We bought our tent last year, to go to the Greenbelt festival. Having spent the money, this summer we went proper camping – well, proper with facilities. We had a couple of days in the New Forest, then after an indoor break at my parents’ in Dorset, we went to our annual ‘Clergy Family Holiday’ at Sheldon, in Devon. The photo shows our campsite. We had the field to ourselves, which was as fantastic as having the camping toilets to ourselves – everyone else stayed indoors.
I had forgotten how camping puts you in closer touch with nature. You notice the rain (boy, do you notice the rain), you notice the sun, you can feel if it’s a cloudy or clear night by how many blankets you need. We were kept awake by owls. One morning we tried switching off a vibrating alarm, only to discover it was a nearby cow with a regular moo.
I’m probably too much of a city boy to enjoy really proper camping – collecting water from a stream, digging a latrine, cooking on a fire of scavenged wood. I do like a flush toilet. But this was fun. I hope we will keep it up.
My daughter took some lovely photos of the view from the tent, one early morning:
Alex Mabbs 
Yes!
Camping is terrific and a blessed reminder of so many invaluable things — sun, rain, owls, cows, dawn, dusk, stars, insects, trees — that many of us tend to whiz past in our non-camping lives.
Hurrah that you are sharing this experience with your daughter, who clearly grasped the magic and majesty of the morning in those photos!
Camping like you did (with nearby toilets and showers) in Truro, MA on Cape Cod is one of my favorite things to do each summer.
More camping for all human beings!