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Where the campfire is always crackling and visitors are always welcome, Cowboy is the pioneer behind the campfire reboot. | Before Phones Movement | Our supporters | Our adversaries | Main campfire

Intro - Campfire Pioneer

The Art of the Campfire Reboot

By Campfire Park

Cowboy is your host at Campfire Park ...

And the inventor of the "campfire reboot."

Failed s'mores reboot

Why a campfire reboot? For one, it solved a problem. Everybody was staring at their phones and nobody was coming out to the campfire talks at Campfire Park. Cowboy gets it: Campfire Park is remote, You have to drive through a stream, there's a puzzling fork in the road, the list goes on. But that doesn't mean the campfire tradition doesn't carry on. That's when Cowboy had the bright idea to drop a campfire kit of logs and kindling to peoples driveways at dusk, just like they do with the newspaper in the morning. After thinking it over more around the campfire, Cowboy had the idea of delivering the campfire talks directly by phone. And thus was born the "campfire reboot."

The great thing about the reboot, it's just not Cowboy. He has a whole team of hosts, or sometimes its just him, or other times a stranger stops by.

Cowboy recent colloquialisms

Mailbag: Campfire Breaks
Cowboy answers fan mail

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It’s a well known cliché …

That you shouldn’t reinvent the wheel.

Cowboy answers fan mail

But why not? What if a square wheel is better? In this modern day world that everything is turned on its head, there’s really no telling. Same goes with the campfire. Lots of people are going around and saying, “hey, the campfire is fine.” But if that’s the case, why are so many of our “in person” campfire talks not drawing big crowds, or really any people at all? Hint: It has nothing to do with the quality of our talks (in our opinion). That’s where Campfire Park’s very own Cowboy at the Campfire steps in to answer Suzy from Toledo’s letter about that the campfire reboot at Campfire Park is all about. Think “square wheel” only better.

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Factoid: A new analysis of burned antelope bones from caves in Swartkrans, South Africa, confirms that Australopithecus robustus and/or Homo erectus built campfires roughly 1.6 million years ago.

The campfire is always crackling and visitors are always welcome at Campfire Park

— Cowboy at the Campfire

Redemptive Return
A prodigal son returns to get things right

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Restoration is possible …

You just have to believe.

Prodigal son returns with a campfire confession

A little imagination doesn’t hurt either …

Plus a lot of hard work.

The list goes on.

Or is it too late? In this campfire confession, a prodigal son returns to to find a landscape he doesn’t remember and memory he wants to reclaim. Fortunately the Cowboy at the Campfire has a fire waiting and is ready to hear him out.

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Quote: “Redemption is not perfection. The redeemed must realize their imperfections.” — John Piper

Try not to overthink a song. Go with what pops in your head, run with it, and don’t stop until you cross the finish line.

— Bobby Angel

Scenic Muscovy Lake?
Art of balancing protection and access

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Here at Campfire Park …

We like to let people enjoy nature.

Cowboy has a plan, but will it work?

But sometimes people can love nature too much. Too many people in one spot can start to leave impacts. Such was the case at Scenic Lake when an unexpected visitor arrived: A Muscovy Duck. Just as quickly the visitors cleared out. (Let’s just say it isn’t the most majestic of creatures). Departure of the duck eventually led to a return of the visitors and the tell-tale impacts of over use they left behind. The solution? The Lake was aptly renamed Scenic Muscovy Lake. It was that inspired naming convention that led to just the right balance of preservation and visitation.

Well howdy folks, and I’m completely freaked out. And you know why. The fringe middle. The silent majority. Why are they so quiet?

— Buck Buckner

Swindler’s tale
Coming clean at the campfire

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You don’t get through life …

With a couple regrets.

A swindler repents

And then there’s the ones you can’t get past, that you just dwell, and no matter what you do you can’t shake. In retrospect, it was all so clear. But at the time, going back, you would have walked into the trap every time. So what’s the solution. Sometimes the only solace is to talk it out in front of the campfire, if only to yourself, or whoever’s there to listen.

This swindler knew better until he knew he threw it all away. Or is there a new path forward. Thank God for the Cowboy at the Campfire lighting the way, even if that only means listening. Sometimes listening will do.

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Quote: “Every swindle is driven by a desire for easy money; it’s the one thing the swindler and the swindled have in common.” — Mitchell Zuckoff

Remember the Rule of the Ninja: Never fear, never doubt, and never over think.

— Ranger Rudi

Original Gate
A short history of water management

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There was a time when the water just flowed …

Unfettered, free and without a thought.

A parable of a water manager, at night, with regrets

And then we built the original gate. And one more after that, and then another and another until there were too many to count. Granted, nothing is more complicated than water management. But let’s also face the facts: We brought it on ourselves.

And now the question: Can we still fix it to get it right? Or is it too late. In this short video, a confident water manager wavers with a moment of doubt, and a confession, in the middle of the night. The good news: The Cowboy at the Campfire was waiting.

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Quote: “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” — Benjamin Franklin

It’s a new dawn with Candidate Burt Silver, but only because he stayed up all night to see it

— Burt Silver

Power of the bookmark
And why you still need one

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Remember the days …

When a bookmark was a good present?

Cowboy talks bookmarks

Well, how else were you going to remember where you left of reading. Sure, you could use a scrap piece of paper, or alternatively dog ear a page, or even try to remember the page you last left off, but none of those had the style points of a good old fashioned bookmark — especially the ones with a tassel on the end. Today, bookmarks are pretty rare. And if you read from your phone or another digital device, really what’s the point. My solution: I highly recommend picking up a “paper and ink” copy of your favorite book (i.e. think of “paper and ink” as the “bricks and mortar” equivalent of a digital book), find a comfortable chair and settle down under a good reading light and just dive into a book. And no you won’t get it done in one sitting. That’s why you’ll need a good bookmark.

I don’t know much, but I’m inclined to spill whatever I do out at the campfire

— Old Miner

Proper illumination
The ideal lighting for reading a book

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Any well respecting reader knows:

You need a good lamp to probably read a book.

Cowboy talks “proper illumination”

My choice is a standing lamp with an articulated arm. This allows me to get the light in the exact spot that I need it to clearly see from my paperback book. Now, I know there are a lot of fancy and new fangled devices that provide the backlighting so you can read any old where, even in the middle of the dark. My issue with that is this: Some books require the good old-fashioned paper version to properly digest, and get lost within. Case in point are the Campfire Trilogy of books written by Robert V. Sobczak and Rudi Heinrich. Yes, I could read these books on my phone, or some other digital device, it isn’t until I completely unplug and soak them up in the soft lamp light that they truly transport me to the adventure of the story flow.

Now don’t get me wrong: I’m not a Luddite. But I also equally know that sometimes the paperback is the absolute way to go. Yes, technology is great, but let’s not lose our connections to “unplugged” books.

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