A Day in the Life of Caleb S.

Page 2 - Afternoon

All of a sudden, Caleb announced that he was hungry and it was time for lunch. As most growing boys do, Caleb packed away the food during lunch and even asked the question we've all been wondering, "Why are the knives magnetic?" While eating, Caleb realized that it was getting late and he needed to change into his athletic clothes because his lodge was about to play in a basketball game. He quickly put his tray away and went running out the dining room exit.

When he was about to get on the elevator to go up to the eighth floor, the other members of the basketball team came rushing out of the elevator, screaming "Alright! Caleb, you made it!" When he cried out that he had to go change, they replied, "We have to go now. We have to leave for the basketball competition now!" It was quite simply an abduction by his own lodge.

They decided to not wait for the bus since the team was running short on time, and didn't want to be late to the gym since they had won the first round by default when their opponents didn't show up for the game. The entire way to the gym his teammates cheered, yelled, and sang goofy songs. When the basketball team saw a long water fountain they couldn't resist playing in it despite the shortness on time.

The Blue Ox team made it to the gym with time to spare and began warming up. Five minutes after the scheduled start time of the game, there was no sign of the opposing team. Blue Ox was elated! They were going to the third round without ever having to make a basket! The team was told to be back in two hours to play their next (or first) match. With that announcement, the lodge scattered again, leaving Caleb alone.

Caleb thought he would take this opportunity to go back to his dorm and change into shorts. He walked out of the gym and to his delight, there was a bus waiting at the stop so he ran on it without checking the destination. Well, as it turns out, this was not a NOAC shuttle bus and Caleb received a nice tour of Ames before getting anywhere close to his dorm.

After the "Tour de ISU", Caleb standing at his door realized that he no longer possessed the key to his room, and spent a good half-hour knocking on his teammates' doors looking for someone who might have picked up his key. Fortunately, a friend had found Caleb's key and returned it to the worried Arrowman. After taking some time to rest and change, it was back to the gym.

When the Blue Ox team returned to the gym, the team they were suppose to have played two hours earlier had protested the forfeit citing a ceremonies competition at the same time. The Blue Ox team argued that they had worked out a similar schedule conflict earlier in the day, and pointed out the fact that five people play on a basketball team and only four are in a ceremony. They asked, "Would it have been too much to send a representative two hours ago informing us of the change?"

The referees sided with Blue Ox's opponents and forced them to play the game. Simply put, it was not pretty. No matter how hard it got, the Blue Oxen kept their hopes up. During half time, there were even motivation speeches and changes in game plans. The new plan didn't help. The ball game ended with a final score of 43 to 23, with the Blue Ox team losing.

Despite the tough break, Caleb and his teammates weren't going to let the game ruin their NOAC fun. The lodge headed back to their rooms to cool off, shower and rest 'till dinner. This time, the lodge even waited for everyone and got on the correct bus.

At this point, everyone was running out of energy and became very mellow. The team showered and then laid in bed reading, listening to NOAC Radio, and visiting with each other.

After about an hour, the lodge had a short meeting and went to dinner. On the way, Caleb was waylaid by an OA Wilderness Voyage Foreman in the lobby looking to recruit participants for next year. Caleb spoke with them for a few minutes, seemed genuinely interested and even took an application.

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Revised 8/3/2004.