April 23, 2001
'Tis a gift to be simple
___I'm still trying to get the smell of campfire smoke out of my nose after a weekend camping trip with our Cub Scouts.
___ The experience may have left a bad smell, but not a bad taste. Everyone seemed to have a great time--especially the boys. I believe some of them--my two included--were the happiest I've seen them in a long time.
___They were happy just to run and play, to explore as a group and to be on their own. The wooded confines of Camp Wisdom in South Dallas provide the kind of safe environment for exploring most of our city kids don't get that often around home.
MARK WINGFIELD
___We built the biggest campfire some of the boys had ever seen. And most of them were quite content to poke sticks in the fire and watch them heat up. That's a lot cheaper entertainment than a movie.
___A group of them also got a kick out of holing up together in our family's small tent, sitting around in a circle telling jokes in the dark of the night. I thought that was an excellent idea, too, until I discovered they had opened a box of Goldfish crackers and dropped crumbs all over the tent floor, our sleeping bags and pillows.
___ In reality, that just made our tent seem more like our house--lived-in and kid-splattered.
___ Unfortunately, it was an extremely windy night, and our campsite was nearer a major highway than we realized. As I lay there listening to the wind and the whir of trucks going downhill, I had plenty of time to contemplate the good and the bad of what had gone on.
___ Though I didn't get much sleep, I was comforted by the fact that both boys were sleeping soundly and happily. And I thought of the words of another of the boys, who had told me this was the best thing he had done in Scouts all year.
___ It's true that sometimes the simplest things mean the most.
__Since our four-person tent sleeps three much more comfortably than four, I opted out of the overnight part of this trip. Besides, the boys needed some Dad time (and my backside needed a comfortable bed).
___It's not that I don't enjoy camping. I love the campfires,the great outdoors, the relaxation of no schedules, no places to get to and no need to rush. The problem is in the sleeping. Or lack thereof. I guess I'm a city wimp. "Cabin" camping is much more to my taste. Give me a hot shower and a cozy bed after a day of the great outdoors, and I am happy.
ALISON WINGFIELD
___ The second half of the Cub World experience at Camp Wisdom added to Mark's theory on simplicity. Cub World is a great place for kids and grown-ups alike to exercise their imaginations and create new worlds--from a Native American village and fort, to a castle and pirate ships. Cub World provides the trappings, the bare bones buildings, and the Cub Scouts and leaders provide the imagination.
___We went to the castle on this occasion, and the boys got into costume as knights, jesters and kings. The castle is made of brick and looks like the real thing. On the inside is a plain dirt floor with stairs going up to the "battlements."
___ Sure, we could have dressed up in somebody's backyard and pretended we were knights of the realm. But when the outward trappings are present, the boys really get into the spirit of the activity, and so do the parents. We had a king, ladies-in-waiting, a juggler and some peasants from among our parents to help create a medieval atmosphere.
___ A few swords and shields, and the boys were off playing and jousting.
___ But with all the games we had planned, and with all the pretend sword fights and juggling, guess where the boys spent the most time. The sand "pit" where they could be free to create or dig to their hearts content.
___'Tis a gift to be simple.
Mark Wingfield is managing editor of the Standard. Alison Wingfield is a freelance writer. The Wingfields moved to Texas from Louisville, Ky., where Mark had been editor of the Western Recorder, in which this column appeared weekly.
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