charlie and the moon.

Thursday night, Jake and I made history. Sort of.

We did a campfire for a school, which is a night event that consists of a combination of skits we perform and skits the kids perform for each other. We've both worked several of these by now, but it was our first time to do one together and our first time to do one with someone who is not a "vet staff." I think we were both super excited to finally get to do a campfire with a fellow Fellow, and "exciting" is definitely one word to describe it.

We were supposed to meet our school at 7:45 to walk them out to Campfire. Before that, we were supposed to go out to our campfire site so that we could build the fire and get everything ready. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we didn't get out to our site until 7:35. Begin scene: two Fellows at a campfire site in the middle of the woods, at least a 5-minute walk from where they need to be in 10 minutes, and no campfire to speak of. Let the games begin.

About two seconds after we start trying to build the fire, we look at each other and share a moment of panic/laughter as we realize that neither of us has ever actually built a campfire before. Sink or swim, it's game time. We start by building a base with three logs, then pile some paper, leaves, twigs and other kindling on top of that. I've seen others do this to start their campfires, so it seemed like a logical plan.

While Jake is trying to start the fire, I decide to call for backup on the radio. I called Phil, who was on security this week, which means he was up late going through the checklist and shutting things down on camp.


Problem #1, solved. Phil is getting our kids, so we now have time to build our fire. Problem #2, this fire is refusing to be built. 10 minutes later, we're still trying, and failing, to get this thing to light. We've tried everything. Kindling, cedar bark/leaves, pine cones, paper, and dryer lint. Nothing will hold. We had a few flames start, but nothing lasting.

7:55, and Phil is stalling for us. Still no fire, and the situation is getting more and more ridiculous. And you're all thinking, "Hales, why didn't you soak that trash with some lighter fluid or something?" Well, friend, here in Outdoor Education we like our campfires to be legit and all-natural, so we usually don't use any type of accelerant unless we absolutely have to. So now you're thinking, "I'm pretty sure this would have been one of those times." And yes, you're right, it certainly would have been. However, remember that part about how we were out in the middle of the woods? Yeah, we definitely didn't have any lighter fluid out in the middle of the woods, and we for sure didn't have time to go get any. We were stuck, and about a hundred 5th graders were on their way to a big disappointment. 

Next: a series of fortunate events.

As we frantically try for the millionth time to create fire, I plead, "Lord, we need a miracle." And apparently, He was like, "Alright, here ya go." Not 30 seconds after I spoke those words, we get another flame to light. We start piling more sticks and leaves on top, and I am blowing air on it from every angle trying to fan the flames. We were in full-on "emergency mode," talking to each other in those voices that paramedics use when working to backboard someone quickly or keep a patient from flat-lining before they reach the hospital. We are doing everything in our power to keep this thing alive, and I'm quite sure we looked absolutely ridiculous while doing it. At one point, I remember literally lying in the dirt trying to blow air on the flames from underneath the wood. We're reaching over and around each other at awkward angles for supplies, we're running around trying to get more materials to feed it, and I'm pretty sure we both got burned a few times due to the intricate placement and re-placement of various sticks and logs.

After about 3 minutes of this, our fire is actually starting to look like a fire. The flames are still alive, and every time I blow on them, they get huge and make an awesome noise. (I feel like I understand fire-breathing dragons a lot better after this experience.) We start to add actual firewood, and end up building an awesome pyramid-type-thing. We celebrated with numerous high-fives and cheers, and twenty-five-ish minutes after we first began our project, we have a campfire. We're talking, actual legit, bona-fide, "come-make-yourself-a-s'more" campfire.   Hold your applause, ladies and gentlemen, it's all for the kids.


We spent the next few moments admiring our work, taking pictures, and discussing how cool it was that we actually created a fire. I mean, how awesome is it that you can make something as epic as our pyramid-campfire out of nothing but a lighter and some wood? (If you've never done it, I highly recommend you try it, because you will feel SO LEGIT afterward.) That conversation led to "if we are this excited about a simple fire we just created, how much more excited is God about the fact that He created us?" How cool it is that the Lord can show Himself to us in simple silly moments like these.

We see the herd of flashlights approaching from the trail, and we're ready for Campfire. We built it, and here they came. As the kids are getting seated, I excitedly find Phil and show off our work. "Phil! Look at that AWESOME FIRE!" He was duly impressed with our work.

After the victory of successfully building our first campfire, we were on a roll. All of our skits went as planned, and we made the kids and their teachers laugh -- a lot. (We laughed a lot too, it was so fun!) The kids skits this week were actually pretty good as well, which is usually a hit-or-miss thing, depending on the school. One group brought out speakers and did a huge dance party/competition thing, which was awesome! I think campfires are one of my favorite parts of this job. I love getting to be silly and goofy with the kids, and I love getting to be part of such a fun camp tradition and experience for them.

Jake and I totally rocked it, and we knew it. The kids were sad to leave, and we were slightly bummed to have to put out our fire at the end of the night. We both just stood there with the bucket of water, reluctant to kill our creation. As he poured the water over the flames, I said the only thing that seemed appropriate, "I now declare this meeting of the Midnight Society closed." (Yes, that is an "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" reference, for those of you keeping track at home.)

The next day, all of the teachers were scheduled to meet with the heads of the OE department to give feedback on their experience at Sky. This particular school has been coming out to camp for about 7 years, I think, and they told leadership that our campfire was the best one they had ever had here. BOOM, nailed it. End scene: best campfire EVER.


Here's your bonus "Camper Quote of the Week:"
During one of our skits, Jake came out from behind the trees wearing a huge cowboy hat. I'm waiting "off stage" for my cue to enter, and I hear a kid in the audience say to his friends, "Look guys, it's the ghost of Big Tex!" ...I love my job.