Campfire Park

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.

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

— Burt Silver

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

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

— Old Miner

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.

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

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

— Cowboy at the Campfire
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