a while ago, for no reason whatsoever, a tune from my childhood popped into my head. for one week of each summer for eight years, i attended a foursquare church sponsored summer camp out near sonora, california called “old oak ranch” – my last summer session there as a counselor. which was fitting, as it turned out it was my kid brother’s first session there as a camper — and we got to both be there the same week. okay, i thought it was cool. he of course was embarrassed and hated it. but still.
of course nowadays, i wouldn’t be caught dead attending one of their churches or their camp, but still, those are good childhood memories and i’m happy to see when i check up on the camp website every now and again that it looks so similar to how it did way back when…
anyway… here’s the little ditty that’s in my head, courtesy of some guitar-strumming music leader all those years ago:
“vas is das, my momma said, das is my hat-racker, ya, momma dear.
hat-racker, rinky-dinky-doo. das what i learned in the camp (summer camp!)
vas is das, my momma said, das is my sweat-boxer, ya, momma dear.
sweat-boxer, hat-racker, rinky-dinky-doo. das what i learned in the camp (summer camp!)
vas is das, my momma said, das is my eye-winker, ya, momma dear.
eye-winker, sweat-boxer, hat-racker, rinky-dinky-doo. das what i learned in the camp (summer camp!)
vas is das, my momma said, das is my horn-blower, ya, momma dear.
horn-blower, eye-winker, sweat-boxer, hat-racker, rinky-dinky-doo. das what i learned in the camp (summer camp!)
vas is das, my momma said, das is my food-chomper, ya, momma dear.
food-chomper, horn-blower, eye-winker, sweat-boxer, hat-racker, rinky-dinky-doo. das what i learned in the camp (summer camp!)
vas is das, my momma said, das is my chin-chowser, ya, momma dear.
chin-chowser, food-chomper, horn-blower, eye-winker, sweat-boxer, hat-racker, rinky-dinky-doo. das what i learned in the camp (summer camp!)
vas is das, my momma said, das is my rubber-necker, ya, momma dear.
rubber-necker, chin-chowser, food-chomper, horn-blower, eye-winker, sweat-boxer, hat-racker, rinky-dinky-doo. das what i learned in the camp (summer camp!)
vas is das, my momma said, das is my bread-basket, ya, momma dear.
bread-basket, rubber-necker, chin-chowser, food-chomper, horn-blower, eye-winker, sweat-boxer, hat-racker, rinky-dinky-doo. das what i learned in the camp (summer camp!)
vas is das, my momma said, das is my knee-knobber, ya, momma dear.
knee-knobber, bread-basket, rubber-necker, chin-chowser, food-chomper, horn-blower, eye-winker, sweat-boxer, hat-racker, rinky-dinky-doo. das what i learned in the camp (summer camp!)
vas is das, my momma said, das is my foot-stomper, ya, momma dear.
foot-stomper, knee-knobber, bread-basket, rubber-necker, chin-chowser, food-chomper, horn-blower, eye-winker, sweat-boxer, hat-racker, rinky-dinky-doo. das what i learned in the camp (summer camp!)”
during the singing of which the tempo would increase with each verse, and we would point to our head, forehead, eye, nose, mouth, chin, neck, tummy, knee and foot as appropriate. as one can imagine, the further into the song we got, the harder it was to keep up, and hilarity would ensue. ah, good times.
rinky-dinky-doo