Nathan just got back from his first Scout camp. Can you say DIRTY? Let's not talk about how many socks I just threw away. Or how many live earwigs and dead grasshoppers fell out of his stuff as I was unpacking it. Ewww.
At camp, Nathan made his first tinfoil dinner. (Mom! It was so good; it tasted just like a McDonald's cheeseburger without the cheese!) He caught his first fish AND tried fish for the first time, which I think is worth a merit badge in and of itself.
Let's be honest. I do not like camping. At all. If you had slept in my super-comfy bed with the super-soft sheets, which happens to be in close proximity to my super-convenient bathroom with indoor plumbing, you would understand why I have no desire to go out in the wild and pretend that I don't have a house or a bed or indoor plumbing. And then there's the dirt. And the bugs. (You know, live earwigs and dead grasshoppers. I can't believe I actually collected and pinned over 300 insects for my entomology class. Ewww.)
So I don't like camping or the mess it causes. But despite the messy part of Scouts, I love the Scouting program for what it teaches. The first time I heard a big room full of young (and old) men recite the Scout Oath, I got chills. Here it is:
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
To obey the Scout Law
To help other people at all times
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
Oh, I just love it!
This week was also my Grandad's birthday and the first anniversary of his death. I miss him! With Nathan gone, I have been thinking about Grandad and his involvement in Scouts. Grandad was a King's Scout, basically the English equivalent of an Eagle Scout. His father, my great-grandad, knew Baden-Powell and helped him start Boy Scout troops in the early days of Scouting in England. I love that part of my family history and feel like my boys are honoring their memory by participating in Scouts.
I don't have any pics of Nathan at his Scout camp, but here are some awesome photos of my grandad and great-grandad.
Grandad at 8 years old (in 1929), leaving for his first overnight Scout camp with his older brother, Bill
Grandad (far left) as a patrol leader at age 17, in 1938
My great-grandad, Henry Arthur Thomas Simmonds, is the man on the right. Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, is on the left. Baden-Powell died in 1941 and photographs of him are rare, so this is pretty special.
7 comments:
Loved the old pictures! How great that you could find them and in such great shape!
I know this is really not the place to ask this but I don't use facebook enough to know how to ask a question without the whole facebook world reading it and I do not know your e-mail so I am resorting to your blog. Who is Kolakhane Phetmysai I just accepted his friend request (or her friend request) I saw that you were one of his/her friend so who is this??????
How cool is that? I just love old photos. I also love new technology that makes sharing them possible! :)
I love those photos! The one of Bill and Arthur are great when i first looked I couldn't see them then I thought wow it really is them kinda see loads of different people in them !
Those pics of Grandad are SO neat! And you're right....scouts are indeed dirty. Gavin goes next week, so I'll have the hose ready to go when he gets back...
Way cool pictures! I'm so excited that Clayton is starting scouting now. Although - I'm realizing I have no clue about scout stuff. Here's to learning something new on this scouting adventure!
These are incredible pics! Now that I have a son I'm starting to realize that I will have a Boy Scout. Even though my Dad, husband, brother, etc. are all Eagle Scouts, I know NOTHING about the scouting program. I have a lot to learn!!
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