July 23, 2001
Camp: Imagine the fun
___Editor's note: This week, Alison gets a rest because she was smart enough to stay home from summer camp. In her place, Luke weighs in on the joy of camping.
He Said:
___ I have lived to tell about Cub Scout Webelos camp. Though dirtier, sweatier and more tired because of it, I have survived.
___Just imagine four days and three nights of tent camping with 10 boys in the heat Texas is famous for in July.
MARK WINGFIELD
___Imagine the mosquitoes, the chiggers.
___Imagine the sleepless nights, laying atop a sticky sleeping bag in a tent where no breeze is blowing.
___Imagine having to trek to the latrine in the middle of the night, only to be greeted by swarming mosquitoes swirling around your feet as you try to do your business without falling in.
___All of that was countered, of course, by the fun the boys (and even us chaperone dads sometimes) had at swimming, archery, marksmanship, crafts, boating, horseback riding, fishing and sitting around a campfire telling stories.
___I'm still not sure why we had a campfire when temperatures were already in the upper 90s, but this is camping after all.
___The boys even managed to learn some useful skills, like life-saving techniques, First Aid and safety measures.
___No report on Webelos camp would be complete without mentioning the rodeo. At Camp Cherokee, rodeos are done a little bit differently.
___All 200 boys attending the camp had a chance to get out in the arena and either chase a greased pig, try to pull a ribbon off the tail of a calf or attempt to catch a goose by the neck.
___And then they "invited" all the adults to go out for a special grand finale. They divided us into two teams, then broke each team into two __ lines facing each other with about 25 feet between them.
___Then they brought out the muddy pigs--one for each team. It was a pig-carrying relay race.
___My friend Travis, one of the other adults with our group, summed it up best when we returned to camp that night after a full day of events capped by the rodeo.
___"I didn't think I could be any dirtier," he said. "And then they handed me a pig."
Luke Said:
___Webelos camp was lots of fun.
___When we first arrived at camp, one of our friends who was riding in our car got carsick and threw up all over our backseat.
___Later, we had a really long wait until we could get to our campsite. Then we had to walk all the way to the last campsite. Finally, we got to do a swim test.
___But it was hardto see in the swimming pool, and everyone almost bumped into each other while taking the test.
LUKE WINGFIELD
___There were a lot of other activities we got to do, including boating, handicrafts, horseback riding, BB guns, swimming, archery and more. We liked the water slide best.
___After dinner one night, up at the stables, we had a miniature rodeo, where everybody got very dirty.
___We usually had campfires after dinner, and we figured out that pine needles make lots of sparks come out of the fire.
___It was impossible to sleep with kids chattering and cicadas chirping all night. They were as loud as an everlasting gunshot.
___ During our free time, we went fishing and only two people caught fish. One of them was covered in mud and at first we didn't know it was a fish. All the sudden, it started moving, and one of us saw gills then uncovered it and found an 18-inch, 3-pound largemouth Bass.
___ Dad says this reminds him that sometimes we need to be careful not to judge a book by its cover. That means if you catch a lot of mud, make sure it's not a fish.
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.
___
PREVIOUS HE SAID/ SHE SAID COLUMNS:
1999: 6/16, 6/23, 6/30, 7/14, 7/21, 7/28, 8/4, 8/11, 8/18, 8/25, 9/1, 9/8, 9/15, 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, 10/20, 10/27 11/17, 11/24, 12/1, 12/8, 12/15, 12/22,
2000: 1/5, 1/19, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, 2/23, 3/1, 3/8, 3/22, 3/27, 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 4/24, 5/1, 5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 5/29, 6/5, 6/12, 6/19, 6/26, 7/10, 6/26, 6/19, 7/17, 7/24, 7/31, 8/7, 8/14, 8/21, 8/28, 9/4, 9/11, 9/18, 9/25, 10/2, 10/9, 10/16, 11/6, 11/20, 11/27, 12/11.
2001: 1/1, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/12, 3/5, 4_19, 4/2, 4/23, 5/14 6/11, 6/25, 7/9
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