WindWalker Camp  "Bubba's Page"

Hands-on . . .JUST FOR BOYS . . . grades 3-10

Just doing guy stuff to the max all summer long.

In the toenails of the foothills of the Missouri Ozarks

e-mail:  mrhardage@yahoo.com

214/789-0359

"What the hands learn, the mind cannot forget." 

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This is an almost complete list of stuff we do at camp in the summer, and, "Yes; you can do every bit of it!"

Stargazing

We will be laying out the naked-eye observatory atop the

eastern hill along with several analemmas and other sundials

scattered around camp at the activity centers.  Naturally,

we will be building

portable sundials to haul

around.  It's either that

or build another Stone-

henge . . .  hmmmm . . .

Nature Study

This always sounds

so narfy . . . but we will

be collecting different

multi-legged critters on

the place to put in our collection boxes - yes; of course we

construct the boxes.  There are Luna Moths and Monarchs

and Sulphurs and Hairstreaks out there in the hundreds --

plus some little-bitty violet-colored guys the size of your

thumbnail.

Plus I'm working on a way to preserve the flowers out

there to bring home in a save-able format.  I'm doing some

work right now with silica-gel that I just read about.  Do

you realize, by the way, what kind of a Science Fair Project

you can turn in  with this stuff? 

Your Science Teacher is

going to think you're some

kind of Thomas O'hallaran.

Pottery

I'm laying out the site

and fireproofing the area

immediately around it to lay

out a wood-fired Raku kiln. 

This is an ancient Japanese

form that is so cool, icicles

form from your eyebrows

when you  work it.  What is

so neat, is that you never know for sure what your results

will be, but  -- I guar-on-tee  -- you will knock your mama's

hat into the creek (not her good, Sunday-go-to-meeting hat,

of course, just her  hat-hat) when se sees your drinking cup

and other stuff you've made.

Archery

We're trying out handmade wood bows from a guy

in Maine who builds them one-at-a-time.  I have really

high expectations for these.  Of course, you'll make

your leather finger tab and arm guard and quiver

yourself.  And you'll cut your own arrows to the

absolutely-right length for you before you glue-and-screw

the target point on each one . . . and paint your personal

stripe pattern (crest) on the shaft, naturally.

Riflery

Well, it wouldn't be Summer Camp without the rifle

range, would it?  We have .22 caliber bolt-action rifles on

the firing range and NRA-Certified Range Instructors to

train you in the safe operation of a firearm.  After your

first year with .22, we will move to BlackPowder like Daniel

Boone and Davy Crockett, and all those heroes who founded

this country used.  Black powder is so cool, because the ball

flies so slowly -- you hear the report of the powder firing,

then, just "that much" later, you hear the ball slam into the

earthen back wall of the range.  It is sooo cool.  Did I

mention that we'd be casting some of our ball ammunition as

part of this activity?

Mountainbiking

OK; I know you're tough.  I know you play football.

I know you pump iron.  But until you've pumped bike around

the Camp perimeter on our mountainbike course . . . well,

I'm not going to say anything about people crying for their

mamas.  I would never assault your self-esteem like that.

But, this'll take whatever hair you have on your chest and

grind it right off the first four or five times you try it.

The route is about a mile - in a single level, but "level"

is just a word on thi loop.  Think UP; then think DOWN; then

think SIDEWAYS; then think "MAMA!  MAKE IT STOP!"

. . .  It's a rough course.  Definitely not for sissies.

As soon as I figure how to get video out of my camera, I'll

upload it.  You'll need to bring your helmet and your pads.

That's 'cause we don't want to get blood on ours . . .

Iron Homemaking

OK; OK; I don't really have a formal title for these

skills, but they include Cooking (no whining) and Quilting

(hey! no whining!  You have to see my quilt . . . plus I have

designed and am collecting fabric to sew a dinosaur quilt . . .)

Cooking includes homemade ice cream and brewing our own

root beer.  That's not so bad.  (See?)  Now Quilting . . . 

All I'm going to say about this is that (a) your favorite

Grandmother will think you are the absolute cat's pajamas,

and (b) you'll be the only guy on your block sleeping under a

Tyrannosaur or a Shark.  Yeah; yeah; it sounds sissy-boy, but

it's gonno be so cool you can have a snowball fight in

July with it.  If you move quickly,  you can take a complete

quilt home at the end of your session.  No lie.  Your buds

back in town are going to be so jealous . . . 'course they'll

never admit it. 

Model Rocketry

Do i really have to go into any detail here?  I mean,

really?  National Association of Rocketry.  We'll get at

least to "D" engines.  And two-stagers.  And one monster

that is so big it'll take a "G" to launch the beast.  And a

Mean Machine.  Just all kinds of wickedness punching

holes in the sky.  We'll build a payloader and and egg-

lofter and a helicopter.  "We're gonna have a good time."

Naturally, we'll build a range box to haul all your stuff

around in.

Model Airplanes

Now this one is going to be tricky . . . We're going to

start off with building a couple of balsa gliders - solid

wood first.  Then we'll get into foam gliders and radio-

controlled electric motor airplanes -- 'cause they're

easier to fly.  The second year we'll get into .10 fuel

engines and bigger, cooler airplanes.  Naturally, you'll

need to build a flight box.  But, anyway, we'll be flying

these things all over the field, including a figure-8 course

around the T-posts at either end of the flying field.

High Ropes Course

That's for next year.  We don't have that in place

yet.  We're still interviewing companies to come out and

build it for us.  There's national certification and safety

standards to build into the program for this.  Makes you

drool, just thinking about it, doesn't it. 

Me too.

Ironmongery

Is that a cool word or what?  Yeah.  You're going to

be outside under a shed roof, whanging on a piece of red-

hot iron on an anvil till it becomes . . . don't tell Mom . . .

a knife.  Naturally you're going to have to mount it in a

bone handle.  And make a leather sheath for it.   And you'll

be sweating like a horse . . . maybe a pig . . . the whole time

you're doing it.

OK, OK; yes; you're going to have to do some other

stuff first -- you know, the square nail thing, the S-

hook thing, the trivet thing . . . THEN, when your counselor

is convnced that you won't set fire to your foot, we turn

you loose to build the knife.  I mean, that's what you came

for; right?

Oh, and this is not some kind of weenie knife-in-a-

box-kit.  This one will probably start life as a rusty old,

rasty-old file from behind somebody's barn or from some-

body's grand-dad's garage.

Also in the same area as the Forge is the Foundry. 

What's cool about the foundry is that this is where you

cast pewter soldiers and your Qualification Badges.  What?

"What's a Qualification Badge?" you ask.  Read the whole

site, Guy.  It's in here.  Somewhere.

Kites

. . . Not the namby-pamby mylar-kite-in-a-bag garbage

you get at the big-box store back in town.  You're going to

build a French War Kite and a Parafoil Sled Kite out of

Tyvek.  This stuff's so tough you have to cut it with

scissors; there's just no way to tear it - not even with

your teeth.  Anyway, we are going go have a flying contest

or six.  Have you ever seen a French War Kite?  They're

called that because the European armies of the 19th

Century sent observers up in them with a telegraph to

report on the movement of enemy troops.  The armies of

the Union and the Confederacy did the same thing.  The guy

in the kite sure drew a lot of fire, though . . .

We're not going to build one that big, though.  Don't

even ask.

Music

Well, of course we'll raise our voices in song around the

table and around the fire . . . but we'll also be drumming

(you'll need to build a drum, of course) and playing that

virtuoso instrument, the Ukulele, with, of course musical

contests between cabins.  Just think of it as the high

four strings on the guitar.  There's some good music

available on the ukulele.   Oh, and you'll build your own

digeridoo and jam with your cabin . . .

And maybe a little Haka from New Zealand.

Off-Campus Activities

We'll check out a couple of local caverns and go canoeing

and camping out while we're at it.  There are some major

holes in the earth out there in both Arkansas and Missouri. 

Jules Verne is still looking for the way back up from a

couple of them.  One of them goes down so far you have to

have an elevator to get back to the surface . . . no lie!  You

come back up in another hill and ride a bus back to where

you started.  It's cool (56 degrees Fahrenheit. 

This is a picture of a critter I

actually cought at the Mc-

Donald County Library in the

Summer of '08.  He's a

Western Hercules  Beetle  I

didn't know how to capture/

kill/ preserve him, so I

finished the pimento-cheese-

and-crackers feast I was

eating, then I swung into

action. 

I went inside the library

to wash the plastic pimento

cheese tub out in the rest

room.  (Always use proper

facilities and procedures . . .)

Then I drove to the drugstore

in Neosho and asked the druggist how to kill him.  The other person there told me, "Just spray him with RAID."  That didn't seem to be in the spirit of things, so I kept listening.  The pharmacist said, "You can do this best using grain alcohol." 

"OK; thanks; do y'all sell that here?"

"No; you'll have to buy that at a liquor store."

"Can you tell me where one is?" 

   (I don't drink alcohol;

   I don't even see those

   stores.)  He told me.

The bottom line is

   that the beetle died

           stone drunk on Ever-

   clear.

I bought a set of

         quilter's T-pins to

  spread him out on a

  piece of green florists'

  foam I bought from the

  local flower seller, and

  now he rests in state in

         a nice, 2-inch-deep black

  Reichert mount on my

  office wall at home.

"Calvin and Hobbes" has to be the coolest cartoon ever.. 

Ever.

First day of Summer I is 14 June.  Don't miss it.

There's more, but I'm going to bed now . . . after I prepare my lesson plans for next week's classes.

This page was last updated: September 29, 2009

Till Summer Starts!

WindWalkerCamp is on the land and of the

earth.  We are totally powered by Sun and

Wind.  We are putting in our own well on the

place, and the water is certified pure. 

We are building, living, and demonstrating

"sustainability" in our buildings and our

approach to life.

We intend to  raise chickens on the place . . .

If you like fresh eggs for breakfast --

well, it doesn't come fresher than this.

We will have a herd of goats, and we are

planning on a small herd of cattle -- we are

leaning toward Dexters - they're a

"heritage breed."

We have gardens to grow lots of our

own vegetables,   (It's a contest of wills

with the deer.  But the don't like daffodils or

yellow forsythia, and I do . . .)

Hits since 11 November 2008.

Link to PineWoodDerby Workshop in Carrollton, Texas

A great activity for parents and kids . . . and a lot of fun, too.

Home Page

Mom's & Dad's Page

Mom's & Dad's Page

This is a star-viewing platform at a Texas camp I

have visited. We're

going to build our own

just like it ... using

lumber we have saw-

    milled from trees on

the place.

Is this guy beautiful, or what?  I have one of his cousins pinned in a display box.  I'll show him to you at an open house or out at the camp . . . and I'll show you how to catch and mount your own.