my eccentric camping uncle!

21 years ago

My great uncle Oscar was the epitome of a great camper! In his 80's he was still camping in the snow in the Adirondack mountains! He believed in always being prepared. So, he always wore various layers of very colorful clothing and used various length of ropes for belts. Every pocket or loop contained some sort of survival gear. He drove a station wagon that had every inch of space jammed packed with some sort of "essential" gear for every event!

Uncle Oscar came for my wedding which was held in my family home and was not large but nicely attended by close friends and family. Oscar arrived a day ahead of time along with many other out of town relatives. He presented everybody with some sort of gift. Some people received various spices and some people got absolutely huge chunks of cheese. Within minutes of being introduced to my future MIL (who was meeting my family for the first time) he proceeded to set up a propane (flame throwing type) heater in my parents dining room. As my MIL is sitting there flames went shooting half way across the room right in front of her! We suggested he test the heater outside!

Then some of our family were planning on staying over but sleeping in my parents' small travel trailer. My father didn't realize that the large propane tank was empty! No problem. Uncle Oscar just happened to have a filled 20 lb tank in his car along with a fewer smaller 1 pounders! Keep in mind that Uncle Oscar traveled to our house via the Lincoln Tunnel and it's a good thing this was long before the current era of terrorism!

This is the one that most amazes me. My uncle Oscar spent many years working in the garment industry in NY and enjoyed sewing. When he was there for the wedding my father offered him my grandmother's old sewing machine but told him there was no table for it! Well, wouldn't you know it! Uncle Oscar just happened to have a sewing machine table in his car! So, he proceeded to unload it from his car, bring it inside, and set up the machine and start sewing!

Sure, uncle Oscar was very eccentric but also very inspirational. Every once in awhile I stumble across one of his homemade camping tools or something that he carried around with him on his trips! I have a huge bag of rope of almost every type imaginable (he really liked rope) and we call it "oscar rope." He was a character and I sure hope that when I am in my 80's I am half as tough as what he was!

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Comments (10)

Gentian_NY
21 years ago
JEN that was a fun read, thanks for sharing. He sounds like he was quite a character to be around!
rustipup
21 years ago
Thanks, Jen! Amazing how that other generation saved, re-used, improvised, jury rigged, and sometimes even invented
their own gear. I am part of that toss away generation.
If there weren't disposable diapers, I never would have been able to bring myself to open up a diaper pail and start doin' the laundry :(

What a cool uncle!
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dalew
21 years ago
Jen - have come to believe just about every family has an eccentric uncle (or at least an eccentric relative)! In our family, my very favorite uncle had gone off to WWII as part of a B-17 crew that flew bombing missions over Germany. When he got home he emptied his duffle bag right in our living room and gave away ALL of his military belongings to all of us kids. Uncle Bill did not want to wear ANYTHING to do with the military for the rest of his life, and he never did so again! The following summer after Uncle Bill got home, several of the families scheduled their vacations about the same time so they could gather at a state park and all camp together. What a great time we had, and Uncle Bill showed up with the most beautiful fly rod I have ever seen. It was that summer and that incident that marked the beginning of my taking up with the fly rod.

Uncles can have such an enormous effect on one's life!

Dale
jen_
Original Author
21 years ago
Dale, I wouldn't recognize a fly rod if it hit me on the head! But, my cousin was just doing some cleaning recently and gave my husband Uncle Oscar's collection of fishing rods which contained several very nice antique types! All kinds of homemade equipment mixed in! This was a man who took the time to make his own homemade waterproof matches and invent some type of special case to carry them in!

Jerry, with my first kid I actually used cloth diapers! I washed them myself! With my second kid I was employed full time and went with the disposables!
rustyj14
21 years ago
Jen: My father was in WW I, and he learned a lot of ways to do things when we went camping.
We'd go up near Pytamuning Reservoir in the N.W. part of Pa. to camp out for a week or so. We had 2 old Army tents, camp cots, a very old gasoline stove, and everything we needed, except something to keep the milk, etc., cold!
So, being near a small creek, Dad would dig back into the creek bank, where it was nice and cool, and there he'd place the milk and meat! This worked very nicely.
Then, we'd rent a small row-boat and go out on the lake to fish! Usually we'd catch pan fish, nothing too large, but just tasty eating.
We'd carry drinking water, but we'd wash with clean creek water! It never seemed to hurt us-heck, i'm over 80 yrs of age, and still going strong! There were several kids our age that lived near-by and we'd roam around the area with them! My Dad's father would go along on our trips, and he, being a very stuffy guy if you didn't know him, always relished our camping trips!
AHHH! for the good ol' days! I'm glad i can still remember them! And, its always good to look at the pictures of our camping trips there, just to reminisce!
By: rustyj
rustipup
21 years ago
So, where did that term "SAY UNCLE" come from?
You know, where someone grabs you as a kid, causes some sort of pain until you yell "UNCLE"
Where did that phrase originate?

Did some mean uncle grab his niece or nephew and make them say "UNCLE?" hmmmm.....
rustyj14
21 years ago
Yep, it always happened in my extended family! But, nobody got hurt! It seemed to happen at family get-togethers and picnics. They'd get a full-nelson on us!
Even the bullies in school would pull that trick sometimes! I don't know where it started, but i always thought my cousin Red McCall was the instigator of it!
by: Rustyj
jersey_ponder
21 years ago
Jen,
Good story, thanks for sharing.
Lynda
lisa_in_pa
21 years ago
What a cool story-makes me wish I will be remembered someday as "my eccentric camping aunt!"

Lisa
jennmonkey
21 years ago
Great story Jen, made me crack up. I always say that I can't wait to be someone's purple-haired, crazy grandma! I have alot of years to go, but I want to be remembered as someone who loved life and had fun just like your uncle.

my eccentric camping uncle!

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my eccentric camping uncle!

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