Regularly Scheduled Programming

First off, I'd like to say that all those previous posts' fonts are outlandishly too large. This is so much more manageable.

Here's the thing about operating a camp essentially entirely outdoors. Rain ruins everything. Most of the morning classes are taught under pavilions, so the kids can deal with having to walk in the rain to get Merit Badges, but after that we have afternoon and evening program, both of which cannot operate in the rain. Tonight was the first test of this.

Thursday night program is called 'Meadow Madness,' where the entire camp hikes about a mile to this awesome, giant clearing and we shoot black powder rifles and brand stuff and serve homemade root beer and cobbler and have a dandy experience. From there the first year campers, Eddie's kids, and the kids taking the Wilderness Survival or Camping Merit Badges hike out further and sleep out under the stars. This is all well and good fun on a clear night.

About 6:45 (Meadows starts at 7), we started noticing the sky was getting really nappy. Unfortunately, camp competence works at about half speed from everyone elses. So although pretty much every scout on camp realized that it was way too dark and ominous to have any sort of dandy time, staff prepares regardless. Myself, the service crew, and assorted staffers pile into the Service Mobile and head downhill (staff lives uphill, campers/program is downhill) to prepare. We got all of our water coolers/ice, kickballs, branding irons, and whatnot and were all hyped up and ready to go.

/*A Side Note
Remember how in cartoons, a character would always step on a rake and it would flip up and hit them in the face (particularly Sideshow Bob)? It happened to me today during all this meadows stuff. Exactly the way you imagine it. Warn your children. Tell the world my story. */

So we split off, half of the people and the gear go to the meadows, the rest of us (myself+loyal fans) go back downhill to square away some food related things. We get down there, and the big boss, plus one of the lesser bosses (flow chart to follow someday) are down conferencing. The sky is pretty dark at this point. There's a lot of chatter on the camp radios about what we should do, and lo and behold we decide to call the meadows off. The threat of rain is far more powerful than the rain itself.

I head uphill, along with most of the staff. A game of football breaks out. No rain. Thirty minutes pass. Still no rain. A guitar emerges. Songs. Bonding. Dry climate. Then it comes. Five, ten minutes it sprinkles. Passes. Guitar comes back. A snare drum. Staff bonds. Campers are presumably bonding downhill. Good times were had by all. That's good program right there if you ask me.

So the result is thanks to a light shower following some scary looking clouds, we all got the night off, nobody got homemade root beer, nobody had/got to camp out under the stars, and much of the staff got to sing along to an acoustic guitar rendition of 'Hey Ya.'

Chunk deuce.

Time to go to bed.