Dog days of summer
My brother, Bryant, is at camp this month. Not camp like counselors and swimming in the lake and girls' camp/boys' camp dances ... no no. Field camp. Bryant just graduated from Wash U with his degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences and one of the requirements for the diploma is that he complete a field camp. Imagine going to Nowheresville, Montana (I think the name of the town is actually Billings) and during the day time .... hunting for rocks. And not just any rocks. Specific rocks. As if that doesn't sound like enough fun ... Bryant called Saturday night and was telling me about their living conditions. I was under the impression, when he originally told us about field camp, that they would be staying in dorms. When I talked to him Saturday night he described the place as barracks. There are 8 of them in a room, 4 sets of bunk beds. They've each been issued a sleeping mat (not a mattress, a mat) and a pillow and a blanket, plus whatever they brought along. In order to do laundry they have to hitch a ride to town and go to a laundromat. They don't have bathrooms, they have what my brother described as "washrooms" which are down the road, about 2 minutes by foot. When asked what he did if he had to pee and it was raining outside, his response was, "Roll over and try and go back to sleep while drowning out the sound of the rain." It's cold where they're staying - about 40 or so at night, and 50s in the daytime - but during the day they make daytrips to various excavation sites. Sometime last week they made a trip to an oil field where my brother said that it was in the mid 90s, which was "cooler than usual" since it's usually 110 on that field in the day. And the ratio of men to women is ... are you ready? ... 29 men to 4 women. Bryant said one of the guys is trying to pick up a member of the kitchen staff. And there are apparently 3 Japanese guys --- FROM JAPAN. And Bryant pointed out, quite practically, "I don't know how they're learning anything - none of them speak English." Suffice it to say, the camp doesn't sound like ... well, it just doesn't sound like much fun. He'll be leaving it early for the wedding on July 7th. But if you ever didn't like summer camp, talk to Bryant. I'm sure he'd be happy to trade with you on that one.