The Myth & The Majesty

Step 1: Using a sharp, pointed knife -- and then a screwdriver and hammer -- poke the "eyes" out of the coconut and drain out the juice. (Save it! Odds are good you'll need it.) Laugh a little when you realize that they included straws with the coconuts. Step 2: Bake coconut(s) for 6-8 minutes at 500 degrees. This will loosen the meat from the inside and make your job much easier. Step 3: Break open the coconut with a hammer. Try not to enjoy it too much. Step 4: Take a look at your picture and wonder why you're wearing sunglasses on your head. Step 5: Pause and enjoy your progress for the moment. Step 6: Be thankful for the coconut that actually came loose easily. Quietly curse the second one since it's now in 18 pieces because you had to pry all the meat from that one free with a spoon. Step 7: Using a vegetable peeler, remove all the remaining brown skin from the coconut meat. Step 8: Wonder if all of this is really worth the trouble just f...

With the nuns, the weather, and lots of problems with mechanical devices, things have been utter chaos at camp this week. Actually, so far the nuns haven't been contributing to the chaos too much. They've provided some comic relief, though. As Shorty would say, "You haven't truly lived till you've seen a nun wrestle a rubber chicken out of a junior high girl's hands." True story. The mechanical devices have caused a bit of pain for coworkers, but that's not quite what I want to discuss right now. I'm sorry. That leaves the weather. In my defense, we had a crazy weekend. Friday night brought a fairly short but fierce storm to the area, including softball-sized hail. We were lucky -- we managed to get all of our vehicles hidden under carports and in garages, and then it skirted us. Others were less fortunate. The bossman's wife and all sorts of her coworkers lost windshields (and worse) at the hospital. Windows in southeast Rapid were d...

Last week, I had some visitors. Neubs, Beubs, and the Admiral turned up for a week of hiking... and camping... and fantastic vistas ... and some uncooperative weather... and slightly out-of-the-way tourist spots... along with regular sightseeing... ... of all kinds. ("This means something. This is important.") Also randomly involved was the Higbee Cafe in Sundance, Wyoming. I only mention it because it was fantastic and if you're driving through, I recommend it highly. (Had something to do with the fact that we actually chatted with the locals.) Being who we are, there was also some fantastic eating while we were at camp. Necessary, since we were burning so much fuel during the day. (Yeah, that's why it was necessary.) Ironically, I have no pictures of my own from the last day, at which point we visited both Mount Rushmore and Wall Drug. What can I say? I was in a "been there, done that" mood when it came to my camera. It was ...

We have had a very strange problem at the camp for some time now. In fact, it's been going on for over a year. You see, there has been an error on Google. One that led tourists of all shapes and sizes to the camp instead of to these four big faces that are kinda famous. It has been ridiculous -- we're talking tourists by the dozens turning up in our parking lot, looking for George and his buddies. As of yesterday, this error was finally corrected, at least on Google. It may persist in other places. (Apple devices seem to be another major culprit.) With that in mind, I'd like to offer some travel tips. 1. If you're going down a gravel road expecting to find a national monument, odds are good you're in the wrong place. 2. If your phone or GPS gives you directions contradictory to the highway signs around you, odds are good it's your phone that's wrong. 3. If you realize that this massive sculpture is probably visible from a distance and for some re...

In no time at all, things have accelerated from "practically still" to "AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" You heard me. In the last two weeks, there have been brandings, a wedding, a hike up Storm (at sunset!) and all sorts of camp mayhem. The summer staff is almost all present and accounted for, camps are arriving, and I ... am spending my afternoon break at a nearby bar because they have wi-fi. And Pepsi. Hey, sometimes you have to get away and check your email. Or transfer money out of your savings account so you can make a car payment. Facts of life, my friends. I can tell I'm back at Storm because I'm not sleeping as much as before. [I can also tell I'm at Storm because there are trees and hills and stuff. I'm a quick one.]  It's amazing the instant transitions ... Although I need to adjust that one a little bit more because, well, I'm not as young as I was when I first worked here. It sounds ridiculous (at least, to some of you) but it's...

It's raining again -- snowing just south of here, actually. And further west. Because it's May and it's the Hills. My summer has begun, such as it is, and I'm hanging out for a few minutes at a coffee shop before I head off to the land of unreliable Internet. (Plus, well, right now I have free time, sort of.) And wondering why there's a commercial for a Sioux Falls bowling alley on TV here. Sorry. Train of thought ... Um ... Ah yes. Although my summer is technically something of a step back (sort of) I couldn't be much more excited about it. I mean, I get to spend the summer cooking. In a place I love. With people I haven't seen enough of in the last four years. And I get to go hiking. And kayaking. And haunt my favorite coffee shop on the planet. And hang out at the ranch occasionally. And study for various acceptance tests. And fill out applications for schools within easy reach of school and an incredibly helpful former professor. ...

What can I say? Not a whole lot has been going on. I've celebrated my birthday in some fairly random ways. On my 18th, I was in Kansas City and the roller coaster I was waiting for got shut down due to lightning. On my 21st, it snowed 8 inches. This year, as we were sitting down to eat, the civil alert sirens went off. I looked at Shorty, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Air raid?" While a tornado would be moderately commonplace at this time of year, this time there was a wall of wind coming. It had been nice all day -- sunny and clear -- but around 7PM storm clouds were approaching. When the sirens went off, we checked the weather to find that they were expecting the wind to go from calm to 50+mph straight-lines in a matter of seconds. We spent the next five minutes battening down the hatches. And watching. Sure enough, you could see it coming. Trees south of us suddenly bent under its force, moving slowly toward us. When it hit, the temperature dropped about ten d...