This Is For The Birds...

   OK, it's official. We're gonna have a contest over at WKC for who can come up with the best ideas for feeding wild birds during winter. Starting Monday, there will be a box where you can enter, and all ideas will be posted for two weeks. Then we'll vote. Whoever gets the most reader votes wins.

   Watch out, though. Because my patrol is pretty great at coming up with amazing ideas when we put our heads together. Besides, I really like prizes. I get a lot of my gear that way. In fact, I got my compass just for writing in to the company about how much I needed one in the line of work I'm in. Sheesh, a Wilderness Protector can't spend most of his time being lost in his own piece of the wilderness. How embarrassing is that?

   You gotta be able to figure out where you're going, or guess where you'll end up? Either one of two places. Nowhere -- because you didn't even try. Or, lost -- because you didn't know where you were in the first place. Like I always say, knowledge is power. But that's all I'm gonna say about that until after this contest. On account of I don't want anybody getting a head-start on me with my own advice. Heh, heh, heh...

   So, see you Monday.
          W.K.

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Who's Out There...

   Like I say, we've been doing a whole lot of talking around here. About all sorts of things. Like camping gear, and compass guides, and who's gonna ask for what at Christmas. Then last week Buddy piped up and said, "Who cares? When are we gonna start protecting something?"

   Sheesh, he had a point. I mean, even the Warner Sisters didn't have anything to say about that, because it was true. The only protecting we've done around our PARKS WILDERNES, so far, is protect ourselves from the ant army. We even have that on film, which I am way not proud of.

   Right away, the girls wanted to make a list of all the wildlife we have around here, so we could get organized. But Buddy said if we got any more organized than we already are, he was gonna puke. That was when I pointed out that every one of us knew by heart exactly who lived around here, and even where most of their houses were.

   C. suggested we could maybe protect our squirrels from poachers. Only that lasted less than a minute before S. said nobody in their right mind would face the dangers of our "Sticky Woods" to catch squirrels when everybody in town had at least a dozen living in their own yards.

     It was quiet for a long time after that. Then -- out of the clear blue -- Buddy said one word. "Birds." But I told him they were the least of our worries, on account of they can fly. I had to remind him of how we still hadn't figured out a way to get closer than you could throw a rock to any of them, ourselves. Besides that, it's illegal to shoot guns in our town, so we didn't have to worry about hunters, either.

   "Winter," he said. "We gotta protect them from the time of year when there's hardly any food."

   Man -- you'd have thought he said, "Let's go to Disneyland" the way we all hooped and hollered what a good idea that was. So, now we're on a big campaign to find out the best way to do that. Which gave me one of the greatest ideas I've had in a long time, too. We can have a contest. And maybe other Wilderness Protectors will do the same thing so they could win a really cool prize. That is, if anybody out there would be interested.

   So, who's out there?
       W.K.

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We Name Our Wilderness...

      When Buddy and I first started coming to our piece of the wilderness, we didn't talk things over. We didn't have to because we think so much alike. But now that we added C. and S. to our patrol, it seems like we have to vote on everything. Mostly because they keep coming up with things Buddy and I never even thought of before. Like naming our piece of the wilderness. They said, how could we protect something if it didn't even have a name?

     I guess they had a point. But then we had to vote on a name. In the end, we came up with THE PARKS WILDERNESS. On account of we are bordered on two sides by parks. Then we had to name all the places on our map. So, each of us would know where we were talking about when we had to meet up somewhere. They had a point there, too. Now Buddy's map is plastered all over with names like, "Turtle Creek," "Big Bug Canyon," and "The Sticky Woods."

     We've had to make a lot of changes since the girls joined up. Like when we camp out. Now, we have to take Aunt Sue along to watch out for the girls, along with Buddy's Uncle Joe. They even cleaned up the Outpost. There are special places to hang up our binoculars (for spotting wildlife), and a giant version of our wilderness map tacked onto one of the walls. C. blew it up on the computer, and S. colored it in with markers.

     At first, we did a lot of talking and arguing about things. Sometimes I think we spent more time doing that than actually getting out there protecting our piece of the wilderness. But lately, we've settled down into our own projects, and it's actually been kind of peaceful around here. Kind of exciting, too. Because if it hadn't been for the Warner Sisters and their homemade film studio, I would have never  realized what I want to do with my life. I'm gonna be a wildlife photographer. Seriously. I've been in about eight Warner documentaries, already.

     I think maybe they're gonna help me get famous. Heh, heh, heh...
    
     W.K.

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Telling How...

   The truth is, we don't have a whole lot of extra around our house. Which is why I started looking for ways to make things myself if I needed something. Like camping gear. The first things (and most important, if you ask me) I made were a sleeping bag and a hammock. Hey -- I only sleep on the ground if I have to.

  That was almost a year ago, now, and I don't mind saying I'm still using those two things every time I go camping. They work great. Which is why I agreed to share exactly how I did it. Don't worry, it wasn't hard. In case your figuring on trying it for yourself. If you are, head on over to WKC and find out how.

   Of course there's other ways of doing it, but I'm just saying how it worked best for me. Besides that, I'm sort of proud of them.

   Seriously.
     W.K.

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Putting Our Heads Together...

   OK. The Compass Class is a go, and my whole patrol is gonna help me with it. We'll each handle the part we do best. I'll go first and tell about how to use one when you're headed into uncharted territory, so you can get back without getting lost. No matter how far you get off the trail.

   Buddy will take it from there with the map section. On account of he is way good at drawing maps, and if you use your compass at the same time, it's a guarantee you won't get lost. C. wants to tell everybody how you can find your way if you DON'T have a compass.

   S. is going to show how to make one if you're already lost. You might wonder what good one would be then, but -- take my word for it -- a lost person needs a compass more than anybody. Because of how people have a habit of walking in circles when they don't know where they are. No kidding.

   Then all of us together will pool our ideas about the best kind of compass to buy. We each have different opinions about that. Except there is one thing we all agree on, no matter what. This time of year is the absolute best time to get a compass. On account of it's so close to Christmas, a lot of parents are asking kids what they want. Heh, heh, heh...

   Hey -- I wasn't born yesterday.

   So, stay tuned for times and dates, so you don't miss out on any of it. Meanwhile, have a great weekend. Oh, yeah. And if you don't have your own piece of the wilderness staked out, yet -- what are you waiting for? Get out there and find one!

   Seriously,
      W.K.

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Finding My Way...

   OK. So, I've told everybody how I found my piece of the wilderness to take care of. It's a pretty big piece -- big enough to get lost in. On account of people have a way of walking in one big circle when they aren't following a compass, or navigating by landmarks. Our piece of the wilderness is mostly woods, so it's easy for that to happen. Which was why we decided to get a compass and learn how to use it.

   I didn't know how it worked when I first got one. To me, it just looked like some weird watch, only with letters instead of numbers.  But I like doing research (finding out things other people don't know, heh, heh, heh...) so, I did a google search and found out how to use it. Then I told Buddy how, and we practiced. Man-- we're so good at it, now, I can get dropped off anywhere on the planet and find my way back, again. And I don't mind saying I'm pretty proud of that.

   Anyway, I was talking to the staff over at WKC, and they said my patrol and I could do a class on it. Which means I would have to let everybody in on the kind of compass we use (way cool), but it's for a good cause if it helps other Wilderness Protectors get started. Besides that, we're gearing up for a contest to pick out the coolest piece of wilderness to protect, and I wouldn't want it on my conscience if anybody got lost out there looking for one.

   I guess once you're a captain, you can't help feeling like one all the time -- even when you're not with your patrol. I don't know how that happened. I don't mind, though. Actually, I sort of like it. So, if you need any questions answered while you're out looking for your own piece of wilderness, you can leave them in the comment section of my journal, here. If I don't know the answer, I'll find out. Even if I have to time travel.

   Seriously.
     W.K.

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I Start My Patrol...

   Like I say, I wasn't too happy when I found out my friend Buddy followed me to my secret place where I made friends with the wild things. I mean, he didn't even ask to come with me. He just popped out from behind a tree and said, "Boo!" when I was taking pictures of that turtle. But I got over it.

   Mostly on account of Buddy had some way good ideas about finding a parrot. It was actually his idea to make a map, so we could keep track of where we had looked so far. And it was his map that first gave me the idea of claiming that place as our own piece of the wilderness, and becoming Wilderness Protectors. It was a cool map. After that, one thing just led to another. I found out it was a lot more fun to be outside with someone than all by myself.

   Besides that, Buddy comes up with great ideas for getting us out of the kind of fixes we get into out there. Which is half the fun. The adventure. You can read about it all day long, but you have to get out there and experience it yourself to really know what I mean. So, get out there! Whatever it takes -- believe me -- you won't be sorry.

   And don't forget to catch the feature article over at WKC this week about getting your camping gear together. That's what our patrol will be doing. This is the best time of year to camp.

   No kidding.
   W.K.

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