I am excited to introduce today's guest post by Eric - my older brother, exemplar, supporter, and friend.
When I was as a young Boy Scout, one of my favorite places
to camp was at the Little Sahara Sand Dunes.
I remember playing touch football for hours at night, running barefoot in
the cooling sand with only the moon for light. When I got home I poured buckets of sand out
of my shoes, but I didn’t care, I had so much fun.
This month my sons’ Boy Scout troop went camping at some sand
dunes near the Little Sahara. I got off
work early on Friday to meet them there. They didn’t go to the regular
campgrounds that I remember, but to one further away, one without all of the ATVs
zooming around.
The one downside to their out-of-the-way campsite was the
quarter mile dirt road that I had to take to get there. At first the gravel road was decent, but soon
the dips got bigger and bigger. I was
doing well, taking it easy until I turned a corner and came upon deep, loose
sand. Before I knew it I was stuck. I got out, dismayed to see the front tires
deep in sand. I wanted to push it or dig
it out myself, but it was soon obvious that I couldn’t do it alone. I swallowed my pride and trekked the rest of
the way to the camp to ask for help. The
scouts came over but were unsuccessfully in digging or pushing me out. Luckily one of the scout leaders had a big
truck, so he hooked up a strap and pulled me out.
I had a great time at the camp. I enjoyed the sunny spring weather in the
desert and the natural beauty there. In
the morning we broke camp and got ready to leave. I was a little nervous about driving out, but
this time knew what to do. After
starting the car, I sped up, got some good momentum and just kept driving. I could see where I got stuck before and I
drove around it. It was a bumpy ride,
but I made it to the paved road without incident.
This experience gave me a lot to think about and things that I can affirm for myself:
1.
Spinning my wheels in the proverbial sand gets
me nowhere.
2.
Some problems I can’t get out of by myself.
3.
People will help when I’m humble enough to ask
for it.
4.
I can learn from previous pitfalls and know how
to avoid them.
5.
I don’t get stuck when I maintain momentum.
6.
Sometimes I just need to get sand in my shoes
and have fun.
