writing in the woods

Another question I get asked a lot is “why did you go into the campground business?”

One of the main reasons has nothing to do with the campground business.

I started writing “a book” in 2018. I thought the Woods would be a great place to write. The old oaks, the old river, and the singing birds looked like the retreat I always wanted to go to.

Mr. Snuffleupagus

The people that know about my book, including a lot of seasonal campers at Camp of the Woods, will tell you that it’s a lot like Mr. Snuffleupagus.

For those of you that didn’t grow up addicted to Sesame Street, Mr. Snuffleupagus was a big, brown, wooly elephant-like-muppet that only one other character on Sesame Street could see- Big Bird.

The big, tall, yellow-feathered bird that walked upright on two tall orange legs with pink rings around them, didn’t fly, but what a treat it was to see his nest - rarely ever featured on the show.

Big Bird would tell people on the Street about Mr. Snuffleupagus, and what “Snuffy” said to him, but no one (until later years) other than Big Bird actually SAW Snuffleupagus.

My five-year-old self wanted to scream at them through the TV, MR. SNUFFLEUPAGUS IS REAL!

Of course, all the other characters on Sesame Street thought Mr. Snuffleupagus was just Big Bird’s imaginary friend.

What Writing in the Woods Looks Like

“I’m writing a memoir” I would tell anyone that cared to listen in 2020 and 2021.

“I’m writing a novel” I said in 2022 and 2023.

“I’m writing a sitcom” in seasons 2024 and 2025.

“I’m writing a stand up comedy act” surely inserted in the in-between spaces every season.

Finally, in 2026, “I finished writing my first feature film”.

The unpublished memoir, novel, the successful-to-me, but never produced, sitcoms, all helped me finish what started out as a book.

The land and people at Camp of the Woods offered the space, stability, and consistency that I needed. The woods change, but they’re always here. Calm, wild, consistent, reliable, and risky.  And they rubbed off on me.

I tell you this because if you’ve ever thought about doing what you can’t stop thinking about, keep going. Even if the world thinks your closest friend is Mr. Snuffleupagus.