Copyright oggbashan September 2022
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction. The events described here are imaginary; the settings and characters are fictitious and are not intended to represent specific places or living persons.
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Up until five years ago my wife Ruth and I used to take off at random if the weather appeared good and go camping.
We had a small quality tent. It would survive any English weather. We just put in the car with our sleeping bags and would set off to drive a hundred miles or more to a larger camp site with facilities. We would have breakfast and evening meals in the club house and usually lunches at a variety of stately homes.
But then Ruth developed rheumatism and gradually became more disabled. She couldn't crawl into our small tent and after a year needed a wheelchair most of the time. But she still wanted to go camping.
A local camping store was closing down. I bought a large square tent, and many other pieces of equipment including a portable toilet that was mounted on a frame for use by the disabled. I had to buy a larger car to fit Ruth and her wheelchair inside, and eventually her pavement buggy.
We continued camping but it was not as spontaneous as it had been because of all the equipment. Three years ago Ruth had a stroke and died.
The two of us had been committee members of our Pensioners group and I still was. To some extent helping to run the group was keeping me active and not regretting what I had lost with Ruth.
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The forecast for next week was very hot and sunny and the committee decided to go a local beach about ten miles away. But near the car park could be very crowded and busy and we wanted a bit more peace and quiet. If we went East about five hundred yards or even a half mile we would almost have a private beach but the toilets, ice cream sales etc were by the car park. I agreed, if Bob would help, to take my tent and equipment. I had a folding four-wheeled trolley but I would have to make at least two trips with it fully loaded.
After the first load, Bob and his widowed sister-in-law Marjorie starred to erect the tent. They had nearly finished when I returned. The tent is twelve feet square with a central pole. The back half is curtained off into two compartments. One would be the changing room, the other the toilet and washing area.
In front, there was a large canopy with side curtains. We fitted the curtain on the West side, using more pegs than usual because there was a stiff north-Westerly breeze. Even inside the tent, it was still hot. The women changed first, and then the men before they all went into the sea. Most had brought cool boxes with sandwiches and thermos flasks of coffee but I had a gas two-burner cooker and grill set up under the canopy.
I sat down on my folding chair in the shade of the canopy with a cold Coca-Cola and watched. Despite their ages, many of the women still had attractive bodies even if they had been unwilling to exhibit themselves by the car park where the crowds were.
After about an hour people had stopped bathing and were having lunch. My cooker was being used only to make tea and coffee but I didn't mind. It was great to see so many of my friends enjoying themselves.
An hour after lunch most people were back in the sea. I sat under the shade of the canopy and watched. About three o'clock Marjorie came back and used a towel to dry her hair. She sat on the ground beside me.
"Why aren't you swimming, Harry?" Marjorie asked.
