By the Light of the Silvery Moon

Four days in a tiny mountain cabin with teenagers...

I thought they would be bored. After all, this is my "get away" cabin...away from T.V, the Internet, video games and even phones. I figured I'd better have a list of activities of all types to keep them occupied, to keep the techno withdrawal from becoming so painful it sent them screaming back to Greensboro post haste.

To complicate matters...It rained...A constant gentle summer rain that made outdoor activities impossible for 2 of the scheduled 3 days.

They wound up staying four days.

Apparently the novelty of the simple, country life so enthralled them, it made computers and TVs seem mundane and...perhaps even a little boring.




We played cards and board games. We tromped through the woods. We looked for bear and found deer. The Guinea hens next door screeched like the hinges on squeaky screen doors. And then, on the last day there was a run-in with a huge cotton mouth.

But it was the beautiful yellow lab, Shannon, who charmed them most of all. She played fetch endlessly, followed them everywhere and best of all, displayed none of the annoying, yappy habits of the little dogs back home. And no one had to worry about taking care of Shannon- letting her in, letting her out, making sure she'd been fed and had water- because Shannon belongs to Joe, the cabin's former owner.

The kids were as enamored of Joe as they were of Shannon. Joe was pronounced "so knowledgeable and about everything too!" I think they thought he was even better than their current hero, Bear Grills, on "Man Versus Wild."



We had nightly bonfires with popcorn and s'mores...One night there were even roasted potato chunks and onions buried in the coals for late night munching.







Fresh wildflowers in colorful cans sat out on the big picnic table. We drank fresh lemonade and iced tea out of quart-sized jelly jars. There were big country breakfasts, fresh vegetables with dinner, barbecued ribs and chicken...It was slow, easy living at its very finest.



All in all I would have to say it was a big success.