“I Can’t Help Myself”

July 15, 2005

Unless you are a Motown person from the 1960’s (I am,) the Four Tops do not come to mind when you see today’s essay title. That said, I absolutely contend that Council Fire reveals Kingswood at its finest. I can’t help myself.

First, the back story: It poured for a short period yesterday afternoon but the horn sounded in plenty of time for people to get to where they wanted to be while waiting out the showers. Soon enough, Mike Wiff announced the “all clear” to resume B Block and general swim. In my photo album, you can see a couple of pix of the dark clouds moving to the east of us, always the preferred direction. Most boys thereupon sprinted out the cabin doors.

Now, to Council Fire. Todd S. is the one person who can produce a nice bonfire made out of all wet wood. His hatchet and a few scraps of dry paper were enough to get the fire going, and he revealed many of his tricks to his helpers, Leo, Stevie, Miles and yours truly.

I labeled the blaze as a “bonfire” and maybe it was a tad short of that, but the full-flamed product was a nice and welcoming one to the crowd, who found the benches completely dry by our 8PM commencement. Rob, Mike and I took advantage of that sudden afternoon downpour to tell some stories about camp trips that ran into foul weather.

Once a year, Rob Wiff recounts the epic Mahoosuc hike he took as a Kingswood camper in the 1990’s where the group encountered four consecutive full days of rain, and with a broken stove to boot! Hard spaghetti noodles with cold tomato sauce is no one’s dream meal when hopelessly cold and wet. That one never knows what is in store on a hike into the wilderness is a reason TO sign up for hikes. The campers are buying into this; registrations have been very strong this summer.

Some great music followed the stories and we also witnessed plenty of ambient colors from the sunset. At these moments, the boys can be persuaded to remain reasonably still, either staring into the fire or beyond that venue to the glorious natural setting we are so fortunate to have to ourselves!

I hope I didn’t cause too much of a disturbance when I snuck behind boys and tapped their shoulders to get them to turn my way. In my photos of individual boys, you can see the likes of Levi, George, Helga, James, Todd, Spanky and Zac in the background playing guitars and singing great songs.

“Sugar pie, honey bunch… I can’t help myself.”