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

Lastgen Party

Alan McConnell hosted a wonderful party recently for Genlasters ( the last generation of staff members) to work at Fort Scott. I saw a lot of familiar faces and realized once again how blessed I am that they have been a part of my life.

On a personal side, many of you commented that you had enjoyed the Fort Scott Blog, and were looking forward to more posts in the future. I must admit that I was truly touched by all of your kind comments, and will try to be a more regular poster in the future. All of us have real life commitments, and I have let mine get in the way of my writing.

So on with the post. First of all, I want to start by wishing all of those who read here a Merry Christmas, albeit belated, and a Happy New Year. I hope that God will continue to bless all of us in 2008.

As I drove home, I was thinking about how I would describe some of the people that I talked to last night to someone that had never met them before. I started making a thumbnail sketch sort of, of the people that were at the party, and tried to describe them in a sentence or two. These are the ones I have come up with so far, in no particular order….

Biz M: The best hugger I have ever met. Her joy and zest for life radiates from her and fills whatever room she is in. You can’t help but feel good about yourself when you have spent time around her.

Ted L: One of the most “genuine” people I have had the pleasure of knowing. He is a hardworking man who will look you in the eye and tell you what is on his mind. I rarely see him without a smile on his face, and his love of Fort Scott is immense.

Tom B: Incredible story teller, very animated. His mirth and excitement are infectious. There is a reason that he was an icon at Fort Scott. He is another person that loves life and makes you glad you were around him.

MABS: A person with many facets. One moment she will be telling you stories about partying at Flick’s the next she will be engaged in something far more intellectual. Many times when I talked with her in the past, I got the impression that she knew more than she was telling. Like me, MABS feels like the work at Fort Scott wasn’t finished when the camp was closed.

More to come as I find the right words...

Bob

Thanksgiving at Fort Scott

a reader sent me a note encouraging me to imagine what Halloween at Fort Scott would have looked like, but since I have been limited in my blogging time as of late, I missed that opportunity, so we will have to wait until next year for that one. But it got me to thinking of what Thanksgiving at Fort Scott would look like. So here goes....

Naturally, there would have to be at least a little bit of snow on the ground. This is a Currier and Ives kind of scene in my mind. The dinner would be laid out at the Boys Mess Hall. Luminaires would be placed all the way from the gatehouse to the circle lot behind the Boys Messhall. A large fire would be burning merrily on the hill overlooking the Boys pool.

Preparation would have started on the food early in the day. Tables would line the walls loaded with covered dishes of every imaginable type, and pies, cakes and cookies enough to feed an army. There would be table cloths on all of the tables and centerpieces with candles on each one. The air in the mess hall would be fragrant with the smell of turkey and dressing cooking.
The Leonard boys would be outside cooking deep fried turkey. The doors would be swinging open and shut constantly with our children running in and out, making new friends and playing tag in the darkness.

At 6:00 or so, we would all gather around these tables surrounded by our friends and family and quietly join hands. John Farmer would lead us in a prayer to thank God for all of our blessings and we would sit down to a meal that we would not soon forget. Afterwards Sue Carfagna or Tim Clossen, or someone else would get out a guitar and we would sing until the night got very late.

As I write this little story, it occurs to me that a blessing that we all might overlook is that we can imagine this very scene, and remember friends that we would like to include in it.

I just wonder now, why did this never happen for real?

Peace and Happy Thanksgiving everyone

Bob

10 Things..CIT Shack

Ten things I remember about the CIT shack are....

1. The porch was the second best porch in the whole boys camp. You could lean back in a chair and rest against the wall, with your feet up on the rail

2. The men from the riding staff loved to use our bathroom

3. The speakers from the boys lodge seemed to be pointed directly at my door.

4. Bobby, one of the other CITs during my stay could throw a lawn chair over the roof

5. The lights from cars coming into the parking area at night would always shine right through my door

6. Tom Beiting had a really cool bachelor pad on his end. We didnt go in there, and as a matter of fact, I am not sure that he was ever there very much.

7. Since it was so far away from the other cabins, we were spared the raid that year

8. It was a really cool cabin, because it was shaded even on the hotest days. However you had to walk really far to get a drink

9. There was a brand new riding trail they were breaking behind the cabin that led to the tennis courts

10. You could hear my stereo all the way to the mess hall. The kitchen guys told me this.


Bob

10 Things: Cabin Alder

Just a side note, sorry I haven't posted much lately things have been incredibly busy. Life to get back to normal and in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, here are some things I remember about Cabin Alder.

1. The door spring was weak, so the wind would blow the door open and shut it night.
2. The cabin was at the edge of a hill, so it was up on blocks to keep it level. I would always have to look under there to make sure campers weren't hiding.
3. Again was also under the trees, so it night, it was really nice when the wind was gently blowing, you could hear the wind blowing through the leaves.
4. Because of the cabin's placement the speakers on top of the Lodge weren't pointed at it. So was quieter than the rest of the cabins on the Hill.
5. Sometimes I would have to say something to the counselors living in the Boy's Shack, because when they get rowdy you can hear everything that was said.
6. Fred Hornback was assigned to Cabin Number Two or Buckeye, whatever you'd like to call it for several sessions.
7. It always seemed like the walk to the Lodge or the pool or to the Playhouse was shorter from Cabin Alder
8. The walk to the 8 1/2 was naturally longer.
9. I think Cabin Alder was my favorite cabin on the Hill.
10. I don't think we had a clothesline on the back of cabin alder.

See you soon,

Bob

Ten Things....

I got this idea from other Blogs and decided to fit it to this one and make it a series

10 Things I remember about....

The Play House
1. it was the first Fort Scott building I ever remember being in. My first incoming Sunday as a camper, they processed all of the new campers there, took temps and so forth. I remember it like it was yesterday, Carol Leonard telling everone to "squishy wishy" together.

2. playing dodgeball or floor hockey in there was always so much faster that it was in my school gyms because it was smaller and the floors were slick

3. when they installed the new lights in there, it would always take them forever to come on

4. I was in there one night shooting basketball and Allen Fazenbaker's dog Cinnamon, chased a skunk in there.

5. There was that one basketball hoop that was set lower than the others. It was fun seeing the kids jam a basketball in there

6. I saw the movie Star Wars there for the first time.

7. I suprised more than one couple that had chosen the play house as a place to spend some quiet time. I never did it on purpose, I was usualy as embarrased as they were

8. I remember a troop of tumblers and acrobats that camp brought in, and they had set up in the playhouse. One of the men on his tumbling runs was jumping on a mini tramp. I was sure he was going to hit the ceiling

9. We used it for midget junior dances. I think the counselors had as much fun as the campers

10. There was gravel underneath the bleachers.

Bob

Sleeping arrangements

So who decided which bunks were the cool ones to sleep in and which werent? When I was a counselor, I always slept in the bunk that was on the bottom and to the right of the door when you went in. It seems like most of the counselors chose this same arrangement. Was this because it got the best breeze? Or was it easier to sneak in after bed check without waking your kids?

It seemed like there were prefered spots in the cabins for the campers as well. You didn't have as many choices when you were in a cabin on the hill, but there were definitely prefered bunks in Senior 1. My first year in Senior 1, the bunks of choice were the farthest from the doors, on the bottom. I was stuck in the bed right next to the door. Although I got the best breeze at night, I also nearly drowned during the raid that period. After that, I chose the bunk on the counselor end in the corner, on the bottom.

The only thing that was better was when I was actually a counselor in Sr. 1 and got the counselor corner. I even brought my stereo and had a dresser. That was really living the good life.

Bob