+++++
On Tuesday, the entire patrol was stirred by the voice of the their senior patrol leaders at 630 AM so they could fire up the propane grills, eat their breakfast, clean all their gear, before classes started at 9am. Patrols were reasonably successful in this goal and they had a decent breakfast of eggs and ham or turkey, bread, fruit, yogurt, apples, raisin bran, milk, and juice and everyone who needed to made it out to their classes.
In the afternoon the scouts made their way back to camp and geared up for lunch and camp inspections and afternoon classes. The Patrol tried to get their cold lunch done and cleaned up as quickly as possible so that camp could be readied for the first daily inspection. The day passed pleasantly with a few very brief rain showers and relatively cool temps.
After dinner, a couple of us rushed over to camp Olhmstead, a nearby scout camp, for Catholic religious services. Over the course of the week, we were blessed to continue to incorporate grace and spiritual intentions during our meals and daily gatherings. Even the Bowman Camp Director emphasized the importance of connecting with our religious and spiritual core as he distributed a small booklet called “Higher Than Eagles”. The 92 year old priest and author of this little booklet was the officiant of the mass and so we got an autograph and earned our reverent chip!
In the evening the troop was able to practice and have a good showing at flags with energetic renditions of our favorite troop cheers, but our inspection score, which was good, did not put us at the top to earn troop of the day. Boooooo!
Back at our campsite, evening cracker barrel consisted of hardy complaints “where are the smores, who forgot the smores?” While we dreamed about smore snow cones, caramel apples and funnel cakes we vowed to be ready with delicious desserts for the next few nights! Meanwhile, the senior patrol emceed a rousing game of “most embarrassing life moments” which brought out the best and the worst in each of us.
Although we agreed to pass on campfire karaoke/sing-a-long, we began to discuss our interest in auditioning for the closing campfire ceremony which was open to troop wide participation for the first time. The group teetered between practicing traditional campfire skits and having to hear Ms K and Alex K sing a Goshen adaptation of "take me home country road" by John Denver. Gradually the patrol was beginning to realize their unlimited potential as “Scouts Got Talent!” and set their sights on Friday’s audition.
That night it was a tough slog of cleaning to get everything squared away for those who had to do the clean up, but everyone did a great job and we all slept well knowing we would be up early for classes in the morning. The rain returned overnight, almost a regularly scheduled event now
No comments:
Post a Comment