Day 23

CRAVOMETER: 0

TODAYS MOOD: Aware

HOMEWORK:  Do not speak negatively about others

Continued from Day 22…

Three matches are not going to cook a hotdog. So we gathered leaves and kindling to get a fire going. Once our wood teepee was complete is was time to light it. Now remember, I was in charge of the compass, the Boy Scout was in charge of the map, and the girl in the group held the hotdogs and the three little keys to our lunch. Now we were in grade school and young and were told “never to play with matches” The expression when it burnt out immediately was priceless.


The Boy Scout offered his cupped hands as a shield from the breeze and her second attempt was successful. Out of excitement she quickly brought the flame to the teepee but her sudden movement put the match out. By then the Boy Scout’s veins were apparent in his neck and on his forehead and he offered his hands again and scolded her. The third attempt was very slow moving. I could almost feel the match burn her fingers as the flames inched closer. She had barely enough time and just before she experienced her first sulfur before she dropped in on the leaves. They jumped for joy as the leaves ignited and the flames danced. Fire! It burned bright and fast. Now what they didn’t realize is it was October and the leaves had not only just fallen but they weren’t completely dry yet. It still rained a lot and the ground was cold and moist. The flame grew smaller and the Boy Scout fell to his knees and began to wave his hands in a panic to fan the flame and keep it going. His efforts only helped for seconds and the flame turned into smoldering leaves. They were devastated! Not only wouldn’t we get lunch, but we would lose because we had to complete all tasks successfully to win.


It was about this time, in a small town miles away, that my mother was just sitting down on the deck over looking the lake. I was at camp and my sisters were probably at friends’ houses. She probably had a sweetened ice tea at her side and her bare feet propped up enjoying the peace and quiet. It was at this moment that she probably reached for her leather pouch that housed her Vantage 100’s and her lighter. She’d take a cancer stick out, put it in her mouth and realize something was missing.


As my teammates cried I decided to bring out the secret weapon. I hovered down over the smoldering pile of disappointment and lit several areas of the leaves and kindling with my mother’s lighter and poof! We had a fire. As I scooped their jaws off the ground I grabbed the pack of hotdogs and said, “Hungry?” We all laughed and they hugged me and did a victory dance. I was so proud. Thank you God for older sisters and thank you God for my mother’s lighter. We quickly broke branches and speared lunch and cooked the wieners crispy. We ate, put out our fire and continued on the mission.


I was on fire with the compass. I guided us through those woods like Christopher Columbus. My teammates were ecstatic! The woods weren’t foreign to me. Back home I ran 1 mile through the woods each day to meet my best friend John. I wasn’t scared. As we got closer to the lodge we could smell supper in the air. Pretty soon you could see the smoke in the distance coming from the chimney. We were almost there, almost safe and warm, and minutes ahead of schedule.


The compass was attached to a string and was meant to carry around your neck. I took mine off as we got closer and we begin to skip in delight and swing the compass ‘round and ‘round until it gained so much momentum is took off and it was airborne! As it flew further away in slow motion, I remember yelling “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo.” And then SPLAT! It was gone in the blink of an eye. In normal geographical conditions this would’ve have been okay. We could’ve just went and picked it up and been on our way. But this wasn’t an option. No, it had to land in the forbidden bog.


A bog is an arctic swamp. They are highly acidic and release stinky sulfur smells and carbon dioxide and are actually very flammable. They have rotting vegetation and lichens and mosses and also have black holes. They are very dangerous if you walk in them as there are black holes that can swallow you without return. Walking in a bog would be like walking in quicksand with cement block for shoes. It is the point of no return. In my case, it was where victory met defeat. As we sat there devastated, the other teams began to run past one by one.


We learn a very strict lesson on cheating that day. We also swore never to speak of the magical lighter. I decided the legendary lighter deserved a proper burial so I chucked it into the bog to be with the compass, its predecessor.


This story went down in my book of virtues. Addiction is like this too. You have really high highs and really low lows. There is victory and then defeat. Even if you have a compass you can still lead down the wrong path.