Into the great wide open; inspired by Greene County's Ron Swanson

Growing up in Greene County there are certain traits, patterns of speech and mannerisms you carry with you the rest of your life. For me, one positive aspect about growing up in this area has translated into the love of the outdoors. Though this is a latent love, it is something I am trying to resolve to once more pursue.

Before I continue, I would be remiss if I did not explain who is "Greene County's Ron Swanson." For those who are unfamiliar, Ron Swanson is a fictional character who appears on the show Parks and Recreation (If you have not watched the show, do it). Swanson's character, like all great comedy television characters, is a absolute stereotype who epitomizes all things masculine, but his actions and beliefs are delivered in a comedic manner.

Greene County's Ron Swanson is easy to locate, in fact he sits right behind me. Jon Swaby is a longtime outdoorsman and writes a weekly column here at the GCDW about his experiences, journeys and misadventures. If you love the outdoors, you should definitely check out his weekly column.

My original title for this column was "Jon Swaby is an inspiration to us all," but I feared if that line was displayed in 42 point type across the page, his already bloated ego would not handle the extra load.

But in all sincerity, I have been reading his column lately and realized something: I have not went on a camping trip since I was roughly 22 years old, or seven years ago. Growing up, camping and other outdoors activities were not a part of my formative years. I did not first go camping until I was 15 years old. Subsequently, it was during my adolescent years when I first began a love of the outdoors.

During the summer months, my friends and I would often grab a tent and supplies and head into the woods for the weekend. I have vivid memories of those days, particularly one story involving a friend, Andrew Johnson. One evening Andrew had mistakenly fallen asleep outside of the tent in a lawn chair next to the leftover food. Though it was summer, the night's air was cold. I could still hear the crackle of the dying embers of the fire as I laid in my tent. Inside of my sleeping bag, the cold was no longer an issue and my eyelids became weighted down as sleep approached.

The first sound I heard was almost supernatural in tone. At first I ignored it, but it quickly returned, this time louder. I noticed the sounds were human when I heard the soft mummer of "No, no, no, no." As I unzipped from the sleeping bag I heard a shriek. Running to the campground I saw Andrew who was scratching his right arm.

"What's wrong?" I asked concerned.

His eyes, no longer clouded, were vivid. His tone was confused and he muttered, "The raccoons man..."

"What about them?"

"The raccoons...they came for me in the night." As he continued to scratch his arm, where the raccoons claws apparently met their target, he sighed heavily and said, "I think they have it out for me."

This is when I first learned to store the excess food a fair distance away from the campground, and to never fall asleep outside of the tent. Thank you Andrew Johnson for that valuable lesson.

Over the last year, I have been able to acquire a few days off, but I have been stalled on how I would spend them. At first I thought of Chicago or other cities such as Nashville and Columbus. It was recently when Andrew just returned with his fiance Molly Miller from their year long excursion to the west coast. At their welcome home party, I remember we began to share memories, and the story of Andrew's raccoon assault was quick to return to mind. I asked Andrew if he would want to take a hiking trip. He agreed.

After a conservation with Jon, I think I have settled on the location of West Virgina for a four day hiking trip. But I am also inviting anybody who is reading this column to shoot me a comment or an email on places to hike.

Well, wish us good luck and safe travels.

Grant is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 19. He can also be reached via email at gkarazsia@gmail.com.