Operation Pup Tent...

Growing up, my grandparents lived in Northern Minnesota 

in a real, live log cabin... 

It had all the modern conveniences of an ordinary home, 

but Grandma lovingly furnished the inside with cozy antiques, 

rag rugs and a wood burning Franklin stove...

I can still smell the sweet pine scent 

that permeated everything inside...

Most childhood summers were spent 

in the north woods near McGregor, 

splashing around in the frigid waters of Turtle Lake, 

catching teeny sunfish and blue gills 

with the cane poles and looking for toads on the shore...  

It was idyllic and full of innocence.... 

One of the gifts of being a child

is the pure ignorance of what 

being an adult is all about...  

Little ones don't understand grown up jokes 

and hopefully they don't feel the burden 

carried by those who raise them...  

That whole "big people" world 

is as foreign as the next planet, 

as it should be...

Plenty of time for a kid

to be grown up themselves, anyway...  

Some summers spent on Turtle Lake 

were without my dad...  

He had his own architectural firm

that demanded six day work weeks 

with no let up...  

As I know too well, having your own business 

is all consuming...

It was a big deal if Dad could make the ten hour trip 

to the cabin with us...  

On this particular vacation, 

my brother was allowed to invite his best buddy, 

Joe Laughead, along...  

Joe was a happy go lucky, tow-headed boy, 

with an easy laugh and a sweet disposition...  

Joe was up for anything 

and he had the same high energy level

as my brother, so they were two peas in a pod...  

I believe the boys were fourth graders

 at the time of this trip, 

so I must have been heading into seventh grade...  

Clearly, I wanted nothing to do with them

 and I probably kept my nose

 in the current "Seventeen Magazine" 

while they played...  

Surely, my dad would not have masterminded

 the idea to camp out on the island in the lake...  

I am going to say it was Mom's scheme...  

The grand plan was for Dad 

and the two boys to camp overnight 

on the tiny island in the middle of the lake... 

Let me just mention that Mom's idea of camping 

is staying at a hotel...

Sounds like Dad got the short end of the stick...

Anyway, the guys would cook a rustic dinner of hot dogs, 

corn and beans over the fire...  

S'mores may have been packed 

in the duffel bag, too...  

After a good night's sleep under a thousand stars, 

these hearty men would rustle up a breakfast,

worthy of any lumberjack in Aiken County,

before making the five minute boat ride

across the lake to the comfortable cabin on the hill....  

Best laid plans...   

Northern Minnesota is not known for its warm, 

dry weather until, oh, about mid-August...  

Yes, summers as we knew them up there, lasted about 17 days 

before the frost hit on Labor Day weekend...  

So, on that late afternoon in July, 

the water was still chilly and rain threatened 

as they crossed Turtle Lake for Operation Pup Tent...  

The island was a small one, 

with beaver dams to the north end 

and an owl residing on the westerly side...  

After disembarking the small fishing boat 

with their gear and provisions, 

Dad set up the tent...  

He realized its paltry size provided shelter 

for only the two boys...  

He would have to rough it overnight,  

out in the open...  

Joe and Erik were so excited to be on this adventure, 

they tore around the island, 

tripping over dead trees, 

whooping like injuns...  

They were not much help 

in the camp set up, 

Dad soon learned...  

The damp wood added challenge to build the fire, 

but soon Dad got a blaze going...  

He wasn't a Boy Scout fer nuthin'...

Dusk was closing in as the B1 Bomber-sized mosquitos 

began to hum at the perimeter of the bonfire...  

The kids roasted hot dogs and s'mores, 

dropping more than a few marshmallows 

into the flames...  

Turtle Lake is smallish and there is little boat traffic...  

In other words, it is very quiet... 

The call of the loons can be heard for at least a mile...

In fact , you can hear the smallest crunch of leaves

from quite a distance...  

 

And that is when Dad heard a painfully familiar sound...  

"Clinky, Clink, Clinkaaa..."   

It was the melodious, lovely sound of ice, 

jingling in a rocks glass...  

My sweet, evil mother was taunting my dad 

from the porch across the lake...  

She was having a scotch, jiggling her glass, on purpose,

while he was swatting mosquitos 

and trying to keep Erik from falling into the fire...  

The mental image of this scene 

makes me want to pee with laughter...  

How she could do that to him 

just cracks me up...  

To pour salt into the wounds, 

she then fired up the gas grill 

and cooked us some steaks....  

I can only imagine the four letter words 

that came to Father's mind when the smell of rib eyes 

floated across the water...

Oh, that woman was MEAN! 

And funny...

 Soon it was time for bed, 

and the boys clambered into the pup tent 

and slipped into their sleeping bags...  

Each boy had a flashlight 

and they brandished them all over the tent 

for what seemed to Dad, for hours...  

Dew falls heavy in the North Woods at night... 

Since Dad was left out in the elements, 

he used a long drop cloth to cover himself from the wet...  

Charlie, our schnoodle, was also in attendance 

for Operation Pup Tent, and when he wasn't pawing at the metal boat,

 asking to go home, 

he snuggled his damp, wooly, smelly doginess

 in the sleeping bag with Dad...  

 

His breath was monumentally bad, 

so Chuck stuck his head out 

from under the drop cloth for air, panting...  

At some point in this sleepless night, 

a mother bear, in the distance, 

was startled and she sent her cubs up a utility pole for safety...  

Unfortunately, one of the cubs 

bumped into a live wire...  

It screamed, bloody murder, in pain, 

and dropped to the ground...

Luckily, the bears were not nearby, 

but the raucous noise they made 

woke up the troops... 

Charlie woofed sleepily and rolled over in the sleeping bag, 

but the boys woke with a start 

and began waving the flashlights around again...   

Dad's joints ached from lying on the hard ground 

and his head throbbed from lack of sleep 

and fatherly hyper vigilance... 

Finally, he dozed off again...

Erik and Joe popped awake around six am,

 bright-eyed and bushy tailed...  

Blearily, Dad sat up and mentally planned 

the preparation of breakfast...  

Suddenly, he sniffed the heavenly aroma

of bacon...  

Mom was frying up a farmer's breakfast 

and she had turned on the ventilation...  

Bacon wafted across the lake, 

seducing all in its path...  

That was it...  

Operation Pup Tent was now concluded!  

With renewed vigor, 

the guys struck the campsite 

and high tailed it across Turtle Lake 

for a proper breakfast...  

I hadn't heard this hilarious tale

until my dad told it to me 

while we watched the Cubs 

clobber the Diamondbacks recently... 

It warms my heart, 

because the story well illustrates 

to what lengths my dad would go 

to give us kids a great time... 

This camping episode may have well birthed

my brother's love of the outdoors... 

He is an avid camper and fisherman, 

God Bless him...

Dad hand crafted my first doll house, 

and my hope chest, too...

He coached my softball team with great enthusiasm 

and danced with me in dancing competitions

and on my wedding day...  

He is quite the dancer...

Pop has always operated with an incredibly strong work ethic 

and has taught me much in the business world...  

But beyond the hard work, discipline and determination 

is the funny, soft daddy who willingly took his son camping, 

who fished for Northerns with us, 

who taught me how to throw a ball like a boy,

 to make that outside jump shot 

and how to follow, not lead, on the dance floor...  

My dad is amazing 

and I am so lucky to still have him around... 

He may no longer be up for roughing it in the woods 

(neither am I!), 

but he is always ready for a Cubs game, 

a good steak and a joke or two... 

Thank you for a happy life, Dad... 

I love you...

In spirit of Operation Pup Tent,
Here are some S'mores recipes from Pinterest
that look tasty...

S'MORES MILKSHAKE

S'MORES COOKIES

S'MORES SUNDAES

S'MORE BROWNIE PIE