Monday evening, 8:26pm
Dear Mom and Dad,
I hope you are doing great at home without me! I’m doing just fine at Camp Ho Non Wah. A few boys have gotten a little homesick, but I’ve been really nice to them, just like you told me I should be. I even admitted to somebody that I’ve been homesick before, too… and that it all worked out ok for me.
This was a really busy day. I didn’t get much sleep last night, because there were GIANT spiders in my Adirondack. Apparently, they are pretty horrible every year, because we had a Wolf spider design on our t-shirts today! We called in Mr. Satterfield’s brother-in-law about 100 times last night to get rid of them. I think we may have worn him out, because he and Mr. Satterfield got some wire mesh and put over our back windows this afternoon. I’m hoping that keeps them away, but I wish they would have put a big screen on the front of the Adirondack, too. When the spiders weren’t trying to kill me, some of the older boys were keeping me awake. I think they were talking until about 3 in the morning!
Breakfast was pretty good. We had French Toast, sausage, and orange juice and cereal. I traded my Raisin Bran for Apple Jacks. We sang the “sausage song” after breakfast.
We had to clean up around the flag pole after breakfast and then we had to clean up our campsite for inspection. Mama, I think the inspectors are even more strict about cleanliness than you are! We had to sweep the Adirondack and put away all our stuff! Even though I did my best, we only got a 94 for our inspection score. I’m hoping we can make a perfect score tomorrow.
We met at the Woodsmen area next. I learned all kinds of stuff about knots and plants and even a little about knives and axes. We took a walk to look at poison ivy and Virginia Creeper. I started itching a little just thinking about that!
Lunch was ok. We had turkey sandwiches with cheese, Ruffles potato chips, cookies, and a pickle. You know I didn’t eat the pickle, but Gates and Mac collected the pickles that nobody wanted. I can’t even guess how many they ate.
After lunch, we had “siesta” time, but most of us just played frisbee, basketball, or dodgeball instead of sleeping. Langston, William, and Mr. Schwartz were all got to camp this morning. Mr. Schwartz is a pretty awesome frisbee thrower, so I’m going to ask him for some help.
This afternoon, I took my swimming test and I passed! All the new scouts from Troop 1 passed, so we’ll all be able to work on our swimming merit badge. I’m not sure why, but Mr. Montgomery had to take a swimming test, too. Bern helped Walter when he couldn’t hear the counselors in the pool. Bern is our Troop Guide this week, so he’s spending a lot of time helping us out and making sure we are ok. I heard that the older boys in lifesaving had to swim to the bottom of the deep end and pick up a big weight! I’m glad I don’t have to do that this year, but I guess I’ll be a lot bigger next year, so it will be ok.
I was able to walk around camp a little today, and I saw some older boys doing really cool stuff. I can’t wait until I get to take canoeing next year. And then I want to take small boat sailing, kayaking, and a whole bunch of other stuff in the water because I won’t be so hot!
I was the waiter at my table for supper. The best part about that is that I have to go the dining hall about 20 minutes before everyone else. THE DINING HALL HAS AIR CONDITIONING! Mr. Satterfield helped me figure out what to do, and he even helped me to sweep the floors after supper. William Lauer was the waiter for his table for lunch and for supper… because somebody at his table paid him a lot of money to take their place. I think he’s pretty smart.
Oh – and supper was really good, too. We had chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese (it was really good, but please tell Grandma that hers is still the best), and rolls. And Mom and Dad, you won’t believe this if I don’t send you a picture, but John Russell ate an entire bowl of beets! He went up to the salad bar all by himself and brought back a whole bowl! He even looked like he enjoyed eating them! Dr. Lawton was sitting next to me, and he said that the last time his parents EVER forced him to eat vegetables was when he tried to force down beets with a big glass of milk. Apparently he made a big old mess all over the table and the carpet and his parents just gave up on him after that.
After supper, I got to play nine flags with lots of boys from all over camp. We all played against the counselors. I’m pretty tired, so I might not stay up as late tonight. I know I didn’t take a shower yesterday either, but I think sleep is probably more important that a bath. Besides, I sweated so much that I pretty much made my own shower today.
Please tell everybody that I love them… but I’m not really missing anybody yet – except for Buddy and Rex. I sort of wish they were in my tent to help keep away the spiders.
I love you,
Your son
PS – I take back what I said about William being smart. He came up to my tent with two tree frogs in his hands a few seconds ago. He wanted me to help him with the frogs and then he screamed because they were peeing on him! A scout is supposed to be helpful, but I’m not touching those frogs!