Camp Frontier - Part 1

This week our son Bryan has been at the annual week-long scout camp – Camp Frontier at the East Fork of the Bear River. This was Bryan’s second year at scout camp. Camp Frontier is located in the Uinta Mountains in Utah, but is also just a stone's throw away from Wyoming. The setting is in a forested area with aspens and pine trees, at about 9000 ft elevation (actually 8,909 ft according to my GPS Unit.) We were at 40.51.748 North Latitude, and 110.46.019 West Longitude -- there I'm getting some use of my GPS Unit already! Just down the hill from our campsite winds the East Fork of the Bear River. You could hear the river roar from our camp site. It was nice to listen to the river to help you drift off to sleep at night.

What a beautiful location this year, compared to last year at the Bear Lake Aquatics Base camp. I called it Bear Lake Snake Camp. The Bear Lake camp was on the East side of the lake. There was plenty of sage brush, but no trees. It was hot, with very little shade -- oh, and don't forget the rattlesnakes! Bryan described his encounter with rattlesnakes at the Bear Lake camp here. And here are some of the photos from Bear Lake as well.

I was at Camp Frontier for the first two days (Monday and Tuesday) -- same as last year. I like to be there with Bryan at the beginning of scout camp to help him get things organized for the week. I help him figure out what merit badge classes to take, help him plan out his schedule for the week, and make sure that he has all the supplies he needs. This year, if all goes well, Bryan will earn 5 merit badges. It's a good thing I came too -- There were originally three Young Men's leaders scheduled to accompany the scouts on Monday Morning. Two of them dropped out at the last minute. If I had not gone with them, scout camp would have been cancelled this year. (At least two leaders are required to be with the young men at all times).

After getting our camp set-up, we hiked up the hill to the camp office and got registered.

(That's our tent on the left.)

It was about 1:30 pm, and we hadn't had lunch yet. We learned that there is a caste system at scout camp -- scouts with food, and scouts without. Apparently, for an additional $15 a head, you can eat all your meals at the chow hall. If you were upper-caste, you got to wear a paper wrist-band decorated with American Flags. If you belonged to the lowly, hungry scout caste -- like us -- you only got to wear a neon green wrist band. We had to purchase, pack, haul, and prepare our own food -- which cost about $300. Lets see now -- 6 scouts, plus 2 leaders times $15 each. That comes to $120. Hmmmm. how about next year we become upper-caste scouts and eat at the chow hall!

We were getting really hungry, and it was getting late enough in the day that we really didn't have time to cook food before our activities were to begin. We asked the folks in the camp office if it was possible to buy lunch for this first day. In an act of mercy, the lady at the office looked upon us lowly creatures, and noticed that they had some food left over, and told us to just go get some food (free of charge!). Never did chili-dogs and potato chips taste so good! And the price was right too!

Bryan and several of the other scouts began their merit badge classes with a a couple of really fun ones -- archery, and rifle shooting. Bryan has a juvenile sized compound bow at home, and he loves to practice in the back yard. We also have a little .22 single-shot, bolt-action rifle (similar to the ones at camp) that we use for target practice.

After classes, we returned to our campsite for dinner. You guessed it -- hot dogs again! (Oh the joys of scout camp food!)

The weather wasn't too bad when we first arrived. We were able to get our tents set up and stow our gear. However when evening came, so did the rain. It rained and rained, with no let up. Then there was the occasional bolt of lightening, and rolling thunder. Normally on the first night of camp, there is a flag raising ceremony, and a program put on by the camp staff at the amphitheatre. However, this week, for the first time in 7 years at Camp Frontier, the opening ceremonies were cancelled due to the weather - and especially the danger of lightening. The camp director related the story that Last Summer, a scout was killed by lightening at a nearby scout camp, and they didn't want to have us all congregated into one place during an electrical storm. Hmmmm. . . After thinking about that for a few moments, I understood the logic -- "We don't want to be congregated together so that a single lightening strike would kill the whole bunch of us! So go back to your campsites. If lightening strikes, it will only kill a few of us!" I guess that makes sense. Better advice might have been to have us all go get into our vehicles during the electrical storm. We would be dry, and being in your car is just about the safest place you can be when lightening strikes.

Later that evening, after huddling together under a tarp for a couple of hours in the rain, dressed in our trusty rain ponchos, we decided to turn in for the night. Bryan and I retired to our tent. We put on a few layers of warm (and dry!) clothing (temperatures in the 30's) and climbed into our sleeping bags. We decided to read from the Book of Mormon. I read one chapter, and Bryan was nearly asleep. I got half-way through the next chapter, and Bryan was out. I decided to call it a night myself -- as sprinkles of raindrops continued to dance across our roof, and visions of warm tropical beaches danced in our heads.

-- Stay tuned for part 2.

Camp Frontier

Bryan went Camp Frontier at the East Fork of the Bear River scout complex this year. This was a week-long camp. As a dad, I spent the first two days with the boys, and helped Bryan get organized for the week.

Bryan had a great time, and earned four merit badges in the process. Here are the links to the posts I have written about Bryan's scout camp experience this year:

Camp Frontier - Part 1
Camp Frontier - Part 2
Wilderness Survival Camp

The Family That Plays Together . . .

Dawn Ann's sister Tina, and her two younger sons, Nathan and Calvin came to vist us last weekend. These are the closest cousins (some 300 miles away) to our children. It was great to visit and catch up on one another's families.

We set up our big family tent in the back yard, for our two children, Bryan and Amy to sleep out with their two cousins. They had a great time playing in the tent.

Saturday morning, Tina braided Amy's hair. It was a long and arduous process, which takes several hours to complete. However Tina and Dawn Ann were able to visit together while the braiding took place. Besides, Tina has 4 boys -- and no girls to fuss over. And Amy was perfectly happy to be fussed over too!

Saturday, Tina made her famous taco soup for dinner. I supplemented the meal by getting some fresh-picked Utah Corn (from Brock's produce stand). The soup was great! The corn was so sweet and fresh that it nearly tasted like candy! The kernels practically popped off the cob into your mouth. It was so juicy, that you had to be careful to not squirt the person sitting next to you when you bit into the corn. Tina liked the corn so much that she said that eating the corn alone was worth making the trip up to Salt Lake. I remember Calvin tentatively taking a bite of the corn to see if it was any good. After his first bite he was convinced. Suddenly he started eating the corn like "a lawn mower" as he described it.

Saturday evening, we all got out our recorders, and Tina got out her flute. That's me and Amy pictured (with her new braids) on the left with our soprano recorders. Tina is on the right with her flute. And that's Calvin with the yellow shirt in the foreground. Dawn Ann (who took this photo) was also playing her alto recorder. (Bryan loves to play the recorder too -- but he was too busy having fun playing "Attack Uno" and playing in the tent with his two cousins at the time. )

At first, we each played songs in-turn individually. After a while, we started playing songs together as a group. Our own little recorder and flute choir. Our family has played together on numerous occasions, but for Tina, playing together with a group was a new experience. She really enjoyed playing together with others.

Tina began by playing the recorder, but has since moved on to teach herself the flute. Good for her!

It really was fun to play music together. We must have gone on for 2-3 hours. The thought came to me that this is what folks did a hundred years ago, -- playing music together, or reading together -- before everyone started camping out in front of the TV, video games or (ahem . . .) the computer! It was a lot more enjoyable and rewarding than watching TV, and it helped build relationships and closeness with one another as we played together. It was really a great evening!

Sunday morning, Tina and her boys came to church with us, before having to make the return trip to Santa Clara. We're sure glad they came to visit. We had a lot of fun with them. We'll visit them sometime this Fall, and you can bet we'll be bringing our recorders with us!

Whole Grain News

How many times have you heard counsel from dieticians, and other nutrition advocates that we should eat our foods in as near natural form as possible? Foods that have been processed, milled, and bleached to death don't resemble the natural whole-grain goodness that nature intended. Fruits, vegetables, and grains consumed in as near to their natural state as possible provide the greatest benefit to our bodies.

The same could be said of our consumption of the news. By the time the Mainstream Media gets a hold of a story, strips it of its proper context, bleaches out anything that would be positive for Israel or the Bush Administration, and has been processed through their liberal spin cycle, you end up with a bleached-white-flour version of the news.

I prefer to get my news as close to the source as possible. I have been following the recent events in Israel and Lebanon quite closely, and have found some news sources from within Israel that I find quite interesting. Some of these sources are Israeli media outlets, and some are bloggers. I thought I would share with you some of the sources I have found, in case you, too, would like to get some whole-grain news:

Israeli News Outlets (In English):

Jerusalem Post
Haaretz
YnetNews

Israeli Bloggers:

Yoni

Hugh Hewitt says this of Yoni:

Yoni's been a guest on my show for years, a veteran of 20+ years in the Israeli military, and a conservative, religious Jew. He has dual citizenship, and his family travels back and forth between Israel. He has many sources within the IDF and Border Police, talks incessantly with them, and prowls the Hebrew and English media to bring late breaking news from Israel.

Other Israeli Bloggers - NZ Bear has created a list of bloggers from Israel, also has a from all sides of the current conflict. There are three groups: Palestinian bloggers, Lebanese Bloggers, and Israeli bloggers. Then there is a section for other bloggers who are covering these events.

American Bloggers:

Hugh Hewitt
Powerline
Captain's Quarters
Dennis Prager

For the latest news, I usually check the Drudge Report first. Yoni is great about disseminating the latest info. Then I like to check the Israeli news outlets. The bloggers are really good at analysis and adding perspective to the events of the day. I also recommend reading the editorial pages of the Israeli newspapers. It is interesting to see what the Israelis are thinking about and debating among themselves.

Moose On The Loose

Moose On The Loose
Originally uploaded by David B..

We returned to the mountains today. This time with the whole family. It was fun to beat the heat in the valley, and smell the pine trees. We also surveyed some future camp site possibilities.

On our way up the canyon, Dawn Ann spotted this moose. It was about 100 yards away, and I zoomed in as tight as I could with my camera.

By the time we were done, other people noticed the moose too. We started a mini Yellowstone-style wildlife traffic jam.

My brother, Mark, gave me a GPS unit for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. We kept Bryan entertained, by having him give us updates of our elevation as we climbed the canyon. The elevation at the summit, Guardsman Pass, was about 9,300 feet.

We drove over the mountain to Park City and had our picnic dinner at the city park. The kids had fun playing in the park as well.

We came home through Parley's canyon, and made it home before dark.

Later Bryan and I set up our lawn chairs on a sidewalk near our house, and watched everybody else's fireworks, in celebration of Pioneer Day. Ah-hemm. . . or should I say everybody else's illegal fireworks. Legal or not, we enjoyed watching them all.

We will go up to Wyoming later this summer, and shoot off a few fireworks ourselves -- In Wyoming -- where its legal. We have a nice little place we found in Wyoming where we can shoot off fireworks over a marshy area. That way any fireworks that hit the ground still sparking will land in the marsh water and be put out.

Days of '47

Kolache Bull
Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyes.

Last night we went to the Days of '47 Rodeo. It has been a few years since we have gone to this event. I tend to prefer the small-town rodeos to the big professional productions. However, with 100 + degree temperatures, I thought an indoor, air-conditioned rodeo sounded pretty good.

One of the highlights was the opportunity to see a near- perfect bull ride last night. Cowboy Jarrod Craig scored 94 points on his ride. Obviously this photo is not of Jarrod's ride. (This cowboy is about to have a sudden reconnoiter with the ground!) However I liked the photo a lot when I saw it. It is from a photojournalist who goes by the moniker of Wandering Eyes on Flickr. You can see larger versions of these images by clicking on them.

I asked the kids what their favorite part of the rodeo was. Amy liked the Grand Entry with the rodeo queens. She also liked the barrel racing -- events with girls in them. Go figure! Unfortunately we didn't see much of the barrel racing because we were out on the concourse when that event was taking place. This photo is courtesy of Randy Peters on Flickr.


Bryan's favorite part was the halftime/intermission entertainment. There were two freestyle motocross riders who performed several amazing tricks. They had a ramp, and jumped way up into the air (just missing the jumbo-tron) and did a variety of tricks. Somehow they managed to land and get their bikes stopped in time before crashing into the other end of the arena. I've got to admit it was pretty entertaining, even though it was not traditional rodeo fare. You can get an ideo of what their tricks were like here.

As for the nice, cool, air-conditioned, indoor rodeo -- well that didn't turn out too well. With it being 100 + degrees outside, the best they could manage in the arena was about 85-90 degrees. As a result, we were fairly uncomfortable for most of the evening. On the bright side, the shaved ice concession did really well. I know our family enjoyed patronizing them! Chomping on ice was a good way to stay cool. Later, I half-seriously said that my favorite part of the rodeo was the shaved ice!

Dawn Ann and I both enjoyed the rodeo. We enjoyed watching many good rides, both on the bulls and the on the horses. The bull-fighters (clowns) were also very entertaining, as well as efficient in keeping the cowboys safe.

I think the most dangerous event was the wild cow milking contest. One guy got head butted by a wild cow, and tromped-on twice. But he kept getting up and trying to get control of the cow while his partner tried to get some milk. It was a zaney, crazy, and wild event.

All in all we had an enjoyable evening -- even with the heat. I think, though, I'll wait 'till January to go to my next rodeo -- When the Bull Riders Only (PBR) tour comes to town. If we're lucky, we'll need to drink hot chocolate to warm up!

Opposites Attract

In the English language, there are certain prefixes that change the meaning of a word to it's opposite. Such word prefixes as "dis", "un", "in", "irr", and "non" are examples.

For some words, we use both base form of the word, along with it's opposite, such as:

• Like and Unlike, or
• Regular, and Irregular

However, for other words, we commonly use only the "opposite" form of the word, such as:

• Inevitable -- we normally wouldn't say "evitable", or
• Disgruntled -- normally we wouldn't say "gruntled"

A while back, I saw this story which uses the base form of words or phrases for wich we usually only use in the "opposite" form. If you're a word buff, you'll get a kick out of it like I did.

How I Met My Wife
by Jack Winter

Originally published 25 July 1994 in The New Yorker

It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate.

I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way.

I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it since I was travelling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do.

Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion.

So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads and tails of.

I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen. Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated -- as if this were something I was great shakes at -- and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings.

Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself.

She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savory character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The conversation become more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have given her my love, and she has requited it.