A Rainy, Penny Weekend With the Unnamed Eldest

To celebrate the Eldest Unnamed One's graduation from high school, we took a trip- just him and me.

I told him we could go anywhere he wanted to go...within reason.



He told me it couldn't involve a lot of driving or a long time away from The Beloved.

"The mountains," he offered. Then, just as I'd begun seriously looking for cabins- "Washington, D.C."

At the last minute I mentioned there was a bluegrass festival in Cherokee.

"Book it!" he cried.

I was shocked. Who thought the child would look back on his earlier years camping at the Fiddler's Convention every Memorial Day weekend, with such fondness?

Who knew we could even find the tent up in the attic, let alone remember how to set it up!

But we did.

We arrived in a pouring rain, took stock of our situation and went shopping...for another tent, a cheap gazebo, screened monstrosity we used as a staging area for setting up the real tent.

We didn't argue. Voices were never raised. We worked like a crackerjack team to assemble our weekend home and it all went off without a hitch.

I'd show you pictures but the card reader died.

My boy and I stood under umbrellas in the rain and listened to IIIrd Tyme Out and a host of others. We sloshed around to look at the vendors tents. We explored Dillsboro and Sylva. We laid up in our Aero beds and passed the crossword puzzle back and forth. We prepared feasts. And never once engaged in that "What are you going to do with your life?" stuff I'm sure he was expecting.

We just remembered who we are at the best of times and reconnected as two human beings who have a great fondness and mutual respect for each other.

It was wonderful- even though it rained and rained and rained.

And you know me and the penny thing?

We arrived and there in the middle of our campsite, was a penny.

We set up the tent and two pennies fell out into the middle of the floor.

There were pennies on the picnic table, pennies in our bags and finally, as we were leaving, we picked up the tent and there was a bright shiny new penny lying beneath the tent.

Pennies from Heaven and Dad- who would've really approved of our weekend happening.