The Great Camp Out

I survived 13 girls and some siblings (including Bud) in the woods on Friday night.  And they survived the woods!  I know it was the first outside sleepover in the woods for my two and some of the others as well.  It was great.

We arrived around 5 pm and hauled our sleeping bags and stuff up the hill to the campsite; there was a single, big platform tent for the troop downhill from the campfire and several lean-tos for the boys above the campfire.  I actually slept in a lean-to myself, since the big tent was pretty full and the lean-to was easier to sleep in.

But sleep was a long way off.

We made pizza first, with the girls mixing and kneading their dough by hand.  They even wandered the lovely herb garden to find toppings for their pizzas.  "I can't believe we can just pick leaves and eat them!" one said, as they sampled sorrel, onion chives, garlic chives, lemon balm, sage, basil, cherry tomatoes, kale, and other things.  The pizzas were pretty good.  Well, Bud thought it was dough-y but loved all the herbs; Sis got to make hers with no sauce, just cheese.

Next we lit the campfire, which I tended while they went on an extended night hike (the whole event was for their Night Owl badges.)  They had a very exciting time--climbing rocks, watching for wildlife, gazing out at the city below--maybe too exciting, since they were near a tall cliff!   The hike was Sis and Bud's favorite part.  I sat meditating by the fire, listening to the symphony of the forest, and making and eating by myself the best s'more ever.  I only missed hearing any owls.



The kids returned all full of stories and inhaled their s'mores.   We then all shared our experiences with wildlife--turkeys in the yard, hawks on the wing, a bear on the road.  The woman in charge of our group, an outdoorsy woman with shorn hair and an impish smile, told of a deer jumping over her one night as she slept by the fire.  She loves kids, you could tell, and talked straight to them.  (And all the leaders giggled when she made one of our precious snowflakes pick food out of the garbage can for the compost bin and another return a wheelbarrow she had tried to avoid putting back!!!)  And most of them liked her (except a few snowflakes.)

And we sang around the fire--"Baby Shark," "Bear Hunt," my favorite "Barges," "Linger," "On the Loose," and "Taps."  Such a lovely time.

And then there was no sleep.  I could hear the girls all the way up the hill until around 3.  I think Bud fell asleep despite it all.

Then the coyotes started around 4 a.m.  Bud heard them, too.

But I missed the owls hooting at 5 a.m., apparently.

And we were up at 6 a.m. by the fire to warm up.  I had actually been relatively comfortable in my bag, even with the chilly mist--I thought it was great sleeping weather; everyone else was cold.  I loved watching the full harvest moon through the trees and the flicker of the waning fire.  The sound of the girls and the insects and even traffic in the distance were comforting.

For breakfast, the girls gathered eggs in the chicken coop and picked some more herbs.  They also admired the sheep and ducks.  And their parents soon arrived to take them home.

It had been a great camping trip.

And I napped three hours that afternoon.

-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Linger"

Hmmm, I want to linger.
Hmmm, A little longer.
Hmmm, A little longer,
Here with you.

Hmmm, It's such a perfect night.
Hmmm, It doesn't seem quite right.
Hmmm, That this should be,
My last with you.

Hmmm, And come September,
Hmmm, I will remember,
Hmmm, Our Scouting days,
Of friendships true.

Hmmm, And as the years go by,
Hmmm, I'll think of you and sigh.
Hmmm, This is good night
And not good bye.

Hmmm I want to linger.
Hmmm A little longer.
Hmmm A little longer,
Here with you.

"On the Loose"

Have you ever seen the sunrise turn the sky completely red?
Have you slept beneath the moon and stars with a pine bough for your head?
Have you sat and talked with friends, though a word was never said?
Then you're like me and you've been on the loose.

Chorus:
On the loose to climb a mountain,
On the loose where I am free.
On the loose to live my life,
The way I think my life should be.
For I've only got a moment,
And a whole world yet to see,
And I'll be searching for tomorrow, on the loose.

There's a trail that I'll be hiking
Just to see where it might go.
Many places yet to visit,
Many people yet to know.
And in following my dreams,
I will live and I will grow,
On a trail that's out there waiting, on the loose.

Chorus

So in search of love and laughter,
I'll be travelling through this land.
Never sure of where I'm going,
For I haven't any plans.
But in time when you are ready,
Come and join me, take my hand.
And together we'll find life,
Out on the loose!

Chorus

Wish Me Luck

Tonight.

Me.

Thirteen 11-year-old Girl Scouts.

4 other adults.

Camping.

Outdoors.

S'mores.

A night hike.

Flashlights.

Sleeping on the ground.

Wish me luck.

Adventures

Last night our Girl Scout friends and siblings gathered at a nearby rope challenge course and spent three hours up in the trees climbing, swinging, balancing, zipping, and soaring.  The night before, I thought the kids might not really want to go up.  But we got there with all their friends and pretty soon they were harnessed up and swinging through the trees.  Sure, there were squeals and screams--especially when they thought they spotted a raccoon--but everybody had a good time.  Three hours of adventure, in the chilly fall air, lit by twinkling fairy lights and the bonfire around which all the adults clustered.  When they came down for a bit, they grabbed a picnic dinner--Mama brought us some lovely soups and stayed to watch--and went back up, taking different courses.  At the end, they all relived their accomplishments over s'mores.  Repeatedly, Bud and Sis agreed that it was one of the most wonderful days of their lives.  (And all we parents agreed it was such a skill builder and confidence booster!)

Rain, Rain

There is an amazingly dramatic thunderstorm raging outside, with more thunder and lightning then we've seen here in CT for years.  It reminds me of Houston, except tomorrow we will have cooler temperatures.

Now, without being ungrateful, I would only say that its timing was off.  Two months plus of very little rain and the deluge had to start in the middle of our welcome-back Brownie campfire?  Just as we were making s'mores?  I'd watched the radar all day and thought we were clear, but drumbeats of thunder punctuated the sharing circle as we told of summer vacations, saw a banana/bandana skit, and Sis and I sang "The Beaver Song" together, but the drizzle held off for almost an hour.  Until marshmallows.  Oh, well, the girls loved it.  And fortunately we had somewhere safe inside to be.

Where we then sang several verses of "If All The Raindrops Were Lemon Drops and Gumdrops" from our new songbook!

Making Campfire Memories

I smell of wood smoke and marshmallows, if you can smell of marshmallows, more like I "feel" of marshmallows, being sticky from s'mores.  This evening Sis's Brownie troop went to an outdoor evening with a hike, fire safety lesson, s'mores, and a puppet show.  The only thing we didn't really do was sing, except "Taps."

I love to sing around a campfire.  It is, hands down--even more than crafts (though I love tie-dye and telephone wire bracelets and ice candles in milk cartons and plaster of Paris objets d'art)--my favorite Girl Scout activity.  I remember singing at campfires almost every evening as a camper at Camps Robinwood, Agnes Arnold, and Casa Mare, and as a counselor at Mira Sol and Strake, plus various day camps in both capacities.  Oh, the songs, which I once listed here.  Most of the time, we didn't make s'mores, maybe once a week.  Sometimes we made banana boats (split banana in peel stuffed with chocolate chips and marshmallows, wrapped in foil til melted) or foil packet dinners (what is it about ground meat and potatoes and onions and carrots and bell pepper and salt and pepper that is so good?) or maybe hobo stew, if there was time and a pot (ground meat, potatoes, cans of corn and maybe green beans and tomatoes and salt and pepper, maybe.)  But we'd always sing, alternately boisterous and quiet, sometimes with stories or skits in between (almost never ghost stories--I'm sure the counselors didn't want to cause trouble for themselves by upsetting us.  Smart.)  I love the look of stars above the light and smoke of a fire, all ringed in by pine trees (usually).  "The stars at night are big and bright". . . .

Tonight, I stayed around the campfire, not up for an uphill hike, hearing the lessons about kinds of wood (kindling, tinder, and wood, I think), types of fire (square for charcoal for s'mores), and safety--the bucket of water, the fire ring of stones.  I should have just started singing.  The fire refused to light, repeatedly, and we resorted to paper, which even then took quite awhile.  The leader suggested that smart Girl Scouts always dry their wood under tarps, gathering it the first day of camp so that it's ready by the last night.  She didn't reveal the firestarter secret I learned:  the inside of maxi-pads catch fire really easily, as do tampons (sans applicator, of course), and Girl Scouts of a certain age always have those when camping.  We did eventually get it started . . .and then no one knew the "smoke follows beauty" saying as the smoke wafted around.

The girls had a great time, as did my outdoorsy co-leaders . . . so there will no doubt be more campfires and more chances to sing in the future.