When I came to the bowl this evening, I had planned to tell you all a story about a princess in the stars. But thanks to the weather, the only stars we'll have tonight are the ones we make ourselves. So instead of telling you a story that I memorized, I'll tell you a story from my heart.
How many of you have ever left something behind, and had to go back for it? Yes, I thought so... and I see some of the princesses have, too. I'm going to tell you a story about a walking stick that got left behind.
Last night was a beautiful evening at Jones Gulch. The stars were out, for a while at least, and the air was crisp and clean. You could hear the sounds of the nighttime animals, and of the dads and daughters who had come here to have fun together.
After the clouds rolled in and prevented any further stargazing, my princess and I decided to visit each of the circles at their cabins before turning in for the night.
After we had finished our visit with the last group, we returned to our cabin to get ready for bed. When we got all the way back to our cabin, we discovered that Noelle's walking stick had been left behind at our last visit.
Of course, we had to go back and get it. But instead of having an attack of parental impatience, I looked forward to taking another walk in the woods with my daughter.
While we were walking along the path in the dark, Noelle stumbled over some protruding roots. She didn't fall, though, because I was holding her hand. And I thought to myself that I was glad I was there to catch her. After we made sure neither of us was hurt, we continued on toward the group of cabins.
As we walked, I hoped that I would always remember these moments on our special weekend together at Jones Gulch, and I hoped that Noelle would always remember them, too.
We retrieved the walking stick, and returned to our cabin and to bed. However, I couldn't fall asleep, because I was worrying about my star story for tonight. What would happen if it got cloudy even earlier, and there were no stars for my story?
I had to come up with an emergency story! I tossed and turned for a while, and then it came to me. With all of the wonderful, magical things happening here that I wanted to remember forever, I'd tell a story about making memories to last for a lifetime.
That's the reason we're in the Y Guides, and here at Jones Gulch tonight.
When I walked into the bowl this evening, and saw Dave and Natalie standing in front of the teepee, the magic happened for me. When Dave called for us to help start the fire, we chanted together and started this beautiful blaze, and the magic happened again.
Share the magic of this place with each other, and keep the memories forever.