10 Observations from a Boy Scout Camp

1. The number of bees present during any event is exponentially proportional to the amount of people present at that event.
2. Boy Scouts have three types of campfires. “Smoldering”, as what happens when a new scout attempts to light one; “Warming” as defined as a fire when all gather around the slowly dying coals; And “Easily seen from space”, which is the what all scouts prefer to build.
3. No matter how expensive the camp is, the boys will spend much more than this on critical items such as “leather crafts”, “woodworking kits” and “root beer”.
4. Your campsite is always located far from the main facilities. In our case, the clue was the “Welcome to Oregon” sign on the trail.
5. Boys who go down the dusty, dirty trail to the showers will return looking just about the same as when they left.
6. Telling ghost stories around a late night campfire while drinking cocoa has two effects. First, the boys are now much less likely to wander around the campsite at night. Second, given that amount of fluid intake, the boys are now much more likely to really have to wander around the campsite at night.
7. Small rodents such as squirrels and chipmunks will inhabit your troop campsite, breaking into any foodstuffs left unattended. Other than not wearing a uniform, this makes them identical to the scouts.
8. For every scout who forgets a critical item such as a sleeping bag, tent or bar of soap, there will be another scout who will over compensate by bringing items such as books, fishing gear and small appliances.
9. As the week progresses, you will have a distinct feeling that the inmates are, in fact, beginning to run the place. That is a good feeling.
10. There will be at least one in camp that will begin crying and demanding to go home. Get over it, they won’t let you.