Crossing Over

Well, my Little Man is now my Young Man. Last week, he "crossed over" from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. It was with honors, having earned his Super-Achiever Award and the Arrow of Light award. His new Troop performed the ceremony which was very touching, speaking of learning to grow, stay true to core beliefs and values, and making his own way in the world guided by his principles. I was so proud of him. He's very excited to be moving on to the next level of responsibility. His new Troop is one of the oldest in Texas and is always busy. So it looks like he'll have plenty of options.

His first camp out as a new Boy Scout is this coming weekend. It's a very important one for both him and a parent, to learn all about how this Troop, which has 187 (and counting!) Eagle scouts to its credit, works. As luck would have it, my husband will be at a weekend "command performance" with work. That is, gone to Atlanta for 6 days. So guess who gets to go camping? Yep. Me!

Okay, I'll admit it, I'm not relishing it, really. But I'm not as nervous as I was in October when I went for 1 night. (this is a two-nighter) For one, my tent will be in Geezerville, where the adults and parents camp out and hang out. I am now officially but lovingly considered a Geezer by the Boy Scouts. From what I hear, it's a whole lot of sitting around, talking, and snacking. My kind of activities. I'm not interested in hiking around a rocky hillside looking for 7 species of poisonous lizards, but drinking coffee out of my vente Starbucks tumbler sounds do-able even in the outdoors. I've been assured there are real toilets for the Geezers and I won't have to use a pre-dug hold in the ground (latrine), or worse, dig my own hole in the ground. The Scouts even cook the meals for the Geezers. So how bad can it be? The weather forecast gives almost no chance of rain, and lows will be in the 60's, highs in the 80's. My daughter is going with me, and knows how to set up the tent. So I think I can make it, and might even enjoy the parents' training. This Troop seems very well-organized. There are a couple other mom going (single moms) that I'm friendly with from Cub Scouts. I look forward to getting to know them better. One is an airline pilot, and one teaches at my son's school. I will have to get some good stories out of both of them!