The following is a light-hearted look at this past weekend.

Fifteen Scouts (Alec C., Nick B., Evan D., Connor D., Dustin W., Michael S., Dima B., Matt M., Tyler F., Jeffrey D., Jason S., Matt H., Anthony M., Chris B., & Rob S.) & five adults (Mr. Forr, Mr. Barber, Mr. Dougherty, Mr. McKenna & myself) ventured into the hallows of French Creek for relaxing fishing weekend.  Have I mentioned the wind yet?  Lucky for us, the rain & thunderstorms missed us Friday night - we did drive through them!!  Looking back - the thunderstorms & the awesome rainbows would have been a nice break from the 35 - 50+ MPH winds.

Upon arrival, we were pleased to find that our site was an open field, which meant no widow-makers falling from any trees above.  Definition: widow-makers are big precarious branches & limbs waiting to fall on unsuspecting tents.  (obviously we teach Scouts to avoid widow-makers).  Did I mention the wind??  We had the majority of the group campsites to ourselves - other campers have probably experienced winds & knew better.

I learned that Mother Nature is not a big fan of tents - Mr. McKenna suffered the first loss 15 minutes into the trip, when the winds snapped his tent poles before he could get the fly installed - I'm pretty sure I heard Mother Nature laughing & she wasn't done.  We started to unpack the trailer, starting with Patrol Totes - again Mother Nature must have a need for Rubbermaid lids, as she attempted to steal ours.  Did I mention wind??  Time to reload the trailer & wait until morning.  Mr. McKenna's second tent - a Troop "first-up" didn't fare very well, as the zipper failed sometime throughout the night & Jim retreated to his car.  While heading out for my 5AM check on the Scouts, I noticed a big void where Mr. McKenna's 2nd tent had been only hours before (I was not aware at this time that Mr. McKenna had retreated to his car).  In the moonlight 200+ yards away, I saw a heap of canvas & poles.  I approached cautiously & whispered "Jim, are you in there?"  No reply, I shined my flashlight in (the tent was on it's side) - thankfully, it was empty.  Did I mention the wind?  Grabbing the remnants of Jim's tent, I headed back to camp, discovering a new extreme sport - tent sailing, which is very similar to para-sailing.  Lesson #2, fold the tent up before trying to walk thru a wind storm with a parachute!  If you're keeping track - Night #1 - two tents - history & countless hours checking on Scouts watching tents flexing downward & upward.

The dining fly set-up idea on Saturday morning was quickly put to rest (long metal poles flying thru the air seemed pointless.  Lesson #3 - camp stoves don't work well in strong winds - cooking breakfast takes time without a flame.

Remember fishing in your youth, sitting next to a peaceful lake, alone, not a care in the world except worrying about whether you had enough worms?  Lesson #4 - Opening day of trout season is anything but that!  Imagine standing should to shoulder with 10,000 fishermen around a wind blown lake, plenty of trees to snag your line & having to cast out in between the boats on the lake that formed one massive island in the middle.  You've heard the expression a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work - well strangle the guy who came up with it - I could use the overtime!

The winds persisted throughout Saturday, which kept everyone busy chasing tote lids, tents, hats, mugs, etc.  Saturday night - the winds appeared to be dying down, however, you can't let your guard down with Mother Nature - the second Troop first-up tent collapses with fiberglass poles spewing in all directions (it was empty).  Again, if you're counting - three tents destroyed in 24 hours.  I think Mother Nature mentioned something about fools & amateurs.  Did I mention the wind?

Lesson #5 - Campfires are not much fun in the wind - smoke comes at you from all directions & not a smoke-shifter to be found.  Definition:  Smoke shifters are found with sky-hooks.

Lesson #6 - always put away clean dishes after a meal.  Do not allow them to linger in drain pans on picnic tables.

Lesson #7 - Mother Nature does not like drain pans with clean dishes on picnic tables AND Scouts do not like washing dishes twice.  Did I mention the wind??

Lesson (whatever) - packing a tent in the wind is not fun!

And my final lesson, which is also my Scoutmaster Minute for this week:  There is nothing and I mean nothing better than watching a young man accomplish something for the first time.  For all the "negatives" that I joke about above - I was blessed with being witness to a young man casting his new fishing pole for what he described as the first time.  The Scout asked me to take his picture, so that he could show his mom that he did it on his own.  Well he did it on his own, baiting the hook numerous times after loosing worm after worm due to a few bad casts.  Finally, with grub worm firmly in place, the fishing pole off to his right, index finger on the line, a smooth cast - perfect release - line, bobber, & grub worm floating through the air, over the weeds - perfectly placed straight ahead.  I sure hope that photos come out for mom, I know that I don't need a copy of it - as that moment is etched in my mind.

Some may ask why people volunteer to be leaders and go on cold or rainy or windy camping trips - cause a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work!!  Oh yea, never mind what I said about strangling that guy - it was probably me!!

Thank you to my fellow Scouts & Adults that ventured into French Creek - what a great time and I didn''t even get to describe Mr. Barber's fantastic meal plan for the adults.  Needless to say, we ate well - thank you Dan!!

Rick Woywod