green chair

The Camp Chair

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailEvery home needs a Camp Chair whether it’s your primary residence, vacation home, RV or your cabin in the woods. The camp chair should be warm, cozy, well loved, big, green and a tiny bit of smell doesn’t hurt either. It should immediately make you sleepy, or at least make you contemplate a nap. It should have a nice view of the fire and be in close proximity to it so as to add warmth to make you sleepy. It should have memories, and it should be not just yours, but everyone’s favorite seat in the house. It should never stay unoccupied for long because someone else will surely be along to slumber in it.

I’ve had 2 previous camp chairs in my life and both fit that description perfectly. We just recently added a lazy-boy recliner from Rachel’s grandmother’s house to our living room and it immediately struck a chord. It’s brown not green but it’ll do nicely.

The really fun part though is planning the camp chair for the new addition on our camp. I think I have a perfect spot picked out we just need to find the chair.

What I'll Miss (about camp)

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

In 1989 New York State bought the land the Long Lake Hunting Club had leased for the better part of the century (1200 acres, 8 miles from the nearest road).  They gave us 10 years to get out.  So in 1999 we had to leave the place many of it’s members had grown up in, myself included.  I’m not sure who, but someone wrote this poem and I’ve kept it hidden away in the dark bowels of my computer until now.

What I’ll Miss

As We give this camp a final toast,
I wonder what I’ll miss the most?
My bunk, the couch, that big green chair?
The smell of bacon in the air?

How bout that griddle made of steel?
Mmmm… we never missed a meal.
That big wood stove, it’s sides would glow,
and keep us warm at ten below.

Yes all these things were very nice,
and I’ll think of them once or twice,
But what hurts so much to leave behind
are all the people in my mind.

Harley, Bummer, Bob and Rod…
take care of them almighty God.
Roger, Howard, Loren, Chris;
It’s all you guys I’m gonna miss.

But there’s one thing we’ll always keep,
Within our hearts, way down deep;
Those memories of yesterday,
No one will ever take away.

And even though the camp is gone;
Those memories will linger on.

~Unknown Member of the Long Lake Hunting Club of Harrisville, NY

Every time I read it I feel the heat emanating from the old cast iron stove as we play just ‘one more hand’ of Euchre at the table built for 20 with the giant jar of maraschino cherries in the middle ready for Roger’s Manhatten.

I’ve seen very few of the members since the club folded. Some created a new club a few miles down the road from the old one, and we’ve visited with them a few times. Unfortunately, most moved on to places unknown.

I miss it. A lot.

I miss my uncle Loren (mentioned in the poem) the most.