The Unexpected Slumber Party
Yesterday, my closest friend Ed called me and shared a story that was too good not to share..
After getting off the phone, and thinking about it - I dropped Ed an email, and asked him to write the story down. I felt it would make a great "Guest Post", and since a couple of the major participants of this story are "regulars" for our hunting trips, I felt it was a great fit for Dad's Outdoor Journal.
Now, I do understand that it helps to know the characters involved (personally), but given the circumstances, I think a lot of people can appreciate this little story.
Take it away Ed...
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An Unexpected Slumber Party
Last Friday, 06-27-08, I got home from work about 11:30pm. After talking to my wife, Jodie, for a bit I decided it was time to hit the sack as I had to work the following morning. I crawled into bed and Jodie was doing some last minute things around the house (turning lights off, locking doors, etc…). I remember Jodie coming into the bedroom to check if Jake (our dog) was on his bed. Jake sleeps on his pillow next to my side of the bed. A few minutes later, Jodie returned to our bedroom and told me that Riley (our next door neighbors dog and Jake’s best friend) was at our back patio door and was barking to be let in our house. Before we let Riley inside, Jodie checked our neighbors’ house and did not notice any lights on. We both figured they accidentally left Riley outside. Jodie let Riley come inside and make himself comfortable for the night.
Lets back up in time a bit. Riley is a 12 year old Golden Retriever. My dog, Jake, is an 8 or 9 year old mutt. We think he may be part Springer and part English Setter with a bit of PITA mixed in J. Since day one these two dogs have been best of friends. Often visiting each other’s homes. Playing often with tennis balls, chasing squirrels up trees, and taking 16 hour naps in the sun on the deck. Once in a while they will find a really good stick and begin chewing it together, one on each end of the stick, working their way toward the middle. Both dogs are in the finer days of dog life and work hard at trying not to work too hard.
Back to Friday…Jodie placed a blanket on the floor for Riley. He made a quick check of his accommodations and proceeded to fall promptly to sleep. Being that it was well after midnight, Jodie and I decided not to call and wake up our neighbors. We’d just let Riley out the following morning to go back home.
Saturday morning, Jim calls me to see if Riley had spent the night with us. “He sure did.” I replied. After speaking with Jim for a few minutes, I found out that he had gotten up a couple time during the night to see if Riley had come home. We started to talk about the events that led up to last night. Jim said his son had come to visit with his puppy late that night. According to Jim, when that happens, Riley gets no rest. The puppy has a ton of energy and will not leave Riley alone.
As soon as Riley spotted the puppy, he made his way to the door to be let outside. As near as we can figure, Riley left Jim’s home and made his way to ours. Riley knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted to go someplace warm, quiet, safe, and comfortable for the night. He was dog tired and wanted to get a good nights sleep without that puppy interfering with his plans. What better place to crash for the night when you’re in a jam than your best friends home. After a quick couple tail wags, both dogs went to their beds and fell fast asleep.
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I hope everyone enjoyed!
Thanks Ed - A truly great story about "friendship".
The College of Wilderness Knowledge
Location: Birch Bend Campground
Date: May 16-18, 2008
Having one son in Boy Scouts for just over a year, and a second who just "crossed over" - I have unfortunately been unable to attend any of the monthly weekend camp outs. I was required to, and able to spend 4 days at Tomahawk Camp last year (and will have to again this year), but my schedule & availability has never matched up with the troop's monthly camp outs.
So, you can imagine my excitement when I discovered that I was able to attend (as a parent chaperone) The "College of Wilderness Knowledge" camp out at the Birch Bend Campground!
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The main goal for this weekend camp out was to work on the Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge. All but one of the scouts attending this weekend did not have their EP Merit Badge, and the one that already had it, worked on his Camping Merit Badge, because - after all... We were camping!
Throughout the weekend, we (our troop, along with several others - broken into smaller groups) participated in many different activities related to the EP Merit Badge... Just some of the activities we participated in include...
- Brain storming and charting different levels of preparedness for a number of different emergency situations.
- For the purpose of emergency communication, we built a signal fire, used mirror signals, and practiced "universal hand signals".
- We practiced several rescue carries including the "litter carry", the "chair carry", and the "fireman's carry".
- We demonstrated how to rescue the victim of downed power wire using a non-conductive item.
- We discussed how to evacuate a room filled with carbon monoxide and with heavy smoke conditions.
- The Stop, Drop and Roll technique was discussed in the event your clothes catch on fire.
- We discussed how to perform a "non-swimming" drowning rescues (including accidents on ice).
- We participated (from within our own troops) in a "mock flooding" of our community, and practiced some "mock mobilizations" of our troop in ways that they felt would best be of assistance to first responders.
- Camp staff "lost" (hid) a "baby" (doll) deep into the forest. The staff staged and the scouts executed a mock "search and rescue line", which resulted in successfully locating the "lost baby" in the woods. (A really cool exercise!)
This was the first event for a couple of new scouts to our troop. It's always nice to see some new faces, and what they can bring to the group! But, sometimes new Scouts are not always familiar with the "pre-
established" rules of scouting. As an example...
Ok. As a young man (heck, even as an adult) I found (and still find) campfires alluring... therapeutic... and maybe even hypnotic. What I do NOT remember is "interacting" with the fire as often as a couple of the firebugs (scouts) in attendance did. There was one brand new scout who had not yet received his "Firemn's Chit" (a card indicating that the scout has successfully demonstrated responsibility around fire, and fire building tools), and therefore was not to be participating in the building or maintenance of the campfire. I am not sure the Firemn's Chit rule had yet "sunk in" for this young fella (wink).
After not having set one up in over 15 years, this weekend provided me an opportunity to set up several "Eureka!" Timberline brand tents! Eureka! tents were the default tents we used for camping in the BWCA. After a couple of minutes, the steps came right back to me. I guess it was like riding a bicy
cle! They (the Eureka! tents) brought back some fond memories for me!
One thing that did seem different than I remember it from my days of BWCA camping... Ground sleeping... Ground sleeping was not as comfortable as I remember it. I did have a foam pad to help cushion me from the ground (as I had used in the past), but 20 years and 100 extra pounds of "me" may have had something to do with the difference in "comfortablity"...
Saturday night's "recreational" activity consisted of an evening (in the dark) version of "Capture the Flag". The scouts used flashlights as the "flags", and in several cases, all you could see was a "bouncing dot of light" as one team captured and took off running with the other team's "flag".
For each camp out, the scouts are to plan, shop for, prepare, and serve a camp out worth of meals. This weekend's Menu consisted of....
Friday
Dinner - taken care of prior to leaving.
Saturday
Breakfast - Pancakes and Bacon
Lunch - Walking Tacos
Dinner - Dutch Oven Chili and Stew
Sunday
Breakfast - Oatmeal
Speaking of Eating (and more specifically - Cleaning up after themselves)... One thing I did notice, was the scouts "lack of enthusiasm" for cleaning up after a meal. I "enabled" the scouts by cleaning up after them. ALL OF THEM. I cleaned up the "Pancakes and Bacon" breakfast mess - partially because they needed to get up to their classes, but partially because that is who I am. I CAN NOT STAND a messy campground. My pack can be a mess, the inside of my tent can be a mess, but my campgrounds need to be clean.
A large portion of the "Dutch oven dinners" ended up not being cleaned... but this time I let individual mess kits sit... They were all told, and they all know that they are responsible for their own mess kits. So I helped clean everything else, and let a number of mess kits sit dirty. When it came time for breakfast, many of the scouts found themselves cleaning BEFORE being able to eat, and then again AFTER they ate...
Make me wash all the dishes once, shame on me.
Make me wash all the dishes twice, shame on you.
My final observations... First and foremost - I HAD A BLAST! I partook in some activities (some of my favorites) that I have not done since I was a young man (aka - before being married and having FIVE KIDS). It felt good. It felt good to do these things WITH my boys, but at the same time, it was fun to be able to take a step back and watch my boys.
Even though as a kid I wanted to be a Boy Scout, I never became joined, and so I am also enjoying the time my boys spend in the Scouting Program. I can literally watch their character and maturity grow - right in front of me.