she giggled and looked around as I set her feet down. "Oh my goodness, this is great!"
Dad had obviously remodeled the place, with a new built in oven and range, sink and a soapstone fireplace that replaced the ancient Franklin stove. Bunk beds with full size lowers were draped with sheets to keep the dust off the mattresses. The floor, once bare wood, was now covered with tile. A wooden picnic table and a pair of rocking chairs completed the furniture with plenty of room left around the fireplace where what appeared to be a Persian rug was rolled up against the wall.
"Good old Dad" I said. "The only thing still primitive is the privy out back."
Di opened the shutter and looked out the back window. "Looks like he ran the electricity to it, too" she said. "And that tool shed next to it looks new as well."
"Probably has his barbeque pit and a generator in there. We used to have regular power failures out here on the end of the grid."
"Didn't you have mosquitoes? These windows don't have screens"
"As I recall the breeze at night was too much for them" I said, pulling the sheet off a bunk. "Yeah," I looked up "There's the old attic fan. Actually it got chilly on naked kids. Mom used to cover us with flannel sheets after we fell asleep on our floor pallets."
"Do you think we'll be cold tonight?" Di asked, wrapping her hands behind my neck. She arched her back, putting her belly against my groin and throwing her shoulders back. "'Cause I expect you to keep me warm."
"You'll be warm alright" I said. "How about we get the rest of our stuff and then take a walk down to the pond before it gets dark?"
"Can we pretend we're under six?" Di smiled.
I wasn't about to say no to that request.
Part 2: The Pond
I had not been naked in the woods in over twenty years, and memories of this place filled my head as we held hand and walked down the stone path to the pond, illuminated by warm afternoon sunshine. Last year Di had achieved a great all over tan by sunning herself in our back yard, but right now we were both rather pale.
The pond had once been a tank, a man made reservoir for livestock. Long ago someone had planted a live oak on the hillside and that tree was so huge that as a child I helped Dad hang a tire swing from it. The rope had long since rotted away and I made a mental note to replace it. The lone oak looked stately among the pines that surrounded it.
Di let go of my hand and ran to the shallow end of the pond to dip her toes into the water. "Brrrrr! Too cold!" she shivered as she shouted.
"Yeah," I said. "The sun doesn't get to it very well this time of year. By Easter it'll be warm enough to swim."
"I'm disappointed" Di pretended to pout, sucking her right thumb and planting her left hand on her hip. It had the effect of exaggerating her stance, with her right hip thrown out. Sunlight filtering through the oak leaves painted spots on her naked skin.
"As Aunt Jenny would say" I scolded her. "'Don't you pout out here in front of God in His creation. There's too many wonderful things to see and do to take that attitude.'" I was saying the words but my mind heard Aunt Jenny scolding her girls and my sister. I had a difficult time deciding if I wanted to concentrate on the memory of three naked preschoolers or the view of my naked wife who had unknowingly assumed the same posture.
Di teased back. "OK Aunt Jenny. What else is there to do in this Garden of Eden?"
"Come with me, little girl, and I'll show you" I said extending my hand. She took my hand and I led her trough the pines to show her the place where Little Red Riding Hood met the wolf on the path to Grandma's house.
Part 3: The Kid Wash and Dinner
We got back to the cabin as the sun began to touch the hills to our west, throwing long shadows.
"If you want to use the kid wash we should do it quickly" I said.
"Why" she asked.
