Well, we discovered an unusual way to
prepare for our eighteenth trip to Glorieta Centrifuge youth camp. We were babysitting Kel’s brood while they
went to a movie (the new X Men one. He
liked it). I missed the first part of
their stay because the fire chief called to let me know about a bad fire that
was just winding up. A few of the guys
had been burned, and were on their way to the Urgent Care Clinic, so I went
over there to check on them. They were
doing pretty well in spite of a few second degree burns. They wore their “bandages of honor” proudly
and were anxious to get back to work. Pretty
inspiring group of individuals, these firefighters.
By the time I got back to the house, Jachin,
Micah, and Josiah had almost exhausted all of their allowable media time. Noa went down for her brief nap. And finally I was called upon to get the
little swimming pool ready for some outside time. That part of preparation has gotten much
easier with the arrival of electric air pumps and special attachments designed
to fit right into those little air holes.
But once the pool was set up, we still faced the terribly long ordeal of
filling it up. Being the kind and
wonderful grandfather that I am, I volunteered to hold the hose so the kids
could get right to playing. They were -
how shall I say? – a bit reluctant to get started, however. It was obvious that they needed just a tiny
bit of a push. And who better to provide
it than dear old DadDad? Oh, did I
mention I had volunteered to hold the hose?
Now Chris has an attachment of her own on the end of the hose. It allows the water to be disbursed in a
remarkable variety of ways. You have
your mist and shower and spray functions, all of which are pretty
standard. I even found one option called
flood that caused the most unusual distribution of water that I have ever
seen. It looked as if it was hitting a
wall that was in the process of crumbling, so the water was allowed through,
but with absolutely no force behind it.
It was gentle enough, in fact, that even Noa approached it and took a drink. But as I tinkered with the nozzle I happened
to discover another reading, and of course I had to check it out as well. Now as I switched over to the new setting, I innocently
happened to aim the nozzle at Jachin.
Purely coincidental, you understand.
How was I to know that the one marked “jet” would carry such incredible
power? He jumped. Before I could release the handle, the spray
made its way to Micah and then Josiah.
And before I knew it some kind of battle had broken loose. The Frisbee they had suddenly became a
bowl. They carried it up onto the deck
and showered me with water. Can you
imagine? Innocent bystander, me. And when I glanced up to see what had just
happened, the jet stream, purely unintentionally, followed my gaze and smacked
them up on the deck. What a wondrous
attachment this was on the end of a simple hose. When they tired of the rain from above
techniques, they decided to surround me and attack all at once. That’s when I discovered a secret weapon, a setting
that had not yet been tested. I can’t
remember what it was called, but we renamed it anyway after they received the first
blast. We called it “The Bees.” Apparently it kept the same velocity as the
Jet, but divided it up into hundreds of tiny sprays that stung when they
contacted human skin. Can you imagine
hundreds of tiny little bees stinging you all at once? Ouch. Apparently it wasn’t too bad, though. They kept coming back for more, screaming all
the while. I ran out of steam well before
they did, and I was careful to roll up my weapon of choice and hide it behind a
bush. They settled somewhat quietly into
what water was left in the pool. Now I couldn’t
just let that happen without some kind of ruckus, could I? I selected my spot carefully and let fly with
a cannonball into the two inches of water that remained. A wild flurry of splashes and squeals
followed until I had absolutely nothing left.
I retired from the battle field, as did they, tired but proud of the victories
we had accomplished. Popcorn and a few
episodes of Clone Wars followed, and before long Mom and Dad were back. OK.
Now I’m ready for camp.
Psalms 23:5 says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup
overflows.”
Father, please do some table preparing for
the kids going to camp this week. Amen.
