Church Camp and the story of the "Barq's Incident"

Kayla took all the good pictures from our trip to Church Camp and I think she put them on the Rath family blog (link to the right), so you can go there and read about our trip.

But the three she left me were of what will now be infamously referred to as the "Barq's incident."

After dinner, we all decided to have ice cream and I though it might be fun to get a root beer out of the vending machine and have an old fashioned float. (It wouldn't have been old fashioned. Yes, I know this.)

What you see next is the Barq's that I bought. Next you'll see a clear liquid coming out of the can.

To those of you who have never had a Root Beer before, it's not supposed to be clear. And no, what you are seeing is not some sort of visual illusion or trick -- this all ACTUALLY happened.

If you have ever gone to dispense a dark-colored soda from a fountain and it came out clear, you've learned that that is just carbonated water because the canister of syrup (that mixes with the carbonated water, in case you were foggy on how all of that works...) was empty. Then if you were dumb enough to drink it (yes, I have been), you found out that it tastes terrible! Unless you are one of those folks that likes drinking all the weird waters that sparkle and bubble and are next the normal waters at the grocery store. There is a special club for people like you and I'm not sure, but I think you might have voted for Ralph Nader (just going on a hunch here).

Anyhow, much to my relief, it was not carbonated water it was -- everybody together: "Sprite!" That's correct! After some serious sniffing before drinking, I concluded that there was, in fact, the presence of something sweet. That's all fine and good - because I can tolerate Sprite - but that didn't help my "float" situation. Thankfully, my good friend and dutiful police officer of the city of Amarillo, Randy, came to my aid with a Mug root beer that he had packed for just such an emergency.

Of course, some people near the "incident" found this to be an amazing occurrence, but most did not. And in true "Eric Rath fashion," I found this whole thing to be a lot more significant than it really was.

Enjoy the spectacle:

Starting to look a little like Fall...

So first... Is the season's name, Fall, supposed to be capitalized? Maybe someone can help me out with that.

It hit me the other day that the days are getting shorter. I mean, noticeably so. I realize, yes, they have been getting shorter since June, but now I can really tell. Maybe, because at the end of Monday night rehearsals, I'm having to take my sunglasses off to see the band... I don't know.

So, my lovely and beautiful wife (and loving mother of our child, Regan), disregarded the fact that it is becoming fall by asking me to cook hamburgers for dinner last week. This is yet another reason that I love her: it's cold outside, thus perfect weather for grilling. (Of course, if you ask me, all weather is perfect weather for grilling.)

While outside waiting for said burgers to cook, the sunset caught my eye and I decided to take a few pictures. Here now, are some of those pictures from the scenic overlook I like to call "my backyard."




























The older I get, the less and less I think leaves are cool.




I tried to get artsy by lying on the ground to take this picture. "Look! Grass!"

I'm also pretty sure that no famous and reputable photographer uses the "date-stamp feature" on his camera.







And here are the hamburgers that got this whole thing started. That's not blood, it's Head Country Barbeque Sauce.


And yes, they were delicious.