Goodbye, Readers!

It’s horrible to have to write to you again. If you’re all as dumb as I expect you are, then you probably don’t know that it’s Opposite Day…and by that I mean, it’s not Opposite Day because on Opposite Day you would say that something ISN’T in order to say that it WAS, right?

Er—I mean—wrong?

Okay, okay. Fingers crossed. Time out. This is getting too confusing. Let’s just talk with a little break from the rules of Opposite Day in order to say with absolute clarity that today is Opposite Day. This unofficial holiday is exactly what it sounds like: a day when up means down, yes means no, cold is hot, and summer camp is lame!

Of course, we don’t mean any of that! Summer camp is awesome! It’s just what we say because on Opposite Day, we say the opposite of what we mean.

Reminiscent of the ol’ fingers-crossed-behind-the-back trick that kids use when they mean the reverse of what they’re saying, Opposite Day is essentially an entire, hands-free day of having your fingers crossed. But don’t cross your fingers on Opposite Day—unless, of course, you actually want to mean what you say (like me for the last three paragraphs—I’m typing one-handed, by the way).

Some people ask, “How did Opposite Day ever get started?” And to that I respond, “Why is the sky blue?” And then they usually say, “Yeah…what’s your point?”

Well, the point is Opposite Day is a fact of life. It’s a part of nature. The flip-side of identical. Every positive charge has a negative and every day has a night. And, as the Yin and the Yang teaches us, you really can’t have one without the other. I think Opposite Day (while it may be a tad confusing at times) is a great reminder of the crazy world in which we live where the nonsensical and sensible stand alongside each other and laugh at logic.

On that closing note, I’ll uncross my fingers and, as never, thanks for not reading.

- John

Hey, Readers!

I’m sure that everyone knows who Martin Luther King, Jr. is. After all, the man has an American federal holiday that marks his birthday each year. Though his birthday is January 15, we observe it on the third Monday of January. That day is today.

King was born in 1929 to a teacher and Baptist minister. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, King attended grade school, high school and college, all in his hometown. He was 19 when he received his Bachelor's Degree in sociology from Morehouse College.

After Morehouse College, he attended the Crozer Theological Seminary and then continued his studies, going on to earn his doctorate at Boston University. Around this time, he met a music student named Coretta Scott whom he came to marry. Eventually, the two of them ended up with four beautiful children.

At 25, King became the minister of a Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. It was around this time that King started making changes to things he saw that he didn’t like. His first focus became the segregated Montgomery buses. These buses said that blacks couldn’t sit with whites. So King boycotted these buses and got lots of others to boycott the buses along with him.

The message gained him a reputation on a national level! While his involvement did result in the desegregation of Montgomery buses, it also resulted in the bombing of King’s house. He responded by writing a book about the bus boycott. He also visited India where he studied such subjects as nonviolence as well as civil disobedience.

Upon his return, King was arrested and sent to jail for his participation in nonviolent, anti-segregation protests in Birmingham. But in the same year, King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington.

It wasn’t long after that that Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, putting an end to segregation in the workplace and places of education. King was given the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35, becoming the youngest man to date to receive it. He used his prize money of $54,123 towards the continuance of the civil rights movement.

King’s influence advanced progress and led to further changes. Congress soon passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which suspended, and eventually banned, literacy tests as well as any other restrictions that disallowed blacks the right to vote.

While the man and his message of equality brought about great changes, unfortunately his leadership also brought about his untimely death. King was assassinated while standing on the balcony of his motel in Memphis where he was supposed to lead a protest to support black garbage collectors who were going on strike.

Hey, Popcorn People!

Who doesn’t love that sound of pop…pop pop-pop popcorn popping while you prepare it on your stove top or in your air popper or microwave? It’s a wonderful, magical sound that signifies a treat is on its way! Today is National Popcorn Day which is a perfect day to prepare this interesting treat for yourself.

So before kitchen appliances were invented, people had never even heard of popcorn, right?

WAY WRONG! Actually, along with a man named Percy Spencer, popcorn played quite a role in the invention of the microwave! It was an easy food on which to experiment—and hardly new!

People have been enjoying popcorn for about 4000 years! How did they prepare it without the modern ease of electric appliances? Well, one ancient method was to throw sand into a fire and then to stir in popcorn kernels after the sand was fully heated. If you enjoy bits of sand all over your popcorn, this is the way to go.

Among all the other types of corn, popcorn is the only one that will actually pop! Why does it do this? Because, unlike any other kind of corn, the hull of popcorn has got the necessary amount of thickness that allows itself to burst open when under pounds and pounds of pressure.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening inside the kernel during the burst. First of all, there is a small drop of water that is stored at the center of each popcorn kernel. The drop of water is surrounded by the kernel’s soft starch. The starch is then covered with the kernel’s hard, outer shell.

As the kernel gets heated up, the water inside starts expanding. At about 215° the water inside the kernel has turned to steam which then turns the starch into a kind of hot, gooey substance. As the heat arrives at about 350° the pressure inside the kernel will hit its limit and the hull bursts open. The gooey starch puffs out as it cools immediately after growing 40 to 50 times the original size of the kernel!

Click here to see kernels popping in slow motion!

Now that you know how it pops, maybe you’ll appreciate popcorn even more. From everyone here at Everything Summer Camp, Happy Popcorn Day! Pop some tonight and get ready for April 7, Caramel Popcorn Day!

Hey, Curious Campers!

Ever wonder about the history of your camping gear? How long have people been using duffel bags to transport and store their belongings and various camping supplies? It’s a question that takes a good amount of consideration. After all, what qualifies as a duffel bag?

Perhaps to some people, a duffel bag need only be a bag for carrying what you never could with just your arms. In this case, any ol’ rucksack could be considered a duffel bag. Predecessor of both the backpack and the duffel bag, rucksacks have been around for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years.

Early rucksacks were typically made using the skin of an animal or wool if it was around. These carrying bags were primarily used by hunters to carry back their prey. These bags were usually strong enough to carry a good load, however, they didn’t do anything to protect their contents in a rainstorm.

It wasn’t until the early 1600s that a new material was found to replace animal skins. It was sailors of the time from Spain and Portugal who stumbled upon this new material. They would sometimes need to make bags with what they had around. Using scraps of the fabric they used for their ship sails, they realized that this material provided perfect protection. Unlike animal skin, sail scraps were stiff and waterproof!

This sturdy material at the time was imported from its one supplier. This supplier was located in the town of Duffel, Belgium. So you can imagine where Duffel Bags get their name. So despite the fact that rucksacks are ancestors of Duffel Bags, you can’t really call Duffel Bags Duffel Bags until after the early 1600s when the bags got their name from their original supplier’s location.

We can assure you that the Duffel Bags that we offer here at Everything Summer Camp are authentic Duffel Bags, made without using any animal hide.

Hey, Hat Wearers!

Whether it’s a practical Winter Hat, Baseball Cap, a Party Hat, Cowboy Hat, Coonskin Cap, Beanie, Top Hat or Hard Hat, there’s almost no doubt that you’ve worn a hat in your life! Well, if you’re not already wearing one right now, I suggest you go pick one out for the day since today is none other than National Hat Day!

I myself am wearing a Chullo right now. That’s a hat with earflaps in case you were wondering.

I think one of the most interesting things about hats is that there are so many different kinds. I’ve mentioned nine different types of hats already in this post and that barely scratches the surface!

So how did hats get to be so popular and diverse. Well, we see hats being worn over five thousand years ago! The first sighting we have is from a tomb painting in Thebes which shows a man wearing a simple, straw hat. Other hats of the time were also simple skull caps until the Petasos came along and introduced the first brimmed hat. Hats at this time were articles mainly worn for special occasions.

It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that hats really became a marker of one’s social status, similar to the way that military officials wear certain types of hats dependent on the rank of their position. The Middle Ages also brought along a hat intended for women in the late 1500s.

As hats became just as much a thing for women as they were for men, the look of hats evolved and became more and more developed—elaborate even!—in the early 1800s, bonnets were born. They got fancier and fancier as their time went on with bigger brims, more ribbons, more flowers, more feathers, and trim!

It’s the middle of January. Chances are you already planned on wearing a hat if you haven’t already today (NOTE: more body heat escapes through your head than any other part of the body); but in any case, maybe you should put on something special to celebrate National Hat Day. Till next time, Hatters!