General Malaise
Footballguy
Campsite at Lassen Volcano NP, CA. Campsite C24. At C25 was a kindly, elderly man who was very hard of hearing, but a gentle soul. He was all alone and I'm guessing by his equipment (pick-up and a camper) that he was an experienced camper and most likely (at one point) had a spouse who went with him on his camping adventures (more on this).
At first, we were annoyed because all we heard was the sound of his loud generator, but the campground permitted generator use during 2 hour intervals in the day and he shut his off the minute the 2 hour mark was up in the afternoon. Next thing we knew, the sound of his TV was blaring through his camper walls - so loud we could hear the dialog as if the TV were on our picnic table. But it didn't last long and I'm guessing he took a nap.
A little closer to dinner time, we're messing around the campsite and the old fella emerges. He's got a little, floppy frisbee with him and he's asking my twin boys (9) if they'd like to throw the frisbee with him. They agreed and I'm telling you, it made this man's day. He said he'd been waiting all week to play frisbee with another person and was laughing and clapping at all the errant throws and missed catches.
I joined in the fun and the four of us threw back and forth, getting the hang of it. He would ask a few questions of my boys, they'd answer, he'd laugh. I'd ask him questions from afar, and it was clear either his hearing was going or he at one point had a stroke or something that was rendering him a step slow in the mentals. But a nice man who was genuinely happy to be throwing the frisbee.
I took a pause to grab something at the campsite and I could overhear the man ask one of my sons "Hey, where'd your GRANDFATHER go? Get him back here!".
My boys laughed so hard, ran over and told my wife what he said and she started laughing hysterically. 
It became a running joke the rest of our trip.
I am 51 years old. I am not amused.
Well, the next morning, the great source my family's amusement packed up and got ready to head on to his next adventure. But before he left, he gave my boys his soft frisbee and said he had another one - that his son had given him two of them and he wanted to share. He bid us farewell and off he went. But I noticed he left behind a coffee mug on his picnic table and while I considered chasing him down, I figured it was too late and really, if he was hard of hearing, what would have been my mechanism for getting his attention? I retrieved the red mug and on it read: "Home is where we camp for the night" or something like that. Touched at my heartstrings thinking that he probably did lose his wife and continued the camping tradition on his own. I took it to the Ranger Station and told them I'd be happy to mail it back to them if they could get a hold of him. Never heard back.
Grandfather Malaise. Ugh.
At first, we were annoyed because all we heard was the sound of his loud generator, but the campground permitted generator use during 2 hour intervals in the day and he shut his off the minute the 2 hour mark was up in the afternoon. Next thing we knew, the sound of his TV was blaring through his camper walls - so loud we could hear the dialog as if the TV were on our picnic table. But it didn't last long and I'm guessing he took a nap.
A little closer to dinner time, we're messing around the campsite and the old fella emerges. He's got a little, floppy frisbee with him and he's asking my twin boys (9) if they'd like to throw the frisbee with him. They agreed and I'm telling you, it made this man's day. He said he'd been waiting all week to play frisbee with another person and was laughing and clapping at all the errant throws and missed catches.
I joined in the fun and the four of us threw back and forth, getting the hang of it. He would ask a few questions of my boys, they'd answer, he'd laugh. I'd ask him questions from afar, and it was clear either his hearing was going or he at one point had a stroke or something that was rendering him a step slow in the mentals. But a nice man who was genuinely happy to be throwing the frisbee.
I took a pause to grab something at the campsite and I could overhear the man ask one of my sons "Hey, where'd your GRANDFATHER go? Get him back here!".
My boys laughed so hard, ran over and told my wife what he said and she started laughing hysterically. It became a running joke the rest of our trip. I am 51 years old. I am not amused.
Well, the next morning, the great source my family's amusement packed up and got ready to head on to his next adventure. But before he left, he gave my boys his soft frisbee and said he had another one - that his son had given him two of them and he wanted to share. He bid us farewell and off he went. But I noticed he left behind a coffee mug on his picnic table and while I considered chasing him down, I figured it was too late and really, if he was hard of hearing, what would have been my mechanism for getting his attention? I retrieved the red mug and on it read: "Home is where we camp for the night" or something like that. Touched at my heartstrings thinking that he probably did lose his wife and continued the camping tradition on his own. I took it to the Ranger Station and told them I'd be happy to mail it back to them if they could get a hold of him. Never heard back.
Grandfather Malaise. Ugh.
