Into The Briar Patch

One evening at camp, I saw a line of guys running towards the tent cabin. I, of course, did the only logical thing one can do when seeing a bunch of people sprinting in a general direction. I joined them. This was the evening John Lightfoot threw himself under the tent cabin into briars to catch a snake.

The snake was less than happy about it. He spent a good amount of time making angry hissing sounds.

I was briefly worried that John had caught a rattlesnake. I don't think he would have actually caught it if it had been. At a glance, I find that gopher snakes and rattlesnakes have similar coloring. Their markings aren't wildly different either.

With a rattlesnake, you can't always look for the rattle. It is possible for a rattlesnake to lose theirs.

I always look at the head. A gopher snake's head is more of an oval while a rattlesnake's head is more of a triangle.

Camp Memories

Camp is full of all sorts of fun memories. It was fun to see some of the high school campers become cabin leaders for the middle school kids. Both weeks we went on a beach trip, which included fire pit s'mores and singing.

I had the opportunity to spend time with people I hadn't really seen or talked to while I was at university. Good times were had by all.

I think my favorite memory was when we had an all staff night game of Nine Square In The Air. Kyle (in the center) had gotten himself a sandwich. He played nine square by hitting the ball with his plate all the while raving about his sandwich. At some point he got out and was going back to the first square when Josh (on the left) spiked the ball towards Kyle. The trajectory couldn't have been better. The ball flew over Kyle's shoulder, hit the edge of the plate, and spilled the sandwich into the grass. The highest pitched scream was uttered with high, whiny tones of "MY SANDWICH! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? THERE WERE ONLY TWO BITES LEFT!!!!" Everyone, and I do mean everyone, collapsed to the ground, laughing, for a solid three minutes. People's sides ached the next day from the laughter.

No camp would be complete without John Lightfoot. Everything you've heard about Chuck Norris is true when it comes to John Lightfoot. I saw the guy dive into a briar patch under a cabin in order to grab a gopher snake. Who does that? John Lightfoot. That's who.

If you doubt his awesomeness, just watch this video.