Counting Stars

I have often felt the urge to leave all these monotonous daily life activities and set out for something completely different. Camping is one of the options to fulfill that desire of mine. I can imagine myself on top of a mountain with my friends; we all sing and have fun there. Often I feel like to be alone, just me, with no one to interrupt my silence; I would lie down on the ground and just keep staring at the sky, observing the stars. In the morning, I would enjoy the sunrise with the refreshing breeze that would go through me.

So what's the experience?
So far, I have not had the opportunity to have one I dreamt of. But yeah, I have a tiny experience from my early teenage years during my visit to a distant relative's house in a remote village. At those times, there were huge load sheddings. They would get barely eight or ten hours of electricity throughout the day. Things have changed now.

So one night, during a load shedding, it was getting so hot to stay indoors that we almost gave up all hopes of sleeping. To ease our suffering and to offer a whole new experience, one of my uncles took the attempt to give us a taste of the night while camping. Nope, we didn't have a tent but don't underestimate the life hacks active villagers can have. Within an hour, he and two of his helping hands managed to arrange something that was structured as a tent to stay inside. But we were least interested in getting inside. Instead, we preferred to stay outside, all together, under the open sky, staring at the stars. Our attempts to count stars were so naive that I laugh whenever I get to remember that memory.

Staying awake, we got hungry; what to eat? They had no refrigerators that we would grab something to eat. But a better alternative was available to them; they used to store water in pitchers. Those used to remain cold, and refreshing and tasted better than ours. Actually, their tube-well water was also very pure and refreshing. We prepared Stone Apple's juice and had snacks with it. I forgot what we had in snacks because I was too interested in the juice—a simple and memorable one.

The night was spent well, and we slept there altogether. We had no plans to wake up early in the morning, But when you are sleeping out of your house without the usual concrete rooftop, you are most likely to wake up by the first ray of sun. We were awakened too and saw how refreshing the weather was. I was shocked at first to discover our-self in the middle of open grounds, with no nearby houses, just a few trees and a pond beside us. We didn't pay much attention at night due to darkness and excitement. We moved to our house and completed the remaining quota of our sleep.

A simple yet memorable night to cherish for a lifetime. It doesn't take much to have an unforgettable experience. Take a few friends and pick a calm and comfortable spot. Spend the night by chitchats. I may start counting stars again to revive those childish attempts.

#KISS - Blogging Ideas Week 50's topic has triggered my desire to go camping in the countryside. We have so many camping places to explore, I see them on social media, and now I am tempted to go for one—a simple, unique, and once-in-a-lifetime experience.