Snow Day = Cookies!

Quote of the Day:  Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale ’til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A big snowdrift came knocking on my door last night.  The wind howled.  The sleet pelted down, and then the snow came and filled our nice, clear driveway right back up.

The night before, my youngest sons had their cross-over ceremony from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.  Look at them cross their bridge!

A right of passage, moving from one stage of life into another.  I have had a great time being in scouts with my boys.  They've had great leaders, great activities, and I have made great memories with them.  When I tucked them in that night, Charlie said, "You can still do stuff with us in Boy Scouts, Mom."  They won't need me as much, and that's how it is supposed to be.  Look how happy they are!

The sleet was really pelting us and snow was filling in the driveway even as we came home.  I told my oldest son, Bobby, that they might have school cancelled, or at least delayed.  He doubted it, so he said, "If they cancel school tomorrow, I'll bake chocolate chip cookies."

They're delicious!  I took this opportunity to teach Zach how to use the snowblower.

He did a great job.  This was the biggest snowfall of the season!  The neighbor boys started to drop in. 

They must have smelled the cookies!  Having a snow day feels something like finding extra money in the pocket of your winter coat.  You aren't always happy about moving into the season of winter coats, but you are happy for the extra cash.

With this eventful week, I haven't gotten to the Oscar movie reviews I  promised.  I'll start with Inception.  Bobby watched it with friends and loved it.  He got it for his birthday and watched it with his dad and brother.  They all liked it.  I watched 10 minutes, was completely confused and bothered by the violence, so I turned it off and watched Ratatouille with the younger boys.  I love the music in that show, and my favorite line:  You're the one who was getting fancy with the spices.

Thanks for sharing our Snowday - Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  What would you do with found money, or found time? Did you see Inception?  What did you think of it?

Cold Camping

Quote of the Day:  It was late one winter night, long past my bedtime, when Pa and I went owling.  There was no wind.  The trees stood still as giant statues.  And the moon was so bright the sky seemed to shine.  Somewhere behind us a train whistle blew, long and low, like a sad, sad song.  from the first page of Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

I went camping with the Flying Eagle Scout Patrol this past weekend.  We are in Central Minnesota where it starts to get very cold at night by mid-October.  In fact, last year at this time, we'd already had our first snowfall of the season.  We did not have snow, but temperatures dropped below 30 degrees overnight.  We slept in thin tents intended for summer camping.  I slept in a sleeping bag on top of an air mattress, sandwiched between my twin sons and piled three blankets on top of us.  I tried to read a little by the light of my flashlight, but my fingers got too cold, so I turned out the light, snuggled down inside the sleeping bag, pulled the top over my head, which was covered by my winter cap, and tried to sleep.

I heard all the sounds described in Jane Yolen's book Owl Moon, including an owl!  I sleep lightly, and when you're outside in a thin tent, you hear every neighborhood dog, cars driving by, and the train.  But, somewhere in the night while drifting in and out of dreams wondering how on earth someone could survive being homeless in Minnesota in the winter, I heard the screech of an owl.

A local group called New Pathways sponsors what they call a "camp"aign to raise awareness of homelessness in Central Minnesota.  The kids brought home a flyer about it last week.  They host an overnight experience where groups can sleep in a tent or a cardboard box.  They also raise money to help homeless people in our area and support the Soup Kitchen.

I tossed the flyer in my recycle bag.  I thought, I can feel compassion for the homeless without sleeping in a tent on a cold October night.  After our scout night, I paused with our boys and said, "We just had our own 'Tent City' experience," and we talked briefly about how hard it would be to have to find shelter and food if you were homeless.

I came home feeling grateful.  I always had options.  I didn't have to stay in that tent all night long.  I could have gone inside the house.  (We camped in the Den leader's yard.)  I could have gone home.  In the morning, I went home and made a pot of hot coffee.  I washed my face in warm water.  And, later in the day, I soaked in a hot bathtub and took a long nap on my comfortable couch.

That campout taught me so much.  I learned that I can survive a night in a tent, wrapped in many blankets and snuggled close to the warm bodies of my boys.  I learned that I have so much while others have so little.  I learned that the will to live is strong, and your outlook is greatly improved by a hot meal and a warm bed. 

The Coats for Kids drive is on for one more week.  I plan to drop off something warm for a child who needs the protection from the cold and the hope from someone who cares.

Journaling Prompt:  Have you ever had a "Tent City" experience?  Have you contributed to or needed a social service? What are you feeling grateful for?

Scout Camp

Quote of the Day:  Scout Oath (or Promise)

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.


Scout Law
A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,
brave, clean, and reverent.

I went to scout camp this year with my twin sons.  It was my first time at scout camp.  The past couple years they've gone with their dad.  When they went with him, they slept in a tent and hauled their stuff a long ways.  I got to go the year that we stayed in the castle!

A courteous young man carried my bags.

Inside is a great hall, a large bathroom for the boys, a large baracks style room for the boys, a couple smaller rooms for the adults (the moms got the smaller rooms with just two sets of bunks and our own bathroom), and another big baracks style room in the dungeon for the dads.  Our den dad said, "That's a whole lotta snoring!"

We learned firearm safety.

Don't I look strong?

We learned to work as a team to build things.

This is a catapult.  And, yes, they got to try it when it was done!

We have a great den leader, Kyle.  His super organizational skills got us into the castle and helped us all have a terrific time at camp.

Thanks, Kyle!

Older Boy Scouts were the leaders.  The guy who's wrapped up like a mummy was in a motorcycle accident just a few days before our camp.  His assistent, in the purple costume, took over some of his duties, but he was with the boys most of the time.  They learned much from this young man who might not have been there but for quick thinking and a good helmet!  The boys were very gentle around him as he patiently explained to them how to do things.

After the bon fire and crazy skits, we walked back to the castle by the light of the full moon.

A couple of tired guys counting stars.

Scout camp is a place where you get lots of exercise walking from activity to campsite to the chow line.  It's a place to try new things and make new friends.  It's a time to see moms and dads stepping up and doing good things with and for their sons. Thanks for the memories, guys!

Journaling Prompt:  Write about a camp or camping experience  - a memory from your youth, or a time with children.

Scout Salute

Quote of the Day:  A conversation with my boys.
Me:  What do you remember best about the Memorial Day ceremony?
Eric (left):  The Star Spangled Banner
Charlie (right):  The National Anthem
And, it was captured on Steve Kohl's camera and printed on the front page of our local newspaper, The Brainerd Dispatch.  (Zach is standing next to me, behind the twins and their scout mate Aaron.)

Some of the scouts marched in the parade.  My boys handed out programs at the Memorial Day service at the cemetery.

They did their jobs with patriotic spirit and observed the importance of this day.

Thank you to the men and women who served and sacrificed.  Thank you to their loved ones who waited and worried.  Thank you for living and giving beyond yourselves.

When I was in the 7th grade, I read In Flanders Field for the Memorial Day service in my home town.  The author of that poem, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD, Canadian Army, wrote this poem in the spring of 1915 after spending 17 days treating injured men.  He never intended to publish it.  He even threw it away, but it was retrieved by his comrades and sent to a newspaper. The first paper rejected it, but it was published in Punch, and is still read today.

In Flanders Field

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Journaling Prompt:  Write about someone you are remembering, or about people you know and love who have served their country.