My God. I feel like I have been beaten from head to toe with a 4X4. I'm 33 chronologically, but I'm trapped inside a 133 year old body. Not only did my car blow a radiator hose on the way to Mom n Me, but then I couldn't get the freakin' tent up once we FINALLY got there. I want to find the man that made this tent and serve him fried scrotum for breakfast. "The easiest tent on the market." WHAT market? The market that only serves 6ft-plus tall amazon gods/goddesses? Got it all staked out, supposed to be able to just pull this little hub thing down and voila it snaps it into place. Fellow pack mom friend of mine (who is shorter than my just-barely 5'2") stood on a chair and between the two of us looking like candidates for "America's Funniest Videos" we got the stupid thing up. By then I was already ready for a couple of rounds of Jose, and I don't even drink! But the fun had just begun! Hiked here, hiked there, shot a few rounds, nailed a few pie tins with corn and a slingshot, pitched a few tomahawks, activities, listened to a whining ever-growing-tired child, dinner, and collapsed in front of the fire for some weenies and marshmallows. R went to bed early, he had the right idea! Stayed up and talked for a bit, then hit the shower. Now let me tell you something. There is something perversely erotic to me about showering (ALONE!!! my child refused to budge to go shower) in a community-type shower area with the moonlight streaming down and nothing but just 'wide open spaces' except for a little tin wall up around the shower heads. Several moms in there and kids, but we all weren't that 'liberated' so we took turns. OMG I'm installing an outdoor shower at home just for this purpose...showering in the moonlight with just me and nature...*ahem* anyway...
Trek back to the campsite, fall into bed (the airbed, just as I said, I refuse to ever 'do' sleeping bags again), drift off and wake up 'sometime in the middle of the night' to muffled snuffling. All mom instincts on full alert, I turned to R to see what was wrong, and the stink was LAUGHING. Woke me up at God only knows what time to LAUGH because someone a tent over was snoring hard enough to bring their tent down on them. Which of course got ME to giggling. And we lay there giggling into our pillows until we both collapsed into sleep again. Well, ONE of us did. Who proceeded to snore just as loudly so that I had "Snoring, Surround Sound Style." Finally fell asleep just to be woke up a few minutes (I swear it was!) later for chapel. Now there is something inherently beautiful about hiking up to a chapel in the woods to hear "How Great Thou Art" (my favorite hymnal) being played very soulfully on the harmonica. Gave me chills...Ditto with Amazing Grace a few minutes later..Breakfast, and then home, (I won't even talk about "breakdown" of camp...) where I fell into bed exhausted and just woke up a few hours ago.
Now, my rant for the day. Be warned, I get pissed thinking about it again and should my "french" slip, I apologize in advance. But, this is a subject I feel passionately about. Last night, we had a ceremonial disposal of 5 American flags. There were 2 scouts and their mothers sitting in front of us, and during the whole council ring campfire, they had been fairly disrespectful, talking while other packs were doing their skits, etc. I finally had enough and said (rather loudly) "Signs up means SHUT UP." I think they took the hint. So, when we came around to the flag disposal, it is protocol that you stand and, should you be in uniform, at attention and salute when given the command, should you be a civillian, place your hand over your heart. Such is the Scout way. However, you do NOT just throw the flags on top of a pitiful little bonfire, OPEN. They are to be folded and placed in a barrel (look it up on the net for more details if you really want to know). The way they did it is akin to the idiots who burn flags in the streets to protest or for some other boneheaded reason. These 2 scouts were looking around, talking, laughing, one mom was digging around in her purse and messing with her cellphone. Now in Cub Scouts, we have "shared parenting/leading." Meaning, if I catch your scout doing something he shouldn't, I'm going to say something to correct the situation, and I expect you to do the same to mine. So I lean forward and "gently" corrected the boys (and their mothers!) on the proper behavior. Ok, stop laughing, you all know me too well. What I actually said was "Men and women died under those flags so you could be free, you could at least show a little respect or leave." They stared at me like I'd grown 3 heads until they saw the "Den Leader" patch on my shirt. Turned and snapped to attention, mom left the cellphone alone and finally paid attention. So the council will be getting a little email on how to properly dispose of a worn American flag. I was not the only one who noticed, and this is not the first time the same man has done it this way. I take patriotism extremely seriously (especially since my ancestors were "original owners" of this land), and I was infuriated. How hard is it to shut off your damned cellphones, pay attention to your child and respect this humble flag that grants us all the freedoms that we have today, because countless numbers have died to protect it? I am not saying America is perfect, but you know what? We are probably the most free nation in the world. We are free to do things like we did last night, come together, people of all races and religions, and sit around a campfire and roast marshmallows and weiners, and play together and shower naked in the moonlight because we WANT to, not because we HAVE to. Ever notice the number of "POW" and "Disabled Vet" plates floating around on cars? Do you sigh in frustration and curse them silently to "hurry up old man." Or do you thank God that he (or she!) took up the mantle to endure tortures that none of us could even imagine so YOU or your children don't have to? It brought a lot of things home last night to me, and to my son.
9-11 brought a resurgence of American pride, for a short time, then it became almost commercial. For me, "Taps" still brings tears to my eyes, as does the national anthem. They're more than words and music, they're notes of lives cut short, lives dedicated to making sure that ungrateful idiots such as the ones last night still have the freedoms they don't deserve. I've made a point to make sure that neither of my children ever take that for granted.
So while I sit here and bitch and moan and joke about life, I know exactly who to thank for giving me the right to do just that. Do you?
Trek back to the campsite, fall into bed (the airbed, just as I said, I refuse to ever 'do' sleeping bags again), drift off and wake up 'sometime in the middle of the night' to muffled snuffling. All mom instincts on full alert, I turned to R to see what was wrong, and the stink was LAUGHING. Woke me up at God only knows what time to LAUGH because someone a tent over was snoring hard enough to bring their tent down on them. Which of course got ME to giggling. And we lay there giggling into our pillows until we both collapsed into sleep again. Well, ONE of us did. Who proceeded to snore just as loudly so that I had "Snoring, Surround Sound Style." Finally fell asleep just to be woke up a few minutes (I swear it was!) later for chapel. Now there is something inherently beautiful about hiking up to a chapel in the woods to hear "How Great Thou Art" (my favorite hymnal) being played very soulfully on the harmonica. Gave me chills...Ditto with Amazing Grace a few minutes later..Breakfast, and then home, (I won't even talk about "breakdown" of camp...) where I fell into bed exhausted and just woke up a few hours ago.
Now, my rant for the day. Be warned, I get pissed thinking about it again and should my "french" slip, I apologize in advance. But, this is a subject I feel passionately about. Last night, we had a ceremonial disposal of 5 American flags. There were 2 scouts and their mothers sitting in front of us, and during the whole council ring campfire, they had been fairly disrespectful, talking while other packs were doing their skits, etc. I finally had enough and said (rather loudly) "Signs up means SHUT UP." I think they took the hint. So, when we came around to the flag disposal, it is protocol that you stand and, should you be in uniform, at attention and salute when given the command, should you be a civillian, place your hand over your heart. Such is the Scout way. However, you do NOT just throw the flags on top of a pitiful little bonfire, OPEN. They are to be folded and placed in a barrel (look it up on the net for more details if you really want to know). The way they did it is akin to the idiots who burn flags in the streets to protest or for some other boneheaded reason. These 2 scouts were looking around, talking, laughing, one mom was digging around in her purse and messing with her cellphone. Now in Cub Scouts, we have "shared parenting/leading." Meaning, if I catch your scout doing something he shouldn't, I'm going to say something to correct the situation, and I expect you to do the same to mine. So I lean forward and "gently" corrected the boys (and their mothers!) on the proper behavior. Ok, stop laughing, you all know me too well. What I actually said was "Men and women died under those flags so you could be free, you could at least show a little respect or leave." They stared at me like I'd grown 3 heads until they saw the "Den Leader" patch on my shirt. Turned and snapped to attention, mom left the cellphone alone and finally paid attention. So the council will be getting a little email on how to properly dispose of a worn American flag. I was not the only one who noticed, and this is not the first time the same man has done it this way. I take patriotism extremely seriously (especially since my ancestors were "original owners" of this land), and I was infuriated. How hard is it to shut off your damned cellphones, pay attention to your child and respect this humble flag that grants us all the freedoms that we have today, because countless numbers have died to protect it? I am not saying America is perfect, but you know what? We are probably the most free nation in the world. We are free to do things like we did last night, come together, people of all races and religions, and sit around a campfire and roast marshmallows and weiners, and play together and shower naked in the moonlight because we WANT to, not because we HAVE to. Ever notice the number of "POW" and "Disabled Vet" plates floating around on cars? Do you sigh in frustration and curse them silently to "hurry up old man." Or do you thank God that he (or she!) took up the mantle to endure tortures that none of us could even imagine so YOU or your children don't have to? It brought a lot of things home last night to me, and to my son.
9-11 brought a resurgence of American pride, for a short time, then it became almost commercial. For me, "Taps" still brings tears to my eyes, as does the national anthem. They're more than words and music, they're notes of lives cut short, lives dedicated to making sure that ungrateful idiots such as the ones last night still have the freedoms they don't deserve. I've made a point to make sure that neither of my children ever take that for granted.
So while I sit here and bitch and moan and joke about life, I know exactly who to thank for giving me the right to do just that. Do you?
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