Last month, I took my kids camping at a lovely and beloved state park. I hadn’t taken my kids before–usually the roomie and I went camping to run away from the kids. Actually, roomie was doing it to get away from her awful boss, it turns out. And then after escaping that job, she went camping so I wouldn’t have to go alone. But eventually I found that out, and invited the kids in hopes that someone would actually want to go camping.
I didn’t think it would go well. I really didn’t! They are very into video games. And TikTok. But both had a great time. Delighted, I began plotting more camping trips.
The first problem I needed to solve, I decided, was that of space. Our spring break trip had packed the car full-to-bursting, and we’d had a cabin to stay in. No way no how was I getting all that stuff PLUS three tents (instead of one big one–trust me on this, the first time you go camping on a mountainside and can’t find enough flat space to put your big tent on…) and all the other things one needs when electricity and plumbing are not provided into my faithful Corolla. She’s a great car, but she cannae break the laws of physics.
I thought about a roof rack, but research showed I’d have to get roof rails first. Hundreds of dollars, and getting it up there at all would be a hassle, and taking it down–well, I’d never want to take it off because it would be hard, and there goes my fuel economy. Not to mention I’d still have to get all the camping gear up and down–and I’m short, okay? It would be very much a pain in the backside.
A cargo carrier seemed more the way to go. Just get a tow hitch, get a cargo carrier, boom, done. No way I’d leave the carrier on all the time. And it might even be easy enough to handle that I could delegate it to the children completely.
So across the internet I sailed, looking for the best way to get that tow hitch installed. Lork knows I wasn’t doing it myself. I’m sure it’s very simple. I’m not doing it.
Unfortunately it turns out, it may be simple but it’s not easy. Not on my car, for some mysterious reason. I took it to a place that apparently does more tow hitches than anyone, and multiple bolts apparently unexpectedly broke, and now I wait in limbo, hoping they can figure out how to fix the tow hitch which is attached to my car, but not firmly enough attached that I can, like, put a cargo carrier on it.
Argh.
So camping is stuck. Similarly, my April attempt at CampNaNoWriMo is stuck. Not for any such reasonable reason as broken bolts or anything, at least as far as I know. Just because amid everything else, including the Waiting To Learn My Tow Hitch Fate, I am not writing.
I’m also not walking, or going to the gym, or going swimming, or cleaning my room, or so many other things I have on my to-do list. No, I am Waiting. And re-reading Murderbot, because this is what one does when one doesn’t want to do any of the other stuff, apparently.
What can I say? Read Murderbot. It’s good for what ails you. Or maybe not, but it’s an excellent read, and a far better way to spend time Waiting than pondering mistakes one may have made in life that led to something so supposedly simple as a tow hitch install leading to a multi-day drama and limbo contest.
Not the fun limbo, the other one. Where you just hang. Waiting. Hoping. Wondering. Will you ever be called by the manager? Will your tow hitch ever work? Will camping be an option any time soon?
Can I hire Murderbot to get this worked out for me?