Beneath the Wraps

I wouldn’t say that I’m a “friend” of scouting I think Hannah is the one who made the announcement that “you are not an acquaintance of scouting, but a “friend” of scouting”   “No I’m not,” I thought.   I have truly never been a friend.   I’ve actually had regrets about it. I think the scouting program is a great program for those who truly want to be involved.   I guess the thing that has always bothered me the most about scouting is all the hoopla and fuss that seems to go with it.   It would be fine if there was an equal amount of hoopla given to those not even associated with scouts – if that is what’s desired. (Some of us don’t like hoopla and fuss; my brother Patrick and his oldest son truly loved scouting and were heavily involved.   My brother Corey and nephew Brian appear to have reached a point where they almost loathed it) The boy scout program was adaptedby the LDS church in 1913 and cub scouts were adop...

          Jenna has liked caterpillars for as long as I remember.   I don’t know why.   I don’t know when – though I suspect it must have been in the womb.           There was a week the caterpillar/butterfly cycle was discussed during her first year at preschool.   Twice during the week the focus was on the caterpillar and the other two days were on the butterfly.   She was there for the caterpillar days chiming in her knowledge and sharing with the class more depth than the teacher was actually ready to go into, dropping her mouth in disbelief and then saying, “You are right, Jenna.   How come you know so much about caterpillars?”           “Oh, I just like caterpillars and so I know all about them.”           I don’t think Jenna had even seen a real caterpillar before...

          Shortly after we moved, and I could sense that Jenna wouldn’t be going anywhere with her new school (where she finished kindergarten) I decided to enroll her in girl scouts.           We’d been invited to attend a meeting for an introduction.  The theme was on culture with an added service project for the food bank.  Eleven booths were set up to represent various countries.  We sampled food from United States, China, France, Mexico, India, Scotland, Austrlia, France, England, South Africa and Switzerland           Jenna enjoyed learning and making crafts such as origami mask and cutting out shapes for the Chinese puzzle.  She also enjoyed decorating boxes for the food bank. By the end of the night she was fired up.  She had earned her first patch and that was awesome!  That alone made her want to join....