I Can't Believe I Joined a Group or Tale of a Desperate Camper

In my ongoing quest to ensure I give to myself that which centers and balances me, I have joined a camping group here in the city. Although theatre is intrinsically a group endeavor and I do belong to the Richmond Area Speleological Society and the National Speleological Society , I've never been one to actively seek out a group for social activities; it makes me feel so very thirty-something, and I don't even turn thirty for 8 months! But the sad truth of the matter is that Ms. Laughing Wild (short for Laughing Wild Mountain Treasure) is really pretty much the only friend I have who loves camping and hiking as much as I do. Mr. Saucy Funnybuns (his buns aren't funny, he is) and My Little Vidipookikins have both expressed an interest in going at least once in the summer, but I know I can't really count on that. So my options were to hound Ms. Laughing Wild mercilessly about going camping, rent a car by myself on an already strained budget, or join a group; I wisely opted for the latter.

I'm kind of excited about meeting other nature-loving outdoorsy urban dwellers, but kind of nervous too. What if I hate them all (okay, being that there are like 50 members, hating them all might be a bit of a stretch) and don't find out until I'm stuck on a 3 day camping trip with the most annoying but active of the group? What if its like when I was a girl scout and we had to do woosy camping in these cabin shelter thingies instead of tents (this is what prompted me to drop out of girl scouts and hate the organization from then on)? What if they all hate me and leave me stranded in the woods and I fall into the hands of a serial killer like the guy who killed those two young hikers on the Appalachian Trail? What if I end up writing this whole post about stupid "what if" scenarios that I'm not really all that concerned about?

I think the real reason that I'm anti-group is that these type of things are often used as matchmaking tools for opportunistic and hungry/horny/lonely singles. Not that I'm denying my own state of hunger/horniness/lonliness; I just don't like the whole meeting/mixing/matching etc game. I don't like playing games unless I know that I'm good at them; good enough to win. Dating is not an arena in which I feel safe being a contender; not even in the preliminary rounds. Of course I could be wrong and it could be full of blissfully married people. Or eunichs. Eunichs like camping right?

No matter how the group turns out to be, or how freakin old it makes me feel, I'm excited at the prospect of summer camping trips and proud of myself for pursuing this part of my life that's been sorely neglected since I moved to this land of concrete.

Now I have to go pick up my veggies and put in some hours for the second job while still trying to maintain a stress free semblence of calm with a sprinkling of added sleep to boot. Suddenly the mountains seem very far away.