Podcast 400

Scoutmaster Tribute. Live from North Central Wisconsin, best friends who grew up together pay tribute to a father to one, and a scoutmaster to the other. Both friends are eccentric enough, as was the father and scoutmaster. Their conversation takes place at a rural hideaway built with anything that could be scrounged, or used. The setting sparks a conversation about what they learned in scouts. In ‘Stand By Me’ Stephen King’s narrator says that the friendship’s he forged around twelve or thirteen were the strongest of his life, that he never had friends like that again, and wondered if anybody does. Through thick and thin, on and off through the years two friendships have been the most important to me, largely because of our experiences camping with the Boy Scouts, and for me, especially because of our scoutmaster, who also happened to be my best friend’s dad. Sure he was eccentric, but he taught us all so many great lessons. Later he built a complex of crazy quilt cabins — where this podcast was recorded — which are packed with every kind of thing you can imagine, from every kind of era, and who knows where he got most of them. He never said no to anyone who offered something they didn’t want anymore — and most of that stuff is up in Wisconsin. Given the current situation, all commentary on politics these days sounds like an echo chamber. It’s nice to sit outside on a classic hot summer day in the middle of nowhere in North Central Wisconsin, and talk about things that are, or were real. Friendships that last a lifetime, friends who are as much family as they are friends, experiences we’ll never forget, and people we met over the years who were real characters. After all, aren’t friendship and family the most important things anyway. Sponsored by X Government Cars

Podcast 201

Live from the Lake! A family celebration of music sparked thoughts about these summertime family rituals. Friends and families getting together at ‘the cabin’ or in their backyards in the upper Midwest, where summer is so short and so sweet. Whether it is a bar-b-que, bonfire, games at the lake, or someone’s birthday, family celebrations can be enriching for everyone involved. We live in a time of cynicism and negative judgement. Our media thrives on conflict. Yet, on this Saturday in August, 2014, a family, friends and neighbors gathered for a recital of beginning adult musicians and everyone got into the act. Some say ‘America’ is ‘lost’, beyond ‘redemption’ and that the country ‘we’ once new is dead. And yet, people are capable of doing truly incredible things. Whether it is art, crafts, or passing down lessons learned from elders on how to fish, or hunt, or just to play games, people are getting together and sharing with each other all over this country. And…it’s always been that way. We just never hear about it anymore. This is a chronicle of one Saturday in late August, at the lake in Wisconsin, and the lessons learned. Sponsored by X Government Cars.