Kepler and the Football Weekend

(4 Minute Read)

Kepler

I could hardly believe my eyes when we drove into a woodsy Michigan state park campground last weekend. A big white circus tent had sprouted right in the middle of the park. What was going on?

Woof! Woof! This is Kepler again, Master’s Jack Russell terrier. I’m writing about last weekend’s football-themed camping trip for Master’s blog.

Master is the BibleScienceGuy, and sometimes he lets me write a guest post for his weekly blog. This is the sixth post I’ve written for him.

Football Rivalry Weekend

When Master walks me around a campground, what interests me is sniffing where other dogs have been. But this time I could hardly believe all the astonishing sights! I was amazed to see how elaborately people had decorated their campsites to show support for either the University of Michigan Wolverines or the Michigan State University Spartans. Giant inflatables, flags, banners, strings of lights, statues, and every imaginable sign adorned campsites. Master said many of them were humorous, but I didn’t see it myself.

University of Michigan fans’ campsite.

Even dogs were dressed as football fans. My buddy Henry and I root for the Wolverines, because we live closer to Ann Arbor than East Lansing. But we root for the Spartans when they play other teams.

This was the 11th annual Rivalry Weekend at the state park. We attended the Rivalry Weekend last year, but Master was still teaching me how to type on the computer, so I did not write a blog post on it.

It got pretty noisy Saturday afternoon when park rangers showed the football game between the two teams on a large screen inside the circus tent. Master and I watched the game sitting on a hay bale.

I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t let me bark every time our team scored, since humans were screaming and jumping and whistling on every play. There were even some noises I’d never heard from humans before. I wondered why the rangers didn’t control the humans like Master controls me, but Master said it was okay.

Michigan State University fans’ campsite

Saturday morning we went to the ball field for campground games. Kids and adults competed in passing and kicking football games, egg toss, tug-of-war, and races. Somehow Master won the tug-of-war game. I was amazed. He said he applied physics, but I think he put his tummy into tugging.

But there were no games for dogs! I wanted to do the races, but Master said No. I would have won, too. Most of the dogs were fat and slow, and none of the humans had more than two legs. My four legs help me run twice as fast as humans. Master and Missus cannot catch me without using treats to entice me.

We watched the children’s parade of decorated tricycles, bikes, and wagons pulled by dogs dressed in school colors. Some of the dogs looked so silly the way they were dolled up that I felt embarrassed for them. Missus gave me a UM sweater which I wore proudly, although I did not cooperate when she was trying to dress me. Henry wore a tasteful UM kerchief around his neck.

Fans in campground celebrating UM’s 32-23 victory over MSU.

The adult parade was after the game. Many fans of the winning team (this year Michigan won 32-23) drove around the campground in pick up trucks with flags and banners waving, horns honking, and excited kids hanging off the sides of the truck.

Chicken Dinner

I heard Missus tell Master that this is one of her favorite campgrounds. She loves the gorgeous autumn leaf colors, and puppy! were they stunning this weekend. But there’s one thing about going to this campground that perturbs me. On the way my humans stop and disappear for nearly an hour.

When they return I can hardly stand it; they radiate an overwhelming odor of spicy chicken! The tantalizing aroma drives me crazy the rest of the way to the campground. I try to ask Henry whether he thinks we will get any, but he handles that maddening chicken smell by going to sleep right away. So I had to do 360’s in my crate and some serious scratching to distract myself from that wonderful aroma.

Henry & I hope for chicken scraps
at the Football Rivalry Weekend

I usually get a few bites of skin and crust later as treats. But looking at Master and Missus, I think they get more than a few bites! Don’t get me wrong; the food Master gives me smells really, really good. But it’s not the same as a fresh piece of spicy Louisiana fried chicken. Not the same at all. Why doesn’t Master take me with him for a spicy chicken dinner? He buys one for Missus — why not for me?

Campfire Meals

On the way to the campground we stopped at a shipping company and loaded 29 discarded wooden pallets. I watched Master heave them into the camper, and Missus pack them in the aisles like a giant Tetris game.

After we got to the campground, I helped Master cut them up for firewood. I defended his workspace from interference by barking at passing dogs and campers to distract people from the saw noise. I kept everybody away from the sawed-up pallet wood till Master could stack it neatly near the fire pit.

It was a very good thing that we collected so much firewood, because it turned out that Missus had forgotten the electric fry pan that she uses to cook human meals. I could tell that Master was not pleased, but he did not bark or even growl. He built hot cooking fires with pallet wood, and Missus cooked over the fire with an eight-inch cast-iron skillet that she keeps in the camper for emergencies.

And this was a real emergency, believe me. I offered Master some of my own dog food. It’s high-protein, vitamin-enriched kibble with good fat content. It smells deliciously pungent! I thought he could just add milk and eat it like cereal. But he said this wasn’t that big an emergency. They chose to cook human food over the campfire instead.

I love both dog food and human food. But I’ve never seen Master or Missus eat dog food. They should try it, because it’s much cheaper than human food and easier to prepare — just dump in a bowl and eat. Yum!

Chat with MSU Fan

Going into the game, UM was having a great year at 7-0. MSU was sub-par at 2-5. Touring the campground before the game, we stopped at one of the most highly decorated MSU campsites where I heard Master chat with the man:
Master: Your campsite looks great! Do you think you have enough “Go MSU” signs?
MSU Camper: Probably not. The more the better. They’ll bring us luck.
Master: How many signs would you need to bring enough “luck” to win the game? How many stories high would you have to stack them?
MSU Camper: Oh, I don’t know. I just put up as many as I can to give us good luck.
Master: What do you mean by “luck”? Exactly how do signs and decorations on your campsite help your team win a game 40 miles away?
MSU Camper: Huh? Oh, I don’t know how it works. I just know it does. Last year I went all out on decorations, and we got lucky on the last play to win the game. I rode around the campground in my pickup, honking and screaming, and taking credit for winning the game.
Master: Yes, I remember hearing and seeing you celebrate last year. You were impressive! But there were more sites decorated for UM than for MSU last year, and several UM sites were just as elaborate as yours, if not more so. What happened to their “luck”?
MSU Camper: That’s a good point. I really don’t know how luck works. I just do all I can to ensure good luck.
Master: Well, enjoy the game. When MSU loses, maybe you’ll realize that luck is a bogus concept! Think about it.

Rooting for Michigan at the
Football Rivalry Weekend

I asked Master what in the world that was all about. He said that most Americans are heavily superstitious. Their worldview is saturated with concepts of good luck, bad luck, lucky charms, omens, and jinxes. He said that when he runs into superstition, he likes to gently challenge people to think it through.

I asked Master to explain “luck” to me. He said Webster’s dictionary defines luck as “a force that brings good fortune or adversity,” but this “force” has never been physically detected or empirically measured. He said “luck” does not mesh with a Biblical worldview. Master says ascribing success to “Luck” is an insult to God Himself. Master says the whole concept of luck is a denial of the sovereign rule of the Almighty Creator over all of life. “Luck” is a reluctance to trust the Lord entirely, and a refusal to give Him glory and honor and thanks in everything. That made sense to me, so I don’t believe in luck either. Woof, Woof!

Time to work on My To-Do List. Till next time, Woof! Woof!

Questions to Ponder

1. What situations tempt you to “trust to luck” instead of looking to your Creator?
2. Are you prepared to discuss your confidence in the Creator when superstitious rituals open the door to that subject?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

Soli Deo Gloria.

This is the 14th article in a series of blog posts on our Jack Russell terrier Kepler. Numbers 9-15 are by Kepler.
Read the prequels:
1. Why I Named Our Puppy “Kepler”
2. Kepler’s Kind
3. Kepler’s Lopsided Trade
4. Kepler’s Amazing Nose
5. Kepler’s Business Card
6. Kepler & the Psycho Squirrel (with video)
7. Taunting Kepler
8. Adam and Puppies

The following posts are by Kepler:
9. Who Taught Kepler?
10. Kepler Gets a Buddy (with video)
11. Kepler Chases a Squirrel
12. Kepler’s Complaint
13. Kepler’s To-Do List

Read the sequel:
15. Kepler’s Favorite Store

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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday November 2, 2016 A.D.

But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;
And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.
Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare to you.
Who among all these does not know
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind? (Job 12:7-10)