Don, Mom and I were traveling to Florida a few weeks back, and while driving through Mississippi passed the Sardis Lake exit. That sign started a flood of childhood memories.

Sardis Lake was one of the places Dad loved to take us for camping and fishing. Oh, I guess it is time to walk down memory lane …

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of camping. I loved helping raise the tent (no, I wasn’t good at it, but dad always let me help) and then, later in the evening, sitting around the campfire. I can follow the smoke in my mind to hot dogs and marshmallows being roasted and the singing of frogs and crickets (and whatever else was in those trees), so loud they demanded you to stop your noise and listen to theirs!

From there, I drift on to the heady scent of the damp heaviness of the dark, the forest pines and tent canvas, all surrounding me as I lay curled up in my sleeping bag next to my sisters and brother.

The sleeping bag even had a special scent. Sticking my head in the bag, as I sometimes did when the trees made spooky shapes against my tent, revives yet another memory: the musty scent of the trunk or shed where the bags had been stored.

Those smell memories also bring other pleasant thoughts to mind, coffee perking and bacon and eggs frying the next morning – aromas so strong and comforting that they always wakened me! I guess I enjoyed those times so much I will never be able to disassociate with the smell of those memories.

That is good, as it always takes me to my younger days. I have found, as I visit those childhood memories, they usually makes me smile and impart a warm, comfortable feeling in my soul. I’m sure you have some of your own.

You just never know how much fun you are having during certain times of your life until you get far past them. It is unfortunate that you cannot realize it earlier. Maybe you would stop and take a deeper breath, enjoying the moment a bit longer. C’est la vie!

My granddaughter, Paige, came and stayed with me a few days this past week. I will probably never take her camping, making those particular memories for her. I wouldn’t even know where to start! And now, I would worry too much about dirt and bugs and mosquitoes. And poison ivy. And strange people stalking around the tent at night. Why, we would probably find ourselves sleeping in the back of my securely locked-up SUV before the night was over!

These were certainly things Dad never considered. If he did, he knew we were well protected with his security system!

However, every time Paige leaves, I lie down that evening and hope I have done something that she will remember forever. Every child needs nice memories such as those.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for such wonderful memories. I know that camping with four children wasn’t – could not have been – an easy task, but you did it anyway, despite the bugs and dirt!

Well, on to the recipe, which is not about camping out, but rather grilling out. I have a great Grilled Shrimp Salad recipe I think you will enjoy. By the way, it would be a super easy camping dinner!

Grilled Shrimp Salad

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 cup bottle red wine vinaigrette

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 cloves minced garlic

2 bags Italian salad greens

2-3 Roma tomatoes, chopped

Small can sliced black olives

1 cup Parmesan croutons

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Sliced Italian bread, toasted on grill

Heat grill. Place shrimp on skewers (see tip). Whisk the red wine vinaigrette and Dijon mustard together. Brush on shrimp. Reserve leftover dressing. Grill shrimp until done. Mix remaining ingredients in salad bowl along with reserved dressing. Add grilled shrimp. Grill bread and serve alongside.