Yawgoog Day 3

The ear plugs I bought yesterday work at least as well as the ones I usually use, but they might actually work better. I heard nothing once I put them in. My brain also stopped racing a bit so I was able to get some sleep. I am definitely feeling better today. I am still shaken and bummed about the car but at least I can breathe better. Most importantly, the scouts who were in my car seem ok.

This morning was uneventful for me. G3 went off to work on small boat sailing merit badge. I intended to take a walk around camp but didn’t get further than the trading post. I looked around to see what they had and successfully talked myself out of buying a tee-shirt, though I am not sure my resolve will hold out for the week. :While there, I started talking to one of the scouts who worked the register. I noticed he had an Eagle Scout patch and asked him what he did for his Eagle Project. Excitement burned in his eyes and he became very animated as he spoke about osprey. For his project he built two poles and one nest. I asked why only one nest if there were two poles and he immediately launched into an interesting nature lesson. The male osprey never enters the nest. He always perches on a pole alone to avoid alerting other predators as to where the babies are. It took over a year for osprey to move into the nest he built. They spent that time monitoring the nest and making sure it was safe.

After the trading post, I took a shower, and while back at camp, I got caught up in a conversation with a couple of other leaders. At lunch, I saw G3 and asked how small boat sailing was. He said the first day of boating badges is always boring because they don’t get on the water. They spend the time doing the introductory requirements to introduce them to safety, parts of the boat, and the mechanics behind making the boat move.

Following lunch, the scouts had an hour of down time during which I read. Once the scouts headed off to their afternoon merit badges, I wandered over to the basketball court and shoot around for a while before resuming my walk around camp. I walked over to the Sandy Beach camp where my brother used to go and I took a picture of the waterfront to text him. He said he spent a great deal of time there and that it hadn’t changed. I also went into the Medicine Bow Trading Post, but they had much of the same souvenirs that were in Three Point. Since I would like to attempt the mile swim at the end of the week, I had to swim a qualifying quarter mile first. I knocked that off this afternoon. It was relatively easy. I did not go fast. I emulated the tortoise—slow and steady.

I enjoyed dinner conversation. The adults are not allowed to sit together. It’s a troop rule. We need to scatter ourselves so that there is at least one adult at each table with the scouts. We mix it up, and at dinner, two of the scouts at my table are readers. Readers make me happy because they speak my language. We spoke about which books they are reading, what authors they enjoy and why.

G3 was supposed to do fishing merit badge after dinner but decided to skip it tonight because he wanted to participate in the lake activity and play on the giant blow-up float. However, there was a debacle regarding the tags the scouts needed in order to gain access to the water. G3’s tag took too long to print and as a result he was denied access to the event. He was furious and extremely disappointed. He had skipped a merit badge lesson for nothing.

Back at the campsite, I sat at my favorite spot on the rock by the water and in the dark set about typing this. While out there, G3 came to sit with me again and we had a pleasant conversation. He said he really enjoyed horsemanship. The counselor was good and taught the basics of taking care of the horses. G3 is looking forward to actually riding them later in the week. Hopefully, the weather will hold out.

It is way past my bedtime. My tent mates and I were up talking way too late about everything and nothing. I should probably slip into my sleeping bag and try to get some sleep.