Last night, for me, was a quadruple header. So long as I can get some sleep another night, I just love being out and around, and busy, and involved, on one of these nights--at night, especially. Last night it was warmer than usual, but still cool enough - in the upper 50s. But the stars were out, beginning with a Jupiter so bright that it seemed to cast a shadow on the path.What a night for Sacky and Hemlock and Lakota and Outpost and Mini-Mac to hike out to their overnights. Chris Harper and I took a little walk to CIT Point where Mini-Mac was cooking hot-rock pizzas while the sun was setting behind them across the lake. The "crust" seems to be a flour tortilla and the toppings are tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. Lay the concoction on a flat rock set at the edge of the fire and (carefully now!--don't burn yourself) rotate the crust around every few minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce steams up a little. Then serve a happy camper.
Chris and I had set up Challenge Night in Geyer Hall (old Girls' Dining Hall) for Forest and Susky and Sunburst, and then gathered wood for a fire at a little used fire-ring way up above Hirdstock Field and below Turrell Lodge - where Pac would gather much later for a story.
Back to Challenge Night in Geyer, where the Sunburst girls joined the five Forest/Susky teams and were a big help. We had a great Challenge: the individual songs at the end were sweet and meaningful; the weirdest noises were, well, weird; and we added a new/revised challenge: a counselor spins around, looking up at the top of a broomstick, for 35 seconds and then must walk 30 feet to a ball and toss the ball into a hoop. The dizzy swaying and swaggering was hilarious and the dizziest one, Becca Schneider, managed to get the ball into the hoop. Winners had an ice cream sundae party. Among the judges was Bob Eddings, now FV's director of Environmental Education programs--coming out of Evening Program retirement to don an Al's Challenge Night tshirt and join in the fun. He's a talented improviser and it was great to see him in action again.Then it was down to the lower floor of Geyer (formerly Conover English Hall) to tell a story - "Sawmill, 1958" - to Forest.
After that I met Pac at the great infrequently used campfire site and told a story to them too. It was a perfect storytelling situation: these 15-year-old boys were totally attentive, stars above us, good fire, and a view of the lake to our west.
On such a night it seemed impossible to turn in after all this. So before heading home I wandered around, finding a few CQ fires, walking through the empty villages of those out on overnights, and then went into Hyde-Watson Lodge to chat with the Forest staff who were getting ready to build a fire indoors there. I ended up in the dining hall - staff lounge - where Jeff Daly was cooking Jeffburgers. The rule is: you either eat a Jeffburger with all the standard toppings, or you don't get a burger. I'd eaten 3 meals this day and then partook of the winning Challenge Night teams' ice cream sundae snack and certainly did not need a Jeffburger, but how could I say no? Jeff prepared one for me with panache, but then I saw him grab the hot sauce bottle and the chocolate sauce. Oh boy. Could I decline now? Not a chance. Two slices of American cheese, hot sauce, chocolate sauce, a well-done patty, on a Wonderbread roll. First bite. Perfection. It is a taste that tastes good only at midnight on such a night as this was. Unforgettably not an evening lazing in front of a ballgame on TV or at a desk deleting the day's spam with the city's heat staved off by a loudly rattling AC unit. No, this was a different summertime. This was the real deal.
