John woke the boys at 6:45a. Mandatory shower time. Our troop does not condone smelly Scouts at camp.
Breakfast was very tasty. The pancakes and sausage was complemented by eggs that tasted *slightly* less fake. I got my 2% milk in with a bowl of Coco Puffs. Anything that turns the milk chocolaty is right by me.
At breakfast I overheard one of our first-year Scouts say, "So what do you do in e-prep?" How quickly they get the lingo.
On Day 2 we send the boys off to class on their own then stop by to make sure they made it. I regained my status as a human with a nice, long shower. I've come to realize that I need a shower in the morning to feel awake. Tomorrow I'm going to shower before breakfast. Should make me more enjoyable to be around.
Every morning we have a Scoutmaster meeting. Today's featured the standard funny comments along with a prank by some of the Scoutmasters on the Camp Director. It started with one Scoutmaster saying he had seen some unprofessional behavior by some of the counselors, that they were complaining about their pay. Another Scoutmaster chimed in, "I heard the same thing at Scout Craft." Another, "I heard the same thing at Rivah Base." The Director stood at the front, furiously scribbling notes. The first Scoutmaster asked, in an accusatory tone, "What are you paying these guys anyway?"
The tension in the air was palpable. The Camp Director stood at the front, unsure what to say. After a minute, another Scoutmaster, unaware that this was a prank, made a comment, supportive of the Director, about his son, working as a counselor at another camp. The Director thanked him, and was about to move on when the Scoutmaster who started the discussion said, "One last thing: the thing about pay? It's just a joke. We planned it during the five minutes you were late to the meeting today." I can't wait to see what revenge the camp staff plans.
During the meeting I found a tick crawling up my leg. It is now dead.
Back at camp John and I chatted in the shade. When they cleared the space for the campsites they left a beautiful canopy of trees. Though the high today is 94, the breeze cools you as you sit in the shade. We checked in on the boys, where we saw Spencer shooting a rifle. He's getting better with each day.
I was able to catch a great picture of Calvin and Andrew relaxing in their tent. It was pretty clean at this point.
Nathaniel was off on a field trip for the morning. We looked for him at lunch, but couldn’t find him. Turns out the field trip ran longer than expected. We had a nice lunch of BBQ pulled chicken. The food is getting better by the meal. Our troop and the troop we share a site with had to do clean-up along a stretch of road in the camp. The boys didn’t complain, and quickly completed their task. Andrew won the contest to find the largest piece of garbage.
The afternoon passed much as the morning: John and I sat in the mess hall, with cool, cool, almost cold air conditioning bearing down on us. He worked while I surfed the interWebs for news of E3. I’d promised the boys an update at dinner.
Vince arrived a little before dinner, so we sent John home. One can tell that Vince is an incredibly experienced scouter by just looking at him. As John and I walked across the field to meet him, we both commented that already he was putting us to shame.
I'd told Vince that the food at camp was pretty good, so he walked into the mess hall with decent expectations. They needed leaders to help serve the food, so I jumped up and started serving. When I finally came and sat down with our troop, their meal well in progress, Vince looked across the table and said, "This is the BEST camp food I’ve ever eaten." We had twice-baked potatoes, with REAL potatoes and cheese, huge pieces of fried chicken, amazing cornbread (so delightfully sweet), and pudding. I love pudding. It was an amazing meal.
Spencer was our waiter and did an amazing job setting up the table.
That evening we had the Rappahannock Extreme Challenge, the camp's relay race around the entire camp that included quizzes, scout skills, and lots of leg work. We teamed up with the other troop in our site. Andrew was our first runner who answered questions from the Tenderfoot Rank, and Calvin was a later runner who had to give the five signs of a heart attack. Check out the shots:
A quick note on this next one. Vince and I were walking to see where Calvin would be running when he came tearing across the field. I had to run to get these pictures of him, taken in fairly quick succession. The guy is a cheetah.
After the race a large pile of dirt begged for some King of the Hill.
We went back to camp for the evening. The mosquitoes were out in force and ate away at me. We had a little talking after lights out, but not too much. Another successful day.
One quote:
At first I didn't like mashed potatoes but then I tried it and it changed my world. --Andrew Bringhurst
A man after my own heart.
I think tomorrow is going to be a jorts day.
Labels: church
