Day 55: Boy Scout Flashback

When I was a kid, I was first a Cub Scout and then a Boy Scout. Eventually I was able to progress in scouting and earn my Eagle Scout (or maybe my mom earned it...regardless, I somehow ended up with the award).


I have many memories of scouting--some good and some not so good. I remember one of the scouts (we'll call him Ken) being locked in the outhouse for a prolonged period of time. Once he was released he attacked his captors and their tents with a knife (don't worry, there weren't any injuries except to the tent). There were the chipmunks up at summer camp who we just couldn't leave alone. First they were attacked with "flour bombs", next with frisbee's and finally with rocks. Did we feel bad? Not really, until the ranger came and yelled at us AND our leaders (yes, they were in to it as well). Luckily for the chipmunks our coordination and throwing arms had not developed yet and all of them survived. There was the winter snow caving outing. I never would have imagined how hot it could get in there. Some of the guys decided the only way to stay cool was to sleep in the nude (I was not included in this group in case you were wondering).

Besides the mischief and misbehavior, there were many good things. There were long hikes, bonding with friends and leaders, learning to cook (well maybe it was learning to clean up burned pans), riding horses, canoeing trips, long bike rides, etc. I think some lessons in responsibility were learned and we gained some insight into how our Priesthood could be used to serve others.

One skill that we worked on in scouting was orienteering, or using maps and compasses to find our way around. Yesterday, I had a chance to refresh these skills. We had an exercise in land navigation. The idea was to use maps, protractors, and in this case GPS units to find our way around to several specific points. Now as I recall in scouting, we spent a good deal of our time trying to figure out north from south and trying to figure out how the compass worked. We were lost more than we knew where we were. In contrast, yesterday with our GPS unit in hand, the satellites guided us straight to our targets. I'm glad that when I am in Afghanistan, I will have a little more than just luck to help guide me to where I need to go.

Some of the guys trying to be rebellious