The volunteer effort went pretty well. My biggest fear was that turnout would be super-low, and it would be like four of us to try to make a dent in all the work that had to be done. Well, we had 12 from my church, plus probably 15 total from three other churches who joined in.

We got a fair amount done - cleaning the lodge, raking up leaves (especially important to get them away from the lodge and the cabins; we have a spring "fire season" here sometimes and getting anything flammable away from buildings is important). I also knocked down mud-dauber nests and stacked firewood.

I got more done once I made my peace with the fact that stopping every ten minutes to get two of the less-mature kids back on task actually meant less total work got done than if I just let them flake out and if I kept working hard (along with the more mature kids). Maybe not the best message - "Hey, if we keep messing up, the adults will eventually give up and leave us alone" but as I said, I could get a lot more work done (and was happier) if I just kept working and didn't get too bothered by other peoples' behavior.

And isn't that really one of the lessons of adulthood? That, at the base, the only person's behavior you have control over is your own?

(Oh well. Next time we are bringing more adults, splitting the kids into teams, and having an impartial "judge" from the camp staff choose what team does their job best. That team then will get some kind of small prize.)

Even though it meant giving up my Saturday, I like that kind of work. It's kind of a relief, when you wind up in "leadership positions" a lot, to just go do something where someone else tells you, "do this" and not only is it something you can do, but you can see your progress and you can tell when you are done.

And I wasn't even sore, despite perhaps a total of 5 hours working with my muscles out in the cold (carrying and stacking firewood, raking leaves and then pitching them into a trailer to be hauled away using a seed fork). I guess the exercise is working.

***

I cleaned house today. It really needed it, and tomorrow I've designated as a mostly research-reading day, and I can get more done and be happier in a clean house.

I made a batch of spelt-flaxseed bread in the bread machine, and I'm going to try something new with dinner tonight - baked sweet onion. I bought one of those big Vidalia (or Vidalia-imitator) onions at the store. Originally I was going to do sauteed onions but that's messy, and, as I said, I just cleaned house. So I called my mom, remembering that she used to do these (I never ate them; they didn't appeal to me then, but I've gotten more fond of onion things lately).

You heat the oven to 350*. Then you take the onion and cut it in half (a cross section - the stem end is in one half and the root end in another. And this is how much my mom and I have been shaped by our careers. She was describing cutting the onion and at first I wasn't sure what she meant, so I asked, "A cross section or a longitudinal section?" Hahaha.) Then you cut an "x" in the top of each half so the rings will separate a little. To season it, all you add is butter (or olive oil; I'm going to use butter so they will brown) and a little brown sugar.

That was the "huh" moment for me. But she assures me that's how you do it and it's good, so I'm going to try it.

They get baked until they are "done," that is, soft and a little browned. She couldn't remember how long that takes but I'm guessing 20 minutes is probably a good point to start checking.

I'll report on how it is tomorrow.

***
I'm picking away at various projects - can't seem to settle on any one thing. Started the first Pay it Forward gift last night, then worked some on the Landscape shawl, then got up and ironed some quilt fabric I had washed off.