My Cub Scout Den name was the "Tailbone Patrol." We were allowed to be creative and make up our own identity as long as we could produce a sewn cloth badge for our uniforms. One of the mothers embroidered the behind of a mule with a yarn tail hanging from the badge!

Now Debbie works for the Girl Scouts--and believe me there is a LOT more to GS than cookies--and has camps, programs, activities year-round. The Southern Arizona Council serves 14,000 girls.

During the summer I often have summer camp memories.

Like when I needed my Cooking merit badge but had forgotten one tiny ingreedient of Scout's Stew. Pepper. So, I cleverly found some very dark  sandy dirt (or dirty sand?) and sprinkled just enough in the pot to have it float on top of the substance.

Other than my Scoutmaster noting that my stew was "a little gritty"... I passed.

But every kid and camper looks forward to the nightly campfire. So I offer this well-practiced list of instructions for

HOW TO BUILD A CAMPFIRE

1. Split dead limb into fragments and shave one fragment into slivers.
2. Bandage left thumb.
3. Chop other fragments into smaller fragments.
4. Bandage left foot.
5. Make a structure of slivers (including those embedded in the hand).
6. Light match.
7. Light a couple more matches.
8. Repeat "A Scout is cheerful" and light yet another match.
9. Apply match to slivers, add wood fragments, and blow gently into
base of flames.
10. Apply burn ointment to nose.
11. When fire is burning, collect more wood.
12. When fire is burning well, add all remaining firewood.
13. After thunderstorm has passed, repeat the above steps.

And if you are fortunate enough to get nice big bonfire going... tell scary stories ("the VIPER is coming"), sing camp songs ("Kumbayah"), roast marshmellows and make S'mores. Sleep tight and don't let every random sound make you think there are bears outside the cabin.