Random Scubalon

Jenny,  Abby, and I went camping this weekend with my brother David, his wife Missy, and their daughter Sarah.  Now when I say camping I mean “no phones, no lights, no motor cars, not a single luxury” kind of camping.  We cleared some land in the woods, cut up a downed tree for fire wood, and dug a hole for our ”necessary room”.  We had fun trying to figure out how to put up our new tent, but it went up w/o too much trouble and we had a great time.  We made smores, sang songs, and told stories around the camp fire.  Now when you are a member of our family there are a few things that are unique.  You see it was not enough for the uncles of my brother and me to tell us “boogey man” stories.  No, we had to have a boogey man that was dedicated to our family and wanted to kill just us.  It seems that one Hanky Pocus had a long unsettled feud with my maternal grandfather and was now reaching out from beyond the grave to settle that score.  There are a couple of advantages to having your own personal boogey man (that is if you are the one telling the story- not the poor kid listening to it).  The primary advantage is that you are not bound by geography.  That’s right – good ol’ Hanky was just as likely to kill you in your own bed as he was to get you in the woods, and if you were riding in a car with my uncle Tom on back roads at night you would swear not only did you just see him, but he was on top of the car!  So, this weekend I had the choice to let the legend die or pass him along to the next generation and scare my sweet innocent 5 year old daughter out of her wits.  I am happy to report – HANKY LIVES!!!!

As weird as it sounds Hanky Pocus has helped draw a life-long cord around my cousins and me.  Whenever we get together (which is not often enough and, sadly, mainly at funerals) talk will eventually get around to what we laughed about and cried about and were scared about.  Now I am the next to youngest of a boat load of cousins, and we always seemed to live the farthest away so I don’t have a lot of the memories they made together, but I am an equal partner in the “Hanky Pocus scared the life out of me” club.  Now, so is my daughter.  I loved being with my family this weekend, going on nature walks, and cooking around an open fire, but I also loved passing on a family tradition even as twisted as this one.  By the way – I miss my uncle Tom.

 ***Check out the female version of this trip here!!!