by Outsider Mom

October 17, 2008

I decided to attend my first-ever boy scout campout this weekend. My son Brand wanted me to, and they are doing orienteering, which sounds like fun. I don’t know how to do orienteering, but I’m a learn-on-the-fly kind of gal. 

But doing things on the fly is inimical to the Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared.” What will happen to a woman who signs up to go with her son’s scout troop without due consideration? Will I-can-do-it bravado actually get me anywhere?

Here we are on Friday night, 6:07 p.m. at the Scout storage shed at the church, packing the gear. Boys are running around loading up trailers. Parents are talking quietly among themselves. Scoutmasters are directing scouts. Apparently there are five cars going up tonight and it’s an almost two hour drive. So: we’ll be pitching our tents in the dark. 

And that’s when I realize that I’ve forgotten my flashlight. How could I have done this?  I’m pretty sure Brand doesn’t have his flashlight either, he’s the kind of kid who has to be reminded about everything, and I didn’t remind him to bring the flashlight around the same time I wasn’t reminding myself. I want to run and hide! If only my older scout son, Vince, were here. He remembers things. But Vince isn’t coming this time.

Having no flashlight wouldn’t be an emergency, actually, except for the problem of pitching the tent in the dark. I probably will be able to get help from someone. But overall, I’m not sure if things are going very well. And I really don’t want any of the scoutmasters and parents to know that I’m the kind of person who forgets their flashlight.

Now it’s 6:30. I observe scouts standing in their patrols, knocking each other’s hats off, making dismissive remarks about one guy who’s wearing the new uniform which has cargo-style pockets on the chest. Okay, I admit, it doesn’t look great, but there’s no reason to be so smug – it’s the new standard issue. My son’s patrol is making plans to each cook their own breakfast, so they can get the cooking requirement signed off.

A group of older scouts sits nearby. They are talking about killing someone by puncturing their heart with a staple gun. It’s amazing how long they can stay on this one fairly simple topic. The light is falling and I am getting hungry. I feel reassured since I found in the camp kit not a flashlight but a lantern with propane. Now we’re pulling out, they say. I get in the line of cars and drive. With my son’s patrol, the Spartans, in the back of the Suburban, it will not be a dull trip. 

Tomorrow:  Driving to “Sid”