Bob talks trilogy
A half hour chat

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How does a campfire talk …

Become a book, let alone a trilogy?

Bob riffs randomly on the Campfire Trilogy

Let’s just say one thing led to another, led to another, led to another until we were too deep in to turn around. By we, I mean Rudi and me. The year was 2014. We were around a campfire celebrating the 40th birthday of Big Cypress National Preserve. Looking back, that was the original campfire, our original campfire, and from which everything that came after took root. First our campfire talks where we went “old school” and ditched the Power Point that Ranger Rudi would have otherwise used had I not suggested we collaborate, just him, me and my guitar and a script that kept the audience guessing at every turn. The occasion was the 100th birthday of America’s national parks, rapidly approaching in 2016. Twelve campfire talks later, we’d done our job — with the caveat we wanted to do more. And so the idea for a book was born.

Eight months into writing the novel, which we tentatively entitled The Legend of Campfire Charlie, I informed Rudi that we had too much material, and that the only solution was to turn it into a trilogy. Thus, what started as a half-hour campfire talk turned into a 6-year writing odyssey. Not that I didn’t enjoy the process, I did. In fact, it was a diversion that kept my mind spinning, and helped me refine and expand my writing process. The first book we published in 2016 in time for the 100th birthday, if also not to much fanfare. Not that I cared. There were still two more books to write. By 2020 the trilogy was done, with a twist: the books needed a home. And so the idea for the Campfire Park website was born. Rudi and I were less interested in hawking the books than continuing the conversation around the campfire, just like the “original campfire” where the entire project came to life.

Spoiler alert: The trilogy is great, and I recommend all three books. But an abridged version of all three books is on the way. At the end of the day, even if it takes decade, I’d like to think and always want to be remembered as a finisher — somebody who set out to on a great journey and got to the finishing point.

Oh, and about the roll out of the soon-to-be-released abridged book. It should be just in time for the 50th Anniversary of Big Cypress National Preserve in November 2024. Actually, the abridged version should be out before then.

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Books of the Trilogy: (1) The Legend of Campfire Charlie, (2) Last Stand at Boulder Ridge and (3) Final Campfire. An abridged version is in the works.

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

— Burt Silver

Buck and Paste
And how it compares to other great inventions

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In the great debate …

Of humanities greatest invention:

Buck gives a short tutorial on “Cut and Pasting”

It probably varies according to who you ask. Going back to the beginning, many would say the wheel, or any of the other six simple tools (wedge, screw, lever, pulley, inclined plane and the wheel and axle). From a more contemporary viewpoint, others might say the microwave oven, the automobile, the computer, the mobile phone, and probably not the toaster, although I would give it a vote (I toast all my bread). The camera, moving pictures, the airplane and the printing press probably also rank high. And for that matter, whoever invented writing in general, has to get a vote. Speaking of writing, AM Radio host Buck Buckner from In The Bunker is solidly of the mindset that the fine art of “cut and paste” ranks high on the list of the greatest inventions of the modern age.

To be sure, it’s as good a campfire question as there is: What tops your list as the greatest invention of all time?

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My Top 5: (5) ball point pen, (4) the clock, (3) duct tape, (2) car radio, (1) the toaster.

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

— Ranger Rudi

Greetings from Nature Folk HQ
Boogie and the Nature Folksters battle it out

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Howdy folks,

And welcome to Nature Folk HQ.

What exactly is Nature Folk HQ? Well, for one, it’s the place I’m standing, by the campfire, roasting a marshmallow. But more than a place it’s a state of mind where we try not to talk about it (that much), we just do it.

In fact, we believe our action-based approach is the secret to our success. And it’s not just us. Here at Nature Folk HQ we know it takes a community to bring the Nature Folk Movement (NFM) to life.

Our Supporters

Short list of some of our Nature Folksters (i.e. folk stars) and activities we support:

(1) Attend a Campfire Talk (at CampfirePark.Org)

Sick of the rat race? How about kicking back around the campfire to hear a campfire talk. The campfire is the place we gather to reconnect with nature and talk about what is essential in life. We think you’ll enjoy this modern-day reboot of the ancient tradition.

(2) Ride the Water Cycle (at GoHydrology.Org)

There’s no better way to get back in touch with nature than by tuning in with the water cycle. Whether it’s a recent shift in the skies or a new water flow pattern in the deep swamp, Go Hydrology is your passport into the innerworkings of the water cycle.

(3) Hear a Campfire Shanty (at BobbyAngel.Org)

Are you bored of “reading” about conservation topics? Well how about listening to a campfire shanty that explores the topic at a whole new level. Bobby Angel is a balladeer whose growing archive of songs and albums helped inspire the Nature Folk Movement (NFM).

(4) Rediscover your Bookshelf (at ReReadable.Org)

Over a decade after the invention of the smartphone, the bookshelf has been cast away on the dust heap like so much else. No longer. Rereadble resuscitates the old (and new) books on our bookshelf back to life, and ponders out loud what being rereadable is all about.

(5) Journey Back to Before Phones (BP) (at BeforePhones.Org)

Granted, it was a bizarre time, but believe it or not people once survived (even thrived) in the pre-phone era, also known as the Great Phonelessness. Join the researchers at Before Phones as they uncover the latest archeological finds about this cryptic historical period.

(6) Get into Good Penmanshape (at Penmanshape.Org)

Sick of “thumbing” everything you write? And let’s face it, using a keyboard may be writing, true – but it’s also keeping you in front of a screen. There’s no better workout for the hands and the mind than sitting down with a blank piece of paper and a killivine (that’s just a fancy word for a pen!)

Our Adversaries

Short list of groups we do not support

Folks, I cannot impress upon you enough —

Steer clear of the Boogie Phone.

Boogie is bad news! #BewareOfBoogie

Well, thanks once again folks, for tuning in. And until next time, go out there and do something to help spread the Nature Folk Movement (NFM) to a family member or friend.

Yours Truly,

Guitar

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Tidbit: The Nature Folk Movement (NFM) started around a campfire in 2014.

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

— Old Miner

You’ve got junk mail
And how it's multiplied in modern times

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Is anyone else …

Inundated with junk mail?

Junk mail is the 9th deadly sin (for those who send it)

I remember the bygone days when we could simply rip it up. Yes, it was a bother, and yes it was a waste of trees and no, I very rarely (actually never) replied. But like a lot of things when I look back all I can think is — how quaint. Compare it to today where I managed multiple email accounts each of which is fed with a steady drip of messages that I don’t even have to open up to know they are trash. And there are the phone calls. One after the next to the point whenever I get a call at all I’ve defaulted to answering, “No, I’m not interested in my vehicle’s extended warrantee.” To be honest, sometimes I feel sorry for the people on the other line. As much as it’s a bother to me, for them it’s their life, call after call trying to get someone to bite. Such is the state of the modern world. We’ve developed all this information to bring the world to the tip of our hands, only to fritter it away by clogging it all up with an onslaught of spam.

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Estimate: 33 percent of all mail delivered worldwide is junk mail.

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

Forgotten forest
fondly remembered, only too late

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It’s the type of forest …

Nobody cares about until it’s gone.

Ugliest Forest, the Song

And if we’ve seen it once we’ve all seen in a thousand times. It’s that patch of trees that looks pretty enough, although it may be infested with invasive trees, and littered with trash. And no it’s never that big patch of woods, just a remnant of a larger contiguous mass or woods that got gobbled up by housing developments of various types.

Ugliest Forest, the Interview

Why and how that patch of woods escaped development is anyone’s guess. Maybe it got held up in a real estate dispute, or maybe the owner was holding out for a higher price, or maybe the zoning laws were still being hashed out. Whatever the case, the patch of woods survived, and even thrived as judged by the birds and the bunnies and the mice (and maybe even a bobcat). And then just like that, in move the bulldozers …

And the woods are gone.

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

Campfire Questions
And why the answers don't matter

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Some questions are best asked …

Around the campfire.

The answer may surprise you

The reason why depends on a number of things. What’s said around the campfire stays around the campfire has to be high on the list. Part truth serum and part ring of trust, there’s an unspoken rule around the campfire that whatever you say there is between the people present and the crackling embers, and rendered in the end to a pile of flakey ash. Another reason may be the ambiguous nature of the answer, or its complexity, or a general acknowledgement that whatever was asked could never be fully solved or understood, just pondered out loud around the popping embers and flame. Maybe, too, it’s the relaxation reflex that kicks in, allowing the conversation to twist and turn in any number of directions without care or concern if the question gets fully explored, or maybe instead opens doors to new questions or quandaries that weren’t directly asked. The truth about the campfire: It has a mysterious way. It lends itself to nonlinear thinking and pregnant pauses of saying nothing at all.

A campfire question is less about the answer than allowing the mind wander to wherever it needs to go.

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

— Cowboy at the Campfire

Old school angel
And why it took 14 years

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Believe it or not …

I sang my first song in 1999.

Playing to a packed audience at The Pavilion

It would take another 15 years to record my first song. The reason? For one, smart phones didn’t become ubiquitous until sometime around 2010. Another reason might be that my songs were never planned events. Sometimes it would be a day before a farewell party and I didn’t have a song. Or I had a song that was half cooked and still being very unsure if I would be ready for show time. But I learned my lesson quickly: People preferred any song to no song at all. And I was pretty much a persona non-grata if I showed up empty handed without a song to play. The question still needs to be asked: How many songs did I sing in the great “blacked out” period between 1999 and 2014. If I had to guess — and just counting farewell songs — I would say a good two dozen, maybe more.

Many of them I wrote down. Just as many I forgot the chords. But maybe that’s the most incredible thing. One song called The Ballad of the Florida Panther I only sang once, and really even then when I sang it I was just trying to follow the chicken scratch page of lyrics I’d scribbled together in the day before Krista left. The year was 2005. How I managed to reconstruct the song (and the chords) fifteen years later is anybody’s guess other than I’m 100 percent positive I remembered the correct chords. I’m not saying I’m a great artist, but twenty years after singing my first song and barely being able to play more than a few chords I have a pretty good webpage. Next steps: Live performance. Ready or not world, Bobby Angel is ready, willing and able to tour. But not until I get done my third album, yet to be named.

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