LIFE LESSONS: FAMOUS PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE TOO – BUDDY DAVIS
Now this was a real adventure!!!
Though he may not be a household name in many circles, Mr. Buddy Davis is an incredible guy! He’s a singer, songwriter, musician, explorer, adventurer and dinosaur sculptor, just to name a few.
@mama-pepper and @papa-pepper were first able to enjoy some of his work in person when we went to Kentucky back before we ever had any @little-peppers. Actually, it was on that trip that we found out we were pregnant with Pinkie Pepper!
At the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum some of the wonderful dinosaur sculptures that Buddy Davis has created are on display. Since we can only know the general size of dinosaurs and some of the skin texture that they had, a certain level of creative freedom is given to the artist. Personally, I think that Mr. Davis has done an excellent job!
Once we started having @little-peppers, we began to purchase some of the CDs and DVDs that Buddy Davis has released. His music is fun and wholesome, and his DVDs are educational and entertaining.
A few years back, we found out that we were going to get the chance to at least see him in person. His most recent DVD release at the time was Extreme Caving, so we purchased it and received it just a few weeks prior to the camp that we were going to see him at.
Interestingly enough, an actual cave is located not all that far from the camp that we went to. This means that we had the option to go caving with Buddy Davis! Of course, we wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity, but the @little-peppers were very little at the time. Pinkie Pepper was the oldest, but she was probably only about four years old at the time.
After discussing things with @mama-pepper, we decided that she was adventurous and agile enough to come along, and that I should be able to keep a good enough eye on her to keep things safe, so we signed up the two of us.
At the camp, Buddy Davis did a marvelous job speaking and singing his songs, and we all had a very great time. At one point, I noticed that the Red Pepper and Pinkie Pepper were no longer right next to me. As it happens, they had moved a short distance away and were sitting with Buddy as he was talking to some people.
It was interesting to see that although these three had never met before, my children were comfortable to sit next to Buddy, and he welcomed their presence. We did get to talking and interacting a bit too, and thoroughly enjoyed our time together.
Didn’t You Mention Caving?
The caving adventure was incredible! First off, Pinkie Pepper and @papa-pepper happened to sit in the second seat of the bus… and soon Mr. Davis sat in the first seat, directly in front of us. He had some more discussion on the drive to the cave, and we even gave him a printed copy of our Field Guide.
He enjoyed what he saw in the Field Guide, and even learned a few things as he glanced through it, which is really cool because he we’ve learned a bit about some animals from him too!
Once we reached where the bus parked, we had to walk across a field and up a large hill. Near the top of that hill is an opening.
This opening is the entrance to the cave, which slopes back into the earth. Once inside, there are a few large caverns, separated by some narrow tunnels in-between them. One is so tight that they even call it “The Birth Canal.”
If I remember correctly, there were just under 40 of us that entered in that group. The cave was of course very dark, and damp. It was made out of rock, so it was very hard, and there were certainly some parts that you wouldn’t want to fall from.
Pinkie Pepper did excellent, and never cried or asked for @mama-pepper. We was brave and adventurous! Many other children were also in the cave with us, but she was certainly the smallest.
Even when we found hibernating bats, she didn’t flinch. She had already learned a lot about bats because she was very curious about bats and had been asking questions. @mama-pepper taught her a lot about them and I even had to relocate some from inside a building at work at the time, so I brought them home to release them, which gave the @little-peppers a great chance to observe them up close and in person.
Best of all, everyone who went into the cave came out of the cave when we were finished, so it was a success.
LIFE LESSON
I think that the real lesson here was learned in an incredible way. Not only were the @little-peppers familiar with Buddy Davis prior to meeting him in person, but it just so happened that he released his Extreme Caving DVD right before we met him.
The @little-peppers were then able to see that this man had filmed some of his adventures and shared some information that he recorded. The video footage was then edited and the DVD was packaged and marketed. Many people bought copies of it, including us.
Then, a few short weeks later, we got to not only meet this man, but actually go on a caving adventure with him! Obviously, Buddy Davis is a real man doing things that others can do too! This means that even famous people are real people.
A LITTLE MORE ON BUDDY DAVIS
Here are a few videos of some things that Buddy Davis has put out. The favorite one of @papa-pepper is “SWAMP MAN.”
What a great trip. I read about a trip like this (may have been this one) and wanted to go. Next time I'll have to try harder to get our family there.
So cool. We had a blast, and went back later with Pinkie-Pepper leading the way so that I could keep an eye on Red-Pepper, who was a three year old girl at the time. Lots of great family fun in the cave!