We are sitting by the ashes of last night's campfire, sipping too-hot instant coffee from paper cups.
"I wonder," my husband says, "if there are any campgrounds that have WiFi."
"Honey!" I say. "That's ridiculous. You can't bring a computer on a camping trip."
"Why is it ridiculous? What about all the people camping in RVs, with their bathrooms and satellite TV?"
We get into a conversation about technology and getting away from it all and what makes camping, camping. He thinks it would be cool to be able to check e-mail or read the day's news from the picnic table next to the campfire; for me, not being connected is a big part of what camping is all about.
There's no question, camping has changed with the times. "Roughing it" used to mean cooking on an open fire and going without hot water and a toilet.
Now, it means going without Internet access, and even that is changing. With technology such as the much-hyped iPhone, campers can listen to music, surf the Web, check e-mail, send text messages and talk on the phone as long they're not too far from an AT&T; cell tower.
My earliest camping experiences were with the Girl Scouts, and they were a lot rougher than any of my recent camping trips. There were A-frame fires lit with one match, middle-of-the-night walks to the latrine and attempts to cook pancakes on a tin-can device called a vagabond stove.
Today, I use fire starters, camp within a three-minute walk from a real toilet and make pancakes on a propane stove. For me, roughing it means sleeping in a tent and eating a marshmallow off a stick I found in the woods.
You see all kinds of people at campgrounds: families with kids on scooters and Big Wheels, girls with hair dryers in the restroom, middle-aged couples holding hands.
Then there are the professional campers. They are at every state park, with their names carved on wooden signs mounted on a tree at the front of their campsite. They've got rugs spread out in front of their campers, tarps strung from every tree and gadget organizers that hang on the side of their screen-enclosed picnic tables.
As for us, well, we're learning from our experiences and gradually acquiring more gear. But we keep forgetting to get the red-and-white-checked tablecloth.
Camping at a campground is a blend of natural and manmade sounds: a car motor idling, the rip of a zipper, birds chirping, the chink of an ax against cement, a breeze rustling through the treetops, scraps of conversation, campfire sparks popping.
Now there are also new sounds. On a camping trip last weekend, I saw a woman walking to the restroom holding a cell phone. As I passed her, it started chirping the Lone Ranger theme.
In today's world of high-tech multitasking, it's becoming more and more difficult to unplug. Don't get me wrong: I'm no camping purist. I want my propane stove and charcoal grill and battery-powered lantern, and, when I'm away from my kids, a cell phone in case of emergency.
But I don't want to be able to check e-mail or surf the Web. For me, part of "getting away" is disconnecting from normal life in every way possible. No phone calls, no newspapers, no TV, no work, no mail, no e-mail.
Sure, a global-positioning system device would have saved my husband and me a few detours during our hike last weekend, but when you've got nowhere to be, what does it matter? The surprise twists and turns are part of what makes camping fun.
In the end, we all have our own ideas of what makes camping, camping. For me, it's a chance to slow down and do simple things: listen to the birds, look at the stars, sit around a campfire, go for a walk, take a nap in a hammock.
Camping is being at the mercy of your environment. You know you're camping when you hear a rumble of thunder and realize you'd better start putting everything you don't want to get wet into your tent or your car. Camping is having to improvise, not being entirely comfortable, relying on nature a little more and technology a little less.
Now if they come out with an iPhone model that has a flashlight and a can opener, maybe I'll change my mind.
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Lisa Miller is a freelance writer who lives in Oneonta. She can be reached at lisamiller44@hotmail.com.
Lisa Miller
'Roughing it' getting redefined
- Lisa Miller
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A view from above
Fire towers in the Catskill Mountains have always been destination points, built to capture some of the region’s best views. These sentinel stations served an important role for the earliest possible sightings of forest fires in the remote mountain ranges. But the fire towers and those who manned them fulfilled a multitude of other roles as well.
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Being a parent is a constant learning process
I am sitting cross-legged on the floor in the dressing room, waiting for Allie's dance number to be called. The cave girl costume has been donned, the jazz shoes double-tied, the hair pulled back, the requisite dab of lipstick applied.
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Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
Half of Americans will be obese by 2030 if current trends continue, according to a report released last week in the British medical journal The Lancet.
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A family era ends with close of Potter series
As Harry Potter fans the world over flock to theaters for the final screenings of the final film in the eight-part series, I'm marking the end of an era myself, reading the last pages of the last book to my last child.
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Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
For many small communities, the Borders store at the nearest mall was the only place to browse and buy a variety of books, beyond the few titles offered in Walmart bestseller and bargain racks.
- Saturday, July 2, 2011
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Untethered from the cable box
I never imagined it would be so easy to be cable-free.
- Saturday, June 11, 2011
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On cells, sprouts and sodas
It figures. Six weeks after we dropped our landline, the World Health Organization issued a warning that radiation from cell phones might cause brain cancer. Meanwhile, the ultimate health food, organic bean sprouts, is being blamed for one of the deadliest E. coli outbreaks in recent history.
- Saturday, May 21, 2011
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End of the world as we know it? I feel fine
If you're reading this article after 6 p.m. and the ground is not shaking beneath your feet, then Harold Camping was wrong. Again.
- Sunday, May 1, 2011
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Song lyrics are an odd measure of attitudes
It was the third rainy weekend in a row, and I was scrolling through comments to a post by MSNBC blogger Melissa Dahl about a new study linking song lyrics to cultural changes.
- Saturday, April 9, 2011
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Parenting adventure takes a turn
On Friday, my 13-year-old daughter, Abby, will embark on the biggest adventure of her life.
- Saturday, March 19, 2011
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Japan devastation: Powerful reminder of our limitations
The images were surreal. People screaming from higher ground as they watched the relentless wave of brown water sweep up houses and topple power lines. Cars and boats floating like bath toys. Aerial photos of flattened villages, with crumpled roofs jutting out of the debris-laden landscape and orange-suited rescue workers like ants on a mountain of twigs.
- Saturday, February 26, 2011
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As food prices rise, sustainability makes more business sense
Frustration with high food prices is among the underlying causes of the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, and a global food crisis may be brewing.
- Tuesday, February 8, 2011
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National agenda needed to advance green technology
In his State of the Union address, President Obama issued a call to action for Americans to "out-innovate" the rest of the world and build on our history of doing "big things." Green technology is the next big thing, and it's our best hope to reinvent ourselves as competitors in the global economy. But we won't get there without a comprehensive national agenda supported by all parties -- political, yes, but also businesses, consumers, educators and students.
- Saturday, January 15, 2011
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Shootings remind us of need to teach children to hope
They should have been chattering about spelling tests and Hannah Montana songs. But instead, the two second-graders in my backseat were talking about the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. They had heard about it at school and were commiserating over the "sad" and "creepy" news as we drove home for a play date.
- Friday, December 3, 2010
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Marketing tactics could get kids to eat healthy foods
In a new twist on the "Super Size Me" fast-food diet experiment, the executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission ate nothing but spuds for 60 days.
- Saturday, November 13, 2010
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'Oneonta 360' captures essence of our area
The fact that Oneonta's new branding campaign has generated so much controversy shows how passionately people feel about this place. One thing everyone might agree on is that the essence of Oneonta cannot be easily conveyed in a few words or a logo. However, photographer Stephen Joseph makes a fascinating attempt to capture it in his new book, "Oneonta 360." If you haven't seen it yet, stop by Huntington Library, where one two-page spread is on display each day.
- Saturday, October 23, 2010
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Stem cell research must move forward
Robert Edwards of Britain received the Nobel Prize in medicine earlier this month for research that led to the birth of the first "test-tube baby" in 1978. Hugely controversial 32 years ago, Edwards' work is now lauded as a medical breakthrough that has brought immeasurable joy to the families of the 4 million babies born through in vitro fertilization.
- Saturday, October 2, 2010
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Supersized salmon? No thanks
Davenport Garden Center owner Dennis Valente drizzled maple syrup over sweet potatoes in the cafeteria kitchen while a group of sixth-graders topped pizza crusts with pesto they'd made using basil from their school garden.
- Saturday, September 11, 2010
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Chobani yogurt: Nothing but good for the area
I'm in love with Chobani. True to its marketing slogan, this locally made, Greek-style yogurt is, indeed, "nothing but good." First of all, it's delicious: thick, creamy, fruity and sweet (but not too sweet).
- Saturday, August 21, 2010
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Summer is a perfect time to unplug
Last month, I wrote about the rewards of disconnecting from information technology during a weeklong family camping trip. Since then, I've picked blueberries, skipped rocks, curled up with my 6-year-old and a pile of books, walked in the woods, and spent a gorgeous day at the lake picnicking with friends and watching the kids swim.
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