Camp James, Day 4

We started the day by ripping another piece off of the Judy chain, then James promptly headed off to his doctor’s appointment. When he returned, he told us all about the nurse, and how her name was Lara, spelled L-A-R-A. James asked Lara how she got the name, because to James, anyone named Lara who spells it that way surely is named after Lara in his favorite film, Dr. Zhivago.

This Lara was named Lara because her dad is named Larry. Also, she had never seen Dr. Zhivago and didn’t know what in the world that was.

James was blown over.

“I can’t imagine someone has never seen Dr. Zhivago! Can you imagine that?”

Well, come to think of it, while I’ve always known it was James’ favorite movie, I’ve never seen it in its entirety. I always heard that it was James’ favorite, but that it was basically endless, as in hours and hours and more hours.

So, I told James that if he wanted, we could watch it. After all, ER hasn’t seen it, and Emily would arrive that afternoon so we could all watch it together. Thanks to Apple tv, we can pretty much watch whatever we want, so I checked to see if it was available and bam, we were ready for a movie night. James was happy about that, but did remind me that it’s a long movie, so we’d need to start it nice and early.

While we waited for Emily to arrive, we relaxed around the house. James worked hard in his studio on an illustration project based on a children’s book idea ER came up with when she was very little. I’ve been wanting to have James draw the scenes for years, so our time in Tyler gave us the perfect chance to make it happen. Stay tuned for what I expect to be a very cool children’s book.

Emily’s arrival late in the afternoon was exciting for all of us, as it’s her turn to enjoy a stay at Camp James. At 5:00, we continued the tradition of having a glass of wine together. Mom and James have a 5:00 glass of wine each day, and they usually sit outside. Here’s the view from where they normally sit. It’s so relaxing, and I love that there is another example of James’ art out to look at while you’re there (See Rock City). 

See Rock City below the bridge!

Camp James offers wine at 5pm sharp every day.

Callie, Mom and James’ cat. She is pretty, but mentally unstable. Would you like a cat? We really mean that.

Despite the lovely, welcoming area to sit outside for wine, today we decided to shake it up a little and sit inside since it’s about 9,000 degrees outside this week. We hope Mom would approve.

At James’ suggestion, we piled in the car for dinner at Tyler’s Torchy’s, which was a taste of home for the Austin gals in the bunch. James digs their shrimp tacos, so we were in business.

Even better than the queso and hip decor and the shrimp tacos was that at Torchy’s, we ran into our long-time friends Judy and Arnold Sherman. We sat in the booth next to them and shared some great laughs about the trips we took with Pollard Methodist when Em and I were kids. To this day I can’t get over how patient Arnold and Judy were, dragging 25 giggly teens around the United States in two 15-passenger vans with a few more adults to keep us somewhat in line. They are some of the best memories of our lives. It was great to catch up over delicious tacos.

After dinner, we stopped for movie candy and came home to turn on Dr. Zhivago as quickly as we could. Friends, that movie is TWO HUNDRED minutes. No wonder I’ve never seen it! I never have two hundred minutes to do anything in one sitting.

We made it to the intermission and by that time, ER had pretty much completely tuned out and Emily was dozing off (she had driven 5+ hours from San Antonio that morning, so she gets a pass). James hung in there and was still awake at intermission, when we decided to pause it and take a family vote.

There was NO finishing Dr. Zhivago in one sitting. Off to bed for James, who stayed up much later than he’s used to, and off to bed for Emily. ER and I have agreed to leave the Apple tv with Emily and James so they can finish it tomorrow, and now, I’m left wondering what in the world happens to Lara? As of intermission, Dr. Zhivago is a bit of a downer but James assures us that it gets better. No spoilers, please! 

Tomorrow, ER and I will pack our stuff and leave Camp James. We miss home, but we will also miss our incredible time. I’ll miss the slower pace and the quiet. Aside from movie nights, the television wasn’t on the entire time. With a different pace, it’s easier to see the world through someone else’s eyes, and we really like the way James looks at the world. 

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