Episode 18: Alliances

"Very well ... Let's do this systematically ... Robert, why don't you take Jake and Susan to harvest some decent grilling forks for every one, okay? Make sure that they're all made of green hardwood, no dead twigs, no pine or spruce, got it?"

Robert nodded and, after making sure he took his camper's knife (The only inconvenience to being naked was the scarcity of pockets.), he walked up the trail with his crew.

"Sam, why don't you take Linda, Tom, Luke and Ginger and hunt down some decent firewood. Try to get some good, dry pieces ... not too large and no rotten wood, okay? There should be a couple of axes in the storage locker. Give every body a chance to use the axes so that they can learn to do it right; and if you see they're doing it wrong, show them the right way. And, be careful, alright?"

Samantha stood to attention with an "Aye, aye, Sir." and saluted but the whole thing fizzled because, being barefoot, she couldn't click her heels. Every body laughed as she hopped on one foot, rubbing her ankle.

"Okay ... That leaves you, Lisa ... Why don't you take the twins and Thomas and Henry and set out the dishes, the ketchup, relish and mustard?"

"Oh, yeah... ? And what will you be doing, Hotshot?"

"Me... ?" as he stretched out full length on one of the picnic tables and closed his eyes, "I'm supervising."

"Oh, terrific!" she said loud enough for every one still there to hear. "I hope you pick up a load of splinters in your butt. And, if you DO get some, I'll have Sam dig 'em out with her axe."

In short order, the various teams had accomplished their tasks and everything was set. Robert had gathered enough green oak and maple forked yearling branches for every one plus a couple of spares, which he then skinned completely. Pete showed the younger campers how to stack the firewood so that it was within easy reach and how to build a proper campfire with birch bark kindling, small twigs, then larger twigs then small branches and finally larger branches.

"You see, the trick is to build it properly the first time so that you only need one match. If you screw up, you'll be spending anywhere from a half hour to an hour to get it properly lit. In the meantime, the people with you will be getting colder and colder. It's better to take ten minutes longer at the beginning than lose time, and sometimes your lives, by hurrying up."

To demonstrate, he struck a match, held it to the edge of a small piece of birch bark and soon, there was a nice little fire going.

"Whenever you need a fire, rather than just want a fire for looks, it's also important to try to get hardwood branches; maple, oak, beach or birch are good firewood trees. Apple is excellent but you don't often find it in woods growing wild. Soft woods like pine, spruce or cedar, they burn well but they also burn quickly; they give off a lot of heat so people have to sit far away. Then, when the wood is burnt up, the fire shrinks down to nothing, leaving the people out in the cold."