Great Expectations
Back in the day, I was a Boy Scout. Not a very good one, but I was a Boy Scout. I think I earned maybe three merit badges. I took home a lot of the guide books with the requirements for earning them, but I just never was able to complete those requirements.
One of the highlights of my Boy Scout career was a trip to Kentucky to hike the Lincoln Heritage Trail with other Boy Scouts from the Midwest. It was to be a five or six day hike through the hills of Kentucky, visiting sites important in the life of Lincoln. In order to make the hike, one of the things we had to be able to do was recite Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. I still remember most of that speech. It also sparked an interest in the life of Lincoln, but that’s another post for another time.
Our troop spent almost the entire school year getting ready for the trip that was set to take place the summer of 1965. We had camp outs to learn and practice skills we would need, we took day hikes to build up our stamina, and we practiced our recitations of the Gettysburg Address. It’s amazing how slowly time passed back then. But finally, the time came for us to leave on our big adventure.
I was lucky enough to be in a Boy Scout Troop that was affluent enough to own our own bus. I was also unlucky enough to be in a Boy Scout Troop that was not affluent enough to be able to easily repair that bus when the engine broke down in southern Indiana on our way to the hike. We ended up spending 4 days and nights camping in a park near Vallonia, Indiana. It was difficult to measure the disappointment of that group of Scouts. And on top of that, it rained almost every night we were there. And believe me, the tents in those days did not have the water proof qualities of today’s tents.
Looking back, we were so hyped up about the hike we were supposed to take part in with the other Scouts we couldn’t appreciate the opportunity for a different adventure. So that group of twelve to fourteen year-old boys spent most of the time complaining and whining about how bored, hungry, tired…whatever the complaint of the moment was…we were.
Eventually, we got the bus repaired, visited Lincoln’s birthplace, Mammoth Cave Park and a couple of other sites in Kentucky, essentially salvaging what could have been a disastrous trip. Looking back, I have some pretty fantastic memories of that trip. That’s in spite of the fact that the bus broke down again on the way home, and it took us two extra days to make it back. Talk about a bunch of angry, moody boys. You would have thought we had spent the whole week being tortured and starved, instead of exploring places we had never been before.
Over Memorial Day, I’m going camping with a new group of people with similar experiences and interests. We will spend time around the campfire sharing our lives and our hopes for the future. I plan to keep that experience from forty years ago in the back of my mind. Then I’m going to savor every minute of the new experience, even if it doesn’t turn out exactly as I plan. I’m betting there will be some great new memories to savor in the future if I play my cards right.
Sunday Scenery
SOAPSTONE CHAPEL
SITTING PRETTY
GOLDEN BEAUTIES
BATHED IN SUNLIGHT
HERE COMES THE SUN
REST IN PEACE
I couldn’t decide on a single image this week, so I decided on a bonus of several images. I took all of these shots yesterday (Saturday) at a small chapel just outside of Raleigh. There is a new church not far from this chapel, but this building is used by another congregation as a temporary home and as a meeting place for several groups. These were taken just after 8:00 in the morning and I thought the light from the early sun gave me some very interesting images.
Hopefully, these will make up for the lack of regular posts this week. I don’t know how I got so far behind, but it seems that this week got past me before I realized it. Enjoy!
Finally!!
Putting up a post about politics has usually been the kiss of death for discussion here in my blog. But I couldn’t let this day pass without comment. Today is primary election day in North Carolina, as I’m sure most of the civilized (and not so civilized) world is aware. And I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.
After what seems like eternal political ads and campaigning, the good people of North Carolina went to the polls today to decide who the standard bearers for the two major parties are going to be. You would have to be just waking up from a decades long coma not to know the importance of this day for Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s going to be a draw, with Obama winning North Carolina and Clinton carrying the day in my former state, Indiana, where they are also voting today.
Besides the Presidential primary contests, here in North Carolina there is also a hotly contested Democratic race for governor. The current Lt. Governor, Beverly Perdue, is seeking to become the first female governor of the Tar Heel State. State Treasurer Richard Moore is trying to become the first poopy-head governor of our fair state. Oops, did I give away my loyalties there? To be honest, there isn’t a huge difference in the proposed platforms of Perdue and Miller. The clincher for me was an abrupt, early halt to negative campaigning by the Lt. Governor. She decided, rightly in my opinion, that people were more than tired of that tactic. Moore’s response was to not only discount Perdue’s decision, but he also increased his negative attack ads. Sorry, Richard, you blew it. Bev called this one exactly right.
So, after tonight, those of us in the Tar Heel State will get a brief respite from the political assault on our intelligence. The lull before the push to November elections will probably be very brief, but it will be most welcome. In the mean time, I’m going to enjoy every second that there isn’t a political ad running on television. Come to think of it, I’ll throw a party if it lasts a second.
