Just Awesome

Father-Son Campout was a blast. About 30 dudes altogether. Lots of littles, a few fewer middles and teens were downright scarce. But the middles like Max were just beside themselves, as it was relatively unstructured and allowed for a lot of poking things in the fire and chasing each other with sticks.

I was particularly stoked on arrival because even though things at work have been intense, my team is really coming together. Also because I HAD NO IDEA MONDAY WAS A HOLIDAY! How lame and pathetic is that? It's true. Getting to work, Readers Theater, Scouts and Church on time is about all I can handle so MMSAK (My Main Sho'ty A-Kizzle) does all the supplementary scheduling. So this EXTRA DAY is a complete bonus. If I'd KNOWN about it, I would have scheduled this that or the other important responsible thing to happen. But since I didn't, I'm flirting with just reading all day or something decadent like that.

Anyway, the only fart in the Father-Son Campout spacesuit was the bugs. But with some mild skin-friendly-stink-free-non-oily bug repellent ("Now: Totally Ineffective!!!") and the cooler temps when the sun went down -- bugs retreated to the evil hell that bore them hence. Oh, that and the fact that for some reason I didn't sleep one frazzlin' WINK all night. That blew. But did I tell you about my MONDAY? The HOLIDAY? I'm good.

There were balls thrown and frisbees frizzed and silly campfire songs sung (as a po' city kid, it's my first time for every one of them) and what-should-be-illegal amounts of smores consumed. Boys bonded with boys, dads bonded with dads. Lifelong scoutmen cooked phenomenal breakfasts using dutch ovens and then normal dads like me ate way too much of it. 3 of my 4 Lighting Patrol 11-year olds boy scouts were there so we had a 5-mile hike and identified 10 different (or evidence of 10 different) types of native flora and fauna. Here are Jacob, Max and Joe. . .

. . . as we reached the dam and they identified Canada geese & goslings. Other Dad and I tried to convince them that Canada geese quacked like Bob & Doug McKenzie:

"Hey, Quack y'know"

"Quack, eh"

"Take off!"

Dad humor. Lost on the young. Yes, my son has been given The Nathaniel Ultimatum: "Either get a haircut or learn to play guitar". Hopefully he'll get shorn soon, it's just too hot to be so shaggy in PA.

On the way home, the truck was sloppily packed to the gills with camping gear. We took a corner too fast with Max's window open and inadvertently peppered the Pennsylvania countryside with children's poetry papers from Readers Theater class. Max and I were so tired from the camping, it was a little surreal as we picked poetry off of the twisty backroad. Then a tractor tilled along beside us, farmer staring, us thinking he'd REALLY stare if he could read what we had spread all over the road. It was straight out of a David Lynch film.

AK was in full gardening mode when we got back and finally got the 3rd raised bed going at Gramma's house. I took a nap. Then AK and I rememebered that we'd told Elias Peachey the charming Amish uphostery guy we'd pick up The Green Couch today. Dazed from naps and too much gardening, we drove out to Belleville with every motorcycle owner in Centre County (first REALLY perfect Spring day this year. . . ). We were surprised (not really, but it took 5 months to get a slot in Elias' schedule. . . ) to find our SOLITARY yet totally redeeming Freecycle Treasure Couch completely overhauled by a true craftsman. And for the paltry pittance of $59.00. Reinforced, reassembled, ready for our bouncy boys and weighing twice what it did when we droppped it off ("built with CARDboard. . . . " mumbled Elias "Replaced the arms with 2x4s. . .").

Amish in the backyard, an R1 university in the front. Appalatian landscapes, dramatic weather, and East Coast diverisity that rivals my precious Bay Area. I love it here.