Summertime

I hate camping but my Dad loves it. So every once in a while when I was a kid I would break down and go if the camping didn't involve walking more than a mile (200 yards if wearing a back pack.) Mostly taking me "camping" meant driving a camper to someplace with hookups. At that point is it really camping or well appointed parking? Dad could get a campfire and the tenting in the wilderness vibe. I could have toilet paper and my Satuarday Morning Cartoons. (This was back in the 70's & 80's.)

If you're a suburban prince like me TV is hard junk to get off of. It's easier to quit smoking. So Dad meets me half way and we got to spend time together. He would join in and laugh at me when other campers would tease us with comments about how my TV in the woods is really roughing it. I didn't care cause I'd be with my Dad.

There's also something extra chilling about watching horror movies in a camp ground. Sure we could tell ghost stories around a campfire but I like movies.

On one trip to Gunstock, Maine Dad and I watched some rinkydink UHF channel showing their big movie of the week. It was called Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things. Both the movie and the TV station were wicked low budget. When the broadcaster mixed up the reels and the movie started playing out of order we kept watching trying to figure out what the hell was going on. It didn't seem to matter to the story line and eventually we figured out what we missed.

I would later see Quentin Tarentino mix up his storyline elements and be hailed as a genius. Then he spends a fortune to look like a low budget horror movie from the 70's. It's still not as cool as a boy and his Dad watching crappy movies on the 'camping TV' in the woods.

Some Dads just understand their kids.