No Sweat by Angie Ledbetter

Don't ever let anyone fool you about "ladies" not sweating; only glistening, or whatever that stupid saying is. I can vouch for the fact that most or all of us real women sweat like hawgs under the right circumstances. I had one of those days myself just yesterday.

My sons' high school football team attends a 5-day long boot camp each summer to prepare for the season. Even though there are 70 or more boys on the team-- and I say that loosely, because many of them are over 6 feet tall and 300+ pounds of solid rock -- a lot of the parents are unable to take vacation or miss work to come and help out. As I like to support as many of the school activities and sports as possible, I volunteered for a day of KP duty at boot camp. Up early and on the road for the hour trip, I was unprepared for what awaited us parent volunteers at the primitive old Campfire Girls campground. (I'd helped out there a few summers ago when I actually had a son playing on the team, but it must be like childbirth amnesia...you forget exactly what took place, and turn the event into a blissful time in your memory.)

With temperatures approaching 100 degrees by 9:30, I thought how smart I was to have worn a rolled up bandana around my neck to catch any unsightly sweat threatening to roll down my neck. Likewise, I wore a really dark shirt to hide perspiration stains. The bandana was around my wet head by 10:00, and the black shirt only increased my body heat as some of the other moms and I cut industrial sized ice chests full of watermelon, cantaloupe, apples, oranges, and I forget what all else. Then we bagged peanuts and pretzels until our hands ached. After arranging a serving line of cold cuts, chips and water bottles, we watched in amazement as the team buzzed in at 1:00, said grace and attacked the tables and ice chests like a swarm of starved locusts. All that work, and the food was all gone. Then it was time to start preparing supper.

After my 10th or 12th gallon of water, I was drenched on the inside as well as the outside, but it was a good day. On the long drive home, I was grateful for the day; thankful parents were available to participate in their kids' activities; and happy to have been at Camp Ruth Lee for the day working with friends. As I sunk into my comfortable bed, I was mighty happy to crank down the A/C low and not have to worry about mosquitoes dive bombing my head as I tried to sleep. Oh, and I can't remember the last time I was so thankful for a plentiful water supply.

Tomorrow I'll be helping repair the school's band room. It suffered damage from exploding cases of soda and now needs cleaning and repainting. Then there's the baseball concession stand that's been broken into twice and had fire extinguisher foam sprayed everywhere. I may treat myself to a new white t-shirt and bandana soon, and I'm already telling myself what's a little sweat between friends?