Living like a hobo

I am happy to say that we have a nice home here. It has running water, electricity, air conditioning and heating, beds, soap, the whole nine yards.

After recently returning from an outing to New Mexico where I had to share a kind of rustic room with 7 other guys, I was ready to enjoy our home.

But, this weekend, I was scheduled to go camping with Ethan and his Cub Scout pack at the scout campground on Mt. Lemon. I wasn't too excited, but I knew Ethan was looking forward to it, so off we went.

It is not at all very clean at this camp and the bathroom facilities are outhouse style facilities that I am pretty sure never get cleaned, beyond getting pumped out from time to time.  We also had to cook over the open fire, which was actually pretty tasty. especially when compared to the heaps of rubbery spaghetti and macaroni and cheese that was served for our one group meal.

Our tiny tent seems to barely have room for the two of us to stretch out in as we are trying to sleep. And since it is a lightweight summer duty tent designed for backpacking in warm climes, it doesn't have much insulation.

October on the mountain is not too warm, so I began working on adding a little extra insulation to the thing. I put a couple of extra towels we had over the open air netting. Then a put a rain poncho over that, before covering it with the rain fly that came along with the tent.

As I was doing this, I was thinking how I was living just like a hobo.

It was right about then that Ethan said, "This is so much fun!"

I suppose camping can be worthwhile.

Someone

If you know anything about the history of ancient Israel, as recorded in the Old Testament or the writings of a 1st century historian named Josephus, you know that a good deal of it goes kind of like this:

Israel decides to stop doing what God says, start living like everyone around them and worship weird gods - things go south for Israel -someone pops up to lead Israel back to the straight and narrow (usually a Judge or a King or a Prophet) - Israel prospers

Until.......Israel decides to stop doing what God says - rinse - repeat.

Usually the characters that stepped up to the plate are venerated for what they have done. Josiah, Judas Maccabees and Deborah are names that are not forgotten among the faithful to this day.

But I recently came across a passage in the book of 2nd Kings. Israel was going through the same sort of thing, led by an evil king and repeatedly beaten in battle by another nation.

Then it says simply, "So the LORD provided SOMEONE to rescue the Israelites..."

No name. No title. No record of the things they did.

Just someone.

I think that sometimes we are asked to be, simply, someone. To do the right thing, to influence others, maybe even to make a world changing, people rescuing impact without anyone ever knowing who that someone was.

And sometimes it can be hard not getting the credit, the title, the recognition.

Sometimes it is hard to just be someone.

Lessons Learned

Their are some who say that one of the basic life skills we need to succeed is the ability to sell. Whether it is a convincing others to listen to our ideas or trying to earn a living, convincing and persuading others (of course in a non manipulative and honest way) is important in much of what we do.

With this in mind, Ethan, our youngest, is working on a campaign to sell popcorn for his scout troop. I think he has learned some valuable things in this endeavor.

 Among the lessons learned:

- Setting goals and not giving up until you reach them.
He is looking for $1,000 in sales and plans on pushing until he reaches the goal or runs out of time.

- Rewards for hard work and the power of incentives
One of the reasons he set this goal, which is much higher than the goal he set last year, was because of the rewards and incentives he gets for reaching this level.

- Basic communication skills
He has found that you have to talk to and relate with people in order to get them interested in your product (idea, adventure, etc.)

- Dealing with setbacks
We recently learned that some of the donations collected (not the ones that were sent to him personally, but the ones that were collected at the store sales events) were not counted towards his total sales. This set him back a little over $100 in his campaign. Consequently, he has learned that you can give up on our goal, or you can try and overcome the setback and still go for the win.

Even if he does fall a little short of his goal this year, I think he has still gained some value from the effort.

 But, if you do want to help him with these valuable lessons, you can still order online at this link:

http://www.trails-end.com/shop/scouts/email_referral.jsp?id=15403351

Opening Lines

"To many of the friends I had back then, I am already a ghost. Just a specter that passes through their thoughts when they happen to remember the things we saw together. Someone they figure they will never see again, except for at some river up yonder in the great day of gathering, or something like that.

But I am still very much alive, and I still have a few things to do, so they might just see me again. Soon."

There. There are the opening lines to a new western novella. Now I just need some unpardonable past wrong, some lever action rifles, a few Indians (hostile and friendly), a beloved horse that will probably have to die, a couple of scruffy villains and a sidekick. 

Oh, I better throw in some dynamite. Or maybe nitroglycerin. That sounds even better. Then the story will be good to go.

Please leave your opinion on whether or not it will need a Gatling gun and/or the cavalry.

Who wants to reserve their advance copy now?

Humor

I have heard it said that people who use humor are using it to mask pain in their lives. And, it is said, the funnier they are,  the more pain they are masking. Perhaps this is true in some cases, but here are some other reasons people use humor:

- To build rapport
Nothing seems to make you a friend quicker than finding something to laugh about together.

- To Deflect
Sometimes, when people pry, humor is used to deflect the one that is prying away from the answer they are looking for.

- To Get People's Attention
Whether you are talking at the local Rotary, or just want to be heard by a few buddies at the bar, making them laugh is a good way to get them listening.

I am sure other reasons are out there too, but I can't really think of them. And generally, when I am using humor, it is mainly to keep myself amused. And they do say I am a pretty funny guy, but I suppose looks aren't everything.

Zero Gravity

...and in other news, a French tourist fell 200 feet at the Grand Canyon the other day. He was, of course, off the trail when he fell.

I am convinced that people believe that the laws of gravity do not apply when they are on vacation.

Some time ago, we read the book Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon, which tells about the 683 recorded deaths at the canyon at the time of the printing. Some of the included deaths are a man pretending to fall and then actually falling to his death. People stepping back just a little further for that perfect picture and people stepping out (and over) in the middle of the night to relieve themselves.

All examples of people who forgot that gravity is a pretty hard and fast rule. More of a law than it is just guidelines.

So, next time you take a group of stupid teens to the cliffs or drive up to the falls with that wild and crazy uncle, be sure to remind them that gravity is still in effect, even for them.

A Different Filter

I recently realized that I am starting to see things through a different lens.

 For instance, this evening I went to see the new Spiderman movie, The Amazing SpiderMan, , and one particular scene stuck out to me.

In the scene, Spiderman had just apprehended a car thief when a motorcycle cop shows up and holds the vigilante in tights at gunpoint.

The wall-crawler is a little frustrated, saying "C'mon, I just did, like, 80% of your job for you!"

My immediate thought was that Spiderman did the best part of the job, apprehending a criminal in the act of criming. The rest of the job the cops have to deal with include writing multiple reports detailing every bit of the incident, briefing pretty much everyone above them in the chain of command on what happened, giving attorney interviews, testifying in court.

No Mr. Spiderman, you only did 20% of their job. And, it was the part they actually signed up to do, protecting people and their property from those that would do wrong. No wonder cops don't like vigilantes.

What also stuck out to me was how quickly I recognized Ponyboy in this movie.

Stay Gold Ponyboy. Stay gold.