Camping to the Sounds of Music by Rachel L.

What is value? I guess it’s different for everyone. For some it’s diamond rings with others it’s a night with the family. Value is something that makes you content. An object or memory that you would never want to lose. How can one define value?

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My sister, Kylie, my dad and I arrived at Vermont after our short, but boring car ride in my dad’s Hyundai Sonata. It was about 6:30p.m. As we step out of the car my aunts come to greet us. Their rottweiler, Stolie, jumped up, and almost knocked us over; she had dog drool hanging from her mouth. Once things settled down a bit we started to pitch our tent, and blow up the air mattresses for that night. Once we finished setting up the tent, we started the fire

The warm, cozy fire lit up our faces. The dull, foggy sky with the full moon was lying above us. Then we exchanged all different stories. Most them were about stuff that is going on at home, and other times ghost stories. Dani, my aunt began, “Your grandma would always bring us to aunt Midge’s house. One night she brought us over there to spend the night. After a while, she left and was driving on the road for about 6 minutes and her car broke down so she had to walk back to Midge’s house. It was a good 2-mile walk. After she had been walking for a while, she heard something following her in the bushes. She was scared, but she was curious so she got closer and saw…” all of a sudden a twig snapped, and Stolie barked at it and we all screamed. It was perfect. Finally, when my aunt stopped laughing she said, “your grandma didn’t find anything in the bushes . She came into the house looking terrified as she told us everything”. We then began to make S'mores. Kylie not caring how hers was going to come out, she submerged her marshmallow into the flame and pulls out a burning fireball. After a few blows she is satisfied with her black charcoal. She then takes pleasure in eating it very slowly to savor the flavor. I on the other hand, like to cook mine slowly to get it to a perfect golden brown. Then I devoured it in seconds getting marshmallow all over my face.

Once our stomachs were full of S’mores it was time for bed. My dad and aunts went into the trailer, but there wasn’t enough room for Kylie and I so we had to sleep in a tent. It was a pretty decent sized tent; it could fit 4 people comfortably. Kylie’s air mattress had a hole and was losing air fast, so she asked to sleep on mine; we piled them on top of each other. This was fine with me because I was freezing I had one tiny sleeping bag which was extremely thin and I was so cold and shivering. Kylie on the other hand was loving life. She had a huge triple padded sleeping bag. I thought the closer I was to her the more heat I would receive, but I was wrong. I spent the whole night shivering trying to get warm; it was the worst feeling ever. The next morning we got up and made some breakfast over the fire. We stared a few more stories then packed up to go back home.

***

Music always helps me become calm and tranquil after I am having a really bad day. For example, one day at school I was stressed for most of the day because I had two tests, one in Geometry and one in Science. I hadn’t studied for them, and I wasn’t prepared at all. My first four blocks seemed to drag on forever. Finally I had lunch and had a little time to study for my test after I finished eating. Then I was off to Geometry. The teacher handed us the test as soon as everyone was seated. I stared at the test forgetting everything I studied during lunch. Trying as hard as I could, I eventually got through it just before class was dismissed. Of course with my luck science was next. I overheard many people talking about the test and how tough it was for them. The teacher handed out the test, and when I first saw it, I thought this would be easy. It was just a half sheet of paper, but I was mistaken. I went to my last class, and I couldn’t pay attention at all. I was just thinking of how bad I flunked both tests.

The bus pulled up to my stop and I walked the rest of the way home. I ran up to my room and just laid on the bed. I was exhausted but now I could relax. I had a really bad headache. I grabbed my mp3 player and got lost listening to my music. At first I was listening to louder music to get my mind off school and homework, but then I listened to soft music really low to make myself placid and I feel asleep. When I awoke I felt incredible. My headache was gone.

***

Camping and music are two things that take me away from the world for a bit. If I had to pick one I would pick camping. I love camping with my family. Talking, and laughing is something I couldn’t live with out. If my mp3 player died I could easily replace it. If one of my family members died I could never get them back. Although music is an important item of my life, my family is much more valuable. Camping takes me to new places to enjoy new scenery and spend time with my family. Listening to the lyrics of songs makes me think of myself, or enables me to make connections to most them. When I can’t get up to Vermont, listing to music is my way to get away from it all.