What we're built to do.

I've had lot's of jobs in the 13 years since I've graduated college. More if you consider the jobs while in school. I've been a stagehand, a barista, I've sold men's sweaters and women's bras, I've hired, trained and fired people, I've been a counselor, and a bank manager, I've written about hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, women's football, and giant diesel engines. Out of all of those things I've done over the years, I'm truly only built to be one thing: A Dad.

Being a Dad can be maddeningly frustrating, but then something changes. My little boy realizes he likes to give hugs and he tries to squeeze the air out of your neck each time. My big boy, finally turns his writing grade around. Then you realize these are the reasons why you bring kids into this world. So you can hold them close, and see them succeed. The frustration is actually unimportant, and passes as quickly as a summer breeze. The smiles and elation, well that sticks to you, like peach juice on your chin. Delicious, and worth every minute.


It's easy to lose sight of the important things in life. After all we have to have a roof over our heads and food on the table. What we choose to do to earn the money for those things is not who we are. They are not the legacy we'll leave behind on this Earth. The children that we shape and mold define the type of person we want to be. Whether those children are yours through biology, or as a result of life events bringing that little person into your life. Even if you never have your own, there will be children in your life that you will create an indelible mark on.

Never is this more prevalent to me than when we head away from home to go camping. Our first trip this year was May 10-12, Mother's Day Weekend. I think it speaks a lot about Jen that she wanted to go camping this weekend. Even though we are at a beautiful old cabin, being in the woods with a 7 and 2 year old is no easy task. Keeping two adults fed and happy is a chore enough away from home, but drive up into the mountains with two youngsters in tow, and you're asking for some frustrating moments.


It's all worth it though. My oldest did a 3 mile hike, across creeks, up and down slippery hills, through wet grass that soaked his shoes in the first 15 minutes, and not once did he complain. He paid attention to plants that were blooming. Saw a Red-Tailed Hawk soaring. Then shied away from a Orange Salamander crossing the path in front of us. My youngest ate a hot dog bun, and the hot dog! (If you have ever had a toddler you'll get it.) He even toasted his own marshmallow, and played in the rain.

After packing up camp, cleaning the cabin, we made the hour long car ride home. Since it was Mother's Day we visited both Nana's for a short while. After that we had a little dinner and as I finished the dishes my youngest hugged my leg and said, "Daddy, I go back to camp now?"  Yeah, the nights of rough sleep, the tears over homework, the frustration isn't important. We made an indelible mark on Robert's and Aiden's souls this weekend, and that is more precious than anything in the world.

How do you create memories that last a lifetime?  Leave your ideas in the comments. I'd love to hear them.

Happy Exploring
Scott M

And a dash of color

There's not to many things that stand out more in the forest, than an out of place dash of color.

Even though the woods are often full of objects to look at, most of those objects fall into the same color palette: greens, browns, some grays.

That's what makes the highly colored elements so strikingly beautiful. Take the Trillium here to the left as a prime example. The fuscia of the petals caught my attention from a solid 10 yards away. After 3 hours of hunting turkeys, and a 1/4 mile hike to explore a new area, here is this lone sentinel of color growing next to the trail. No other flowers around this one. A few hay-scented ferns, still tightly wound in the "fiddle-head" stage, but nothing close to this Trillium in color. While I'd love to add this beautiful plant to my home garden, he belonged to those woods. I'll visit that area next spring to see if maybe another plant has sprouted up next to this one.

Then there was this fellow traveller. Technically a Red-Spotted Newt, though most of us just called them orange salamanders whenever we saw them growing up. Interestingly enough This is considered the "terrestrial stage" because after being hatched in a pond, they take to the land to scout out a new pond where they will mate and continue on their species. The terrestrial stage helps to avoid inter-breeding, and keeps the gene-pool free of defects.

Look at the overview of where I found this newt travelling. He's easy enough to miss, until you see that out of place bright orange color in the center of the frame.

That's the joy of springtime in the woods. Sure our home gardens are popping up with daffodils and tulips. And they provide a welcome change of color, but the woods have been so quiet and devoid of any color that coming across these two examples of bright colors in nature, is a sight for sore eyes.


Unfortunately my boys weren't with me on this trip. They aren't old enough to head to the woods and hunt with Dad. They are old enough to hike around my uncle's cabin, and that's exactly what we'll be doing this weekend. I don't know who's more excited me and Jen, or the boys.

Robert is very excited because he has a new telescope and using it in the city hasn't been a really good time. We'll be on top of Cole Hill in Pittsfield, PA. Not the darkest point in PA, but it is in fact quite close. About 100 yards in either direction from camp there will be open fields where we'll set up the telescope and try to find a good view of the heavens. Aiden is quite excited himself. We had a small backyard bonfire on Saturday night and once the fire was up and running the first thing he asked for was a marshmallow.

Amazing the things kids remember, he'll be 3 in July and hasn't been camping in nearly 10 months, but he remembers that fires are for marshmallows.

What are your favorite springtime memories or past times?

What do you look forward to when going camping?

Leave a comment below. I'd love to hear about your adventures.