Horses I have known

I was telling a friend of mine, who loves horses, about some of the horses that I got to know while I was at camp. The years all kind of run together now, but there are some that stand out in my memory like old friends, and others that were just aquaintences.

See if you remember some of these….

Cadence- became a permanent fixture at camp when he lost an eye in a fight. Really sweet tempered camper horse.

Stripe- A gray horse, not very tall, but very very fast. Mike Strong swore that this horse had “overdrive”.

King- Probably the tallest horse I can remember having at camp. He had a very smooth gait, but the campers never got to ride him because he was so hard to mount.

Mandu- Dark brown with a roached mane. Very spirited horse. I liked him a lot.

Lady- the perfect stable horse. She was a palomino with a very long mane and tail. The youngest girls would spend hours brushing and combing her and braiding her mane. She was probably the best groomed horse ever at Camp

Blackie- the only Tennessee Walker that I ever rode. He had such a smooth gait at a trot, he was like riding an overstuffed chair.

Riding was probably the must demanding department at camp, but I loved almost every minute of it.

Thanks for hanging in there with me everyone.

Peace

The Ultimate Salesman

Most of you who were campers or counselors during the mid 80's will remember Jerry Moore. How could you forget his easy smile or gentle nature? He spent most of his time in Sports and Recreation, and as even an AD. I think his second greatest accomplishment was the creation of Midget World- putting 32 six through nine year old boys in Senior 2 and living there for two weeks probably qualifies him for sainthood. But I bet that most of you have forgetten his greatest accomplishment was that of a salesman.

Jerry came up with an idea for an early evening program called Ecco Ball. He would start at the Sunday Evening campfire promoting the greatest game in Fort Scott history. Campers that knew Jerry knew that this had to be something relating to a game with a ball, hence the name. Every evening at dinner, and every time he saw the kids at program, Jerry would talk about Ecco Ball. The kids even started chanting Ecco ball because they just could not wait until Thursday evening to play this wonderful game they knew nothing about.

Finally the big day came and the kids acted like it was Christmas morning. They lined up at the flagpole after dinner, nearly delerious with excitement.

The look on their faces was absolutely priceless when Jerry explained that the Ecco Ball was a plastic bag that they would fill with litter from around the camp. The bag that was filled the most would be the official winner and the winning team would get their choice of fruit......

It only worked once, but it was a lot of fun while it lasted. I think Jerry went into missionary work for a while, but he would have made a great salesman.

Ecco Ball Forever!!!!!!

He's Baaaaaaaccccckkkkkkkk

So I finally have my life back for a while. I hope some of you are still out there to share these random memories of mine. I have a lot of new stories that I can't wait to give to you. So here goes.....

10 things about Canoe Trips

Ten things I remember about canoe trips

1. No matter how many times I went down the Whitewater river, I always noticed something new

2. I thought the songs the girls sang on the bus were annoying. I would give a lot to hear them again now

3. Bologna and cheese on slightly stale damp bread never tasted so good

4. I always liked taking the lead canoe ( rank has its privileges ). I appreciated the peace of the river, and the company and conversations were wonderful

5. I never did get invited to a moonlight float…

6. I never could get the hang of putting a canoe on my shoulders to carry them up the hill

7. I will never forget the day that Keith Kinzler and I took Kayaks instead of canoes. We could make it all the way from the head of the pack to the rear of the pack in no time at all. Racing was fun, and so was teasing the kids

8. There was a counselor canoe trip the year that Jessica Vesper was a CIT. She hurt her hand somehow and had to have stitches. Kind of put a damper on things. I think it was that same year that she got a bug in her ear ( I am not kidding) and I had to take her to the hospital in the middle of the night to get it out. Not a good year for Jess

9. Somehow senior girls who were afraid of spiders and would spend hours in the shower dressing for a senior dance had no problems throwing mud

10. Years afterward when we took the same canoe trip with a group of friends, it just was not the same. It didn’t even seem like the same river.

Wishful thinking

It was 10 degrees this morning when I woke up.

There was ice on the windshield of my truck and the windows were frozen shut.

I was caught by a train and cut off by a rude driver on my way into work.

I received phone calls from three employees telling me that they were not coming in to work today. After all these years, they still have not learned to lie convincingly.

It was better when I would wake up in the morning and look out my cabin door and see the fog over the stable field and the dew glistening on the grass

It was better when I was tired from being up late watching the stars from cabin walk and consoling a homesick camper, not from being up working on a project that might or might not actually get built

It was better when my breakfast was a bowl of Apple Jacks, a cold pop tart and some ice cold milk, rather than a Egg Mc something and a Coke that I gobble down on the way to a meeting in the morning.

Schedules were not nearly so important. If breakfast was ten minutes or twenty minutes late, there were no cell phones buzzing on my hip with someone on the other end demanding to know what my ETA was.

Fort Scott was not a job to me. It was a summer long vacation. I have many blessings in my life. I have a wonderful family. I get to make music most nights of the week. I have a home, a career, and good health.

I still miss Fort Scott