"I Don't Like Spiders and Snakes" Part 1

Remembering back to all the great times that we had growing up camping, Daryl and I decided to take our 4 children ages 10, 14, 16 and 17 camping. We gathered the camping gear, planned the meals and headed for Caprock Canyon State Park outside of Quitaque Texas.

As we pulled into the state park I was disappointed to see desert scenery. I don’t know where I got the idea that Quitaque Texas was anything like the Colorado Mountains; I must have dreamed it.

We found a secluded spot with mesquite trees and began to set up our campsite. The tent Daryl and I shared was an army tent; it was 3 pieces of canvas. When erected the sides and the floor didn’t quite meet, which made me a little eerie. The place looked like a good haunt for spiders, snakes and lizards.

The girls and I decided to check out the bathroom facilities; we hiked ½ mile up the road to check out the outdoor toilet. Sometime in the past week it had burned to the ground. We should have taken this as a sign from God.

After supper we sat for a little while around the campfire. It was a hot evening so snuggling up to the campfire was out of the question. We turned in early, the girls went to their tent, Morgan to his and Daryl and myself to ours. As we crawled into our tent and snuggled under the sleeping bag, “I Don’t Like Spiders and Snakes and that ain’t what it takes to love me, you fool, you fool” played round and round in my head.

Sometime during the night there was a loud noise and scuffling outside our ‘tent.’ “Daryl, did you hear that?” I said as I nudged him. “Go check and see what it is.” As he crawled out of the tent and stood up with flashlight in hand, he was surprised to see me right behind him. He shined the light throughout the camp and there were raccoons on the table, in our cooler, rummaging through things and having the time of their lives. One raccoon had Rachel’s chocolate bar clutched tight in his little paws. He would snarl, look from side to side and eat his stolen goods. Daryl, with light in hand braced himself like a knight going into battle and grabbed for the chocolate. The raccoon had one end while Daryl had the other and they fought each other as if fighting for Coronado’s gold. I finally screamed, “Just let him have it.” “But its Rachel’s,” Daryl yelled back. “We’ll buy her another one,” I said in disbelief. As he released the chocolate bar the little thief scurried off into the darkness with his reward. We ran the remainder of the raccoons off and began to secure the campsite. To our amazement the kids slept though it all.

During the night the wind began to blow and we continued to hear scuffling, scurrying and arguing outside the tent. And the tune continued to play in my head…..”I don’t like spiders and snakes and that ain’t what it takes to love me, you fool, you fool!” I think I could now add raccoons to the list.

Psalms 3:5 "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me."

Tomorrow - "The Rest of the Story"