Last night after I cut the grass Beth offered to get me an ice cold glass of water. That was sweet! She had put a water bottle in the freezer earlier, but it was not quite full. There were maybe two inches in it though. When she gave it to me, I thanked her and started chugging it (I was thirsty!) That’s when she hollered “Don’t drink it all!” Apparently both inches of water were not for me. I stopped drinking and gave her her water back. But I sure thought it was funny that she offered me about three tablespoons of water.
On the way to work this morning I spotted a murder of crows (for that is the “official” name for a group of crows) on the side of the road. I’m still looking for crow tracks, and it looked like some of them were on the shoulder. I figured it might be sandy enough there to take prints, so I pulled over and parked. The murder flew away. They had been picking over a turtle, and had nearly finished their meal when I interrupted them. The shell was open and I could see the turtle’s vertebrae. I didn’t take a picture, but I should have. Maybe the RAARP people could have identified the species. I also didn’t find any crow (or turtle) tracks. The shoulder there was mostly gravel and I really did need to get to the office.
Wednesday is Pizza Hut day, but I forgot about that until I got to my driveway. I saw the garbage cans out by the road which reminded me that yesterday was garbage day (Tuesdays) and no one had yet bothered to fetch in the cans. And that reminded me that today was Wednesday and I was supposed to pick up a couple of Pizza’s for dinner before I came home. So I turned around, called Pizza Hut, and placed my order. Then I called Va to let her know that I had almost forgotten and would be running 15 minutes late.
After we ate, Va, Beth, and I piled into the car to go back into Tilton to get a few things. Va needed some white beads for a craft she’s working on for Adventurers (or maybe Sabbath School, I don’t remember). She wanted me to get some mulch. When we got there, we split up. She went after the beads and a few other sundries, and Beth and I went after the mulch. I bought six bags, which was about all I could fit in the trunk. When I got home, I got out the weed trimmer and trimmed (what else?) the weeds. I wanted to do that before it rained. It has not rained yet, but it sure looked like it was going to. Then I was too tired to do anymore with the mulch than remove it from the trunk of the car. I figured I should go grab the garbage cans too, and that’s when Beth decided to offer me yet another refreshing tablespoon of ice cold water. Only this time she brought me a whole cup full, and I got to drink the whole thing. Mostly. She had already drunk what she wanted out of it before she gave it to me. But I got at least 10 ounces out of it which was a far sight better than last night.
It was nearly dark when I suggested that she might want to shoot a few more arrows. She did want to, so we went out and shot three rounds.
Beth the Archer
(The picture makes it look a lot darker than it really was.)
Her form is not too bad! She needs to alter her stance a bit, but I hadn’t noticed that until I looked at the picture. I will offer her more instruction next time.
Va has decided that she will go camping. She wants to earn her Master Guide, and one of the requirements for that is to earn the Camping Skills I honor. I always say that Va likes nature, she just doesn’t like it on her. She has thus far steadfastly refused to go camping, and I have never pushed her in that direction. I know better!
The plan is to take off Sunday afternoon and camp until Tuesday morning. I will take a few days off work (obviously). This way we will not have to arrange for substitute Sabbath School teachers, and hopefully, we won’t find the campgrounds too crowded.
The major prerequisite was that I had to select a camp ground with indoor toilets. Camping Skills I requires that the camping be done under a tarp or in a tent. We will opt for the tent, as that offers protection from mosquitoes (which I hate) and black flies (which I hate even worse). I choose Lost River. I still need to call and make reservations though, and I keep forgetting to do that. I will be taking the Pathfinders there in September, so this will be a good opportunity to check it out. I think it’s a bit less than an hour away from home too, so that’s a bonus. We chose Lost River because the Adventurers will be having their Fall Fun Day there on the Sunday of our club campout, and the Pathfinders will be there to help out. I need to call the conference and let them know about that too I guess.
I have been making a list of stuff to remember to bring. I have been camping a couple dozen times in the past four years, but this time, I really, really can’t forget to bring something we need. I doubt that Va will ever go camping again, so I need to make this one count! I have no illusions that she’ll love it so much she’ll want to go all the time (though that would be cool). I just want her to not get too much nature on her and not be too miserable.
We will be cooking over an open fire. I have to be careful about what we bring because we will not have a trailer to haul a bunch of gear along. We don’t even have an SUV or a van. Our biggest vehicle is a Honda Accord. That means I won’t be bringing a separate canopy for a kitchen. We will set up a tarp and eat under that. I also won’t be bringing a camp stove (except for some soda can stoves the boys and I made last year). We might not need them, but I want them for backup, and they take up almost no space.
For the honor, she needs (among other things) to participate in cooking at least two of the meals. I dunno which meals she’d like to participate in – maybe breakfast? She wants pancakes which are a fabulous selection for camping. We’re also planning to eat grilled cheese Sunday evening, Velveta Shells and Cheese and Ramen noodles for Monday’s lunch, haystacks (like a taco salad) for Monday’s supper, and then do pancakes again Tuesday morning. After breakfast we will break camp and hit a restaurant for lunch on the way home. Va will probably have had enough camping by then.
I also want to make a dump cake. This is done by dumping peaches, yellow cake mix, and a few pats of butter into a dutch oven, putting the lid on, and tossing it in a bed of coals for about 20 minutes. It is some kind of good. We’ve made it several times in Pathfinder campouts, but I don’t think the boys have ever even tried it. Va will eat one serving, and I will eat the rest. By myself if I have to!
