National Camp School - Boy Scouts of America

Last month I went to National Camp School.

The purpose of the National Camping School is to provide a learning experience and training for adults related to the operation of council resident camps. The key staff members will in turn have the responsibility of training and supervising other staff personnel in your council camping program.  It is a comprehensive training on all aspects of the day camp operation, including methods of day camping, program scheduling and resources, staff organization, recruiting and training, and health and safety protection.

It was a lot of fun to attend with about 30 other adults that have either run a Cub Scout Day Camp and need to be retrained or need to be trained so they can run a Day Camp this summer.  I have been helping as the Webelos Director for the Grand Canyon Council Day Camp for 4 years.  This year the Camp Director has asked me to assist her in her duties.

For more information about the camp clock here.

Both of my kids have been helping for the past two years and might be taking some key roles at camp this year.  I am so proud of them.

Tips for Camping

My hope is that this will be an expanding topic for me as I find more information about how to better go out camping. Gear, tips and tricks, locations, weather, etc. will "limit" my scope of this post.

Thank you REI for the first link.
Camping Tips: Sleeping Well

Family Camping Checklist

Just watched this video about water and water bottles. I thought the content was good but I need to see more of the data to really understand it.

Math - what are these people talking about......

I have kids in school and for the first few years in school I was trying to figure out what they were doing to solve basic math problems.

After watching this video I have a few answers to those questions.

Please take the time to watch this video - it's worth it.

Where did the summer go?

I've been pretty busy with school for the kids, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and another venture I've been researching.

Found out the Arizona Hemophilia Association(AHA) joined the HFA. That move will definitely give our hemophilia community access to more programs in Arizona. I was asked what the difference between NHF and HFA was. Easy answer - NHF is industry driven and HFA is community driven. Can't wait to see some of HFA's programs in action.....

AHA is hiring a Transition Counselor for our teen population. They want to have the position filled by the end of January 2010 or before. This person will be the most important person for our hemophilia kids in Arizona and how this person starts the program will determine if the program will work (the kids are the jury on this one).

The boy scouts are currently spending all their time at a Christmas Tree Lot. Our troop sell Christmas tree so they can go on their summer adventure trip. If you live in the Phoenix Valley please consider getting you Christmas tree @ 14th St and Northern. Tree lot hours are 3-9 Mon - Friday and 10-9ish Sat and Sun. Tress are reasonably priced and they have Douglas Fir (5' to 8') and Noble Fir (5' to 9').

Poem

I was given a copy of this poem from my pastor. We had a group dicusion on what each line ment to us and what it says about our society.

What do you think? I'm ready for a dicussion if you are......

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THE INVITATION by Orian Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

copyright © 1999 by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

July - the Hottest on Record

Lucky for me I wasn't in town for most of the HEAT.

Spent for first week of the month in San Diego. Great 4th of July at the beach. Collected Pooka shells, played in the surf, watched many sunsets, watch the fireworks.

Spent the next week in town. Don't remember what I did.....

Spent the next two weeks in the Pacific Northwest with family. Did a lot of work at mom's house. Bottle some wine. Went to the Oregon Brewers Festival - they had 80 different breweries there. Only made it through 28 of the brews. They give 4 ounces per taste. So that's 28x4 oz = 112 ounces. Split that between 3 people still means I didn't drive home. Thank God for lightrail! Went Sport Clay Shooting with my dad and brother. Kind of like golf but with shotguns. A higher score is better. Out of a possible 100 I know I hit at least 25 clays. Picked Blueberries and made jam - bought Marrionberries and made jam. Watched Chicken TV every night I could. Took the family to Detroit Lake with a friend of my dad's and went wake boarding, surfing, and intertubing off their ski boat. New for my kids - they loved it. OH, I almost for got ....... It was darn HOT in Portland while we were there. Not as hot as Phoenix but Portland's humidity made up for it.

Next week the kids go back to school and life returns to "NORMAL"