Dear Mom,
Our scout master told us all write to our parents in case you saw the flood
on TV and worried. We are OK. Only 1 of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got
washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the
mountain looking for Chad when it happened. Oh yes, please call Chad's
mother and tell her he is OK. He can't write because of the cast.
I got to
ride in one of the search & rescue jeeps. It was neat. We never would have
found him in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning. Scoutmaster Webb
got mad at Chad for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Chad said
he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him.
Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas can will blow up? The
wet
wood still didn't burn, but one of our tents did. Also some of our clothes.
John is going to look weird until his hair grows back.
We will be home on
Saturday if Scoutmaster Webb gets the car fixed. It wasn't his fault about
the wreck. The brakes worked OK when we left. Scoutmaster Webb said that a
car that old you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why
he can't get insurance on it. We think it's a neat car. He doesn't care if
we
get it dirty, and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the tailgate. It
gets pretty hot with 10 people in a car. He let us take turns riding in the
trailer until the highway patrolman stopped and talked to us.
Scoutmaster Webb is a neat guy. Don't worry, he is a good driver. In fact,
he is teaching Terry how to drive. But he only lets him drive on the
mountain
roads where there isn't any traffic. All we ever see up there are logging
trucks.
This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming
out in the lake. Scoutmaster Webb wouldn't let me because I can't swim and
Chad was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the
canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees
under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Webb isn't crabby like some
scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about the life jackets.
He has to spend a lot of time working on the car so we are trying not to
cause him any trouble.
Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit
badges. When Dave dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a
tourniquet works. Also Wade and I threw up. Scoutmaster Webb said it
probably
was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken, he said they got sick
that
way with the food they ate in prison. I'm so glad he got out and become our
scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while
he was doing his time. I have to go now. We are going into town to mail our
letters and buy bullets. Don't worry about anything. We are fine.
Love, Cole
--Unknown; found circulating in email.
A father is a person who is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic.
He growls when he feels good and laughs very loud when he is scared
half-to-death.
A father never feels entirely worthy of the worship in a child's eyes. He is
never quite the hero his daughter thinks. Never quite the man his son believes
him to be. And this worries him sometimes. (So he works too hard to try to
smooth the rough places in the road of those of his own who will follow him.)
A father is a person who goes to war sometimes...and would run the other way
except that war is part of an important job in his life (which is making the
world better for his child than it has been for him).
Fathers grow older faster than other people, because they, in other wars, have
to stand at the train station and wave goodbye to the uniform that climbs on
board.
And, while mothers cry where it shows, fathers stand and beam...outside...and
die inside.
Fathers are men who give daughters away to other men who aren't nearly good
enough, so that they can have children that are smarter than anybody's.
Fathers fight dragons almost daily. They hurry away from the breakfast table
off to the arena, which is sometimes called an office or a workshop. There
they tackle the dragon with three heads: Weariness, Works, and Monotony. And
they never quite win the fight, but they never give up.
Knights in shining armor; fathers in shiny trousers. There's little difference
as they march away each workday.
And when Father passes away, and after a good rest, he won't just sit on a
cloud and wait for the girl he's loved and the children she bore. He'll be
busy there too...repairing the stars, oiling the gates, improving the streets,
smoothing the way.
--Author unknown.
