First impressions of the hunting camp and the city girl

I love going camping with my husband when he goes hunting. Even now, when we bring our children with us, the hunting camp makes for a nice getaway from the television and telephone. It's a chance to get back to nature. It's also fun, especially at night, with the fire going and the marshmallows roasting (OK, so some of my husband's hunting buddies have laughed at me when I show up with my marshmallows.)
I wasn't quite sure about the whole camping thing though the first time I arrived at the campsite, I was a naive city girl who had never been to a hunting camp before in her life. I'd only been camping a handful of times. It was scary.

My then-boyfriend was still out in the woods when I arrived. So I followed his instructions and went to the front gate, where he said someone would help me find his camp.

"Um, hi, excuse me, I'm, um, trying to find the camp of my boyfriend, who, um, has his dog with him," I stammered.

Now, my husband's dog had quite the reputation back in the day. She got along with me, but I was probably the only one who could get near her. I knew they would know the dog I meant.

The men at the gate all laughed. I must have looked way out of place, and I still had my New York accent, so I really stood out. They pointed to where my husband's tent was and mumbled something. To this day, I can't tell you what they said. My ears weren't accustomed to the southern accent and my brain couldn't translate.

It was dark by that time, so I made my way to where I thought they pointed. And fumbled around the tent, hoping I was entering the right one. When I heard the dog growl, I knew I was in the right place. Luckily, the dog remembered me and licked my face in greeting.

I sat there in the dark until my husband came in from his hunt. I hadn't yet learned to make fire, so I couldn't put on the lantern.

He started grinning at me, and laughing.

"I hear you made quite an impression," he said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Well, the guys at the front gate told me to make sure you know where I'm camping next time. And that you seemed like you were scared to death," he giggled. "They want you to know that they don't shoot at people. Just deer and hogs."

I was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. Eventually, I got to know my husband's hunting buddies, and realized they weren't a bad lot. Just different. I hope they realized that I wasn't too bad either, for a city girl.