Post Camping Review & Scouting in General

I thought I'd tell everyone how my camping weekend went. Honestly, it went quite well! I was proud of myself. My son even told me HE was proud of me. :-) Can't get any better than that.

We arrived after dark, so here I was, pitching a tent that I hadn't pitched in 4 years, in the dark. But first things first, I had to light the lantern. Once I figured out where to stick the match and how to turn it on, I had light. Luckily one of the moms staying next door to me was an experienced camper, and she helped me pitch the tent. She knew what went where, and how to secure it, where to run the poles through, that sort of thing. Otherwise I'd have slept on a pile of rumpled tent! (actually, I'd have probably slept in my car!) She gave me just enough help to guide me, but make me feel like I was helping her, which was nice. It really did go up pretty easily.

The good news is they had real plumbing in real bathrooms for the Geezers. So I didn't have to use my Bumper-Dumper (toilet seat rigged to a 5-gallon bucket). I was grateful not to have to dig a hole. We had to scrounge bathroom tissue, but I came prepared w/ a big roll of Scott, so my popularity increased among the moms, anyway.

Out of my son's entire patrol of 11 or 12 boys, I think I am the ONLY mom that is married to his dad! From what I gathered, the vast majority divorced and single again, or divorced from the boy's dad and remarried, so they do the whole weekend-juggling and visitation thing. If there is a boy with married parents in the patrol, I haven't met them. Sad, really. All those single moms with deadbeat ex's are clamoring for some positive male role models in their sons' lives. I think they are in the right place to get that, though nothing can replace an interested and involved dad, IMO.

The food was good. It was all cooked on campfires or on a griddle heated by propane. We had sloppy joes, some kind of "Hamburger Helper" dish with ground beef, noodles, mushrooms, tomatoes, that sort of 1-pot dinner. Breakfast was taquitos, a true Texas dish. Eggs, sausage, potatoes, and onions, topped w/ cheese, all cooked together and wrapped in a flour tortilla, topped w/ salsa if you wanted it. Nothing better after a long night in a tent! The last morning, we had French Toast, Boy Scout style. It was bread soaked in egg/milk, then dipped into crushed Frosted Flakes cereal and grilled. Personally, I think corn flakes would have been better, because all the sugar in the Frosted Flakes got a bit burnt on the grill. But hey, I didn't have to cook it at 5 AM, so I'm not complaining one bit. Just making observations. :-)

I've signed up to be a Merit Badge Counselor in both Cooking and Family Life. Apparently that's about all the areas my skill set transfers to a boys' outdoors organization. But that's alright. Going to training on that Monday night. I'll give it to the BSA: they do training well. They don't' just throw you out there with a thick binder and a good-luck-slap-on-the-back. You are prepared. I like that. Much of the basic training is online, which is convenient as well. Can't sleep one night? Get up and get trained, then print off your "I Am Trained" certificate.

I am looking forward to getting involved. I've already sat in on two Boards of Reviews, which is where the boys are going for Rank Advancement. One was pretty basic, talk to the boy, make sure all it's were dotted and it's were crossed, then we passed him on through to Star rank. The other was not so lucky; we found a merit badge he had not done, but needed, for Life rank, the last rank before Eagle. I felt awful for him, but that's what the Board of Review is for. The final step to catch any omissions or errors that might have been missed by others. It was an issue of "do either this one or that one" and he did both, but then didn't do one that was required. His extra merit badge will count toward his Eagle, though, so the time and effort was not wasted. I think he understood the error. I'm still learning what to ask and what requirements to double-check, but it's fun talking to these older boys about their journey in Scouting.