o happy day

Manual labor is good for the soul!

My soul really enjoyed a campus ministry trip to the Skokie Forest Preserve today, where we used hand saws and "Cyndi Loppers," as we so wittily christened them, to cut down invasive buckthorn bushes and trees. Lots and LOTS of them.

And then we burned the branches on a campfire.

Boy, do I love campfires. I loved the childhood family campfires at Cleary Lake, where we made "pies" with Wonder Bread and cherry pie filling, boiled eggs in Dixie cups and sang 60's protest songs. I loved the EWALU campfires where we sang songs and played guitar and did skits and generally made a bunch of kids love Jesus. And I loved the "campfires" at Sky Ranch, where we cooked mac and cheese over our Whisperlites and directed our acapella camp songs into the sunset over the mountains.

So, yeah, good day. Very happy day. I needed that.