GimletBlog

Christmas came and went so fast this year, as did the rest of the holiday vacation. Now Thing One’s Court of Honor is fast approaching (as are the houseguests), so we’d better bring the blog up to date before we are hopelessly behind.

At Santa’s annual pre-Christmas visit, Thing Two walked up to Santa and announced, “I used to be afraid of you but I’m not any more!” followed by:

“Santa is big … “

“Santa is very big … “

“I’m going to stay with Mommy.”

We did manage to get him to sit on Santa’s lap.  His time with St. Nick is best described as  “cautious”.

After Santa left and he was describing his visit to the grandGimlets, he told them Santa was eleven feet tall.

Christmas Eve festivities were held chez Gimlet, with the traditional holiday crustacean (Dungeness crab).  There were also a few hjortebakkels left, although since it has been several years since we last made any, their numbers had decreased considerably over the course of the month.

Just before Christmas we were able to pick up Thing One’s Eagle certificate and awards. (One of the advantages to living in the city is that the scout office is a relatively quick trip from home.)  While we were at the Scout Shop looking over all the goodies in the Eagle aisle, another mother nudged her new Boy Scout and Cub Scout sons and pointed out Thing One.  (“Look at that boy.  He’s a brand new Eagle Scout!”)  The younger boys watched him from an awed distance as we made our purchases.  Not so long ago we were the ones watching the soon-to-be and new Eagle Scouts, wondering what Thing One’s trail to Eagle would be like, and how he would reach that goal.

After Christmas preparations for the Court of Honor shifted into high gear.  We had found an online card design shop which we had hoped to use to make the invitations, but discovered that they were closed for the holidays and wouldn’t take new orders in time for our mailing deadline.  However, Costco was luckily offering a sale on photo cards, with a blank template option among their choices, so Your Humble Narrator dusted off her armchair graphic design skills and put together an invitation that looks as good as the online shop’s products, if she dares say so herself.  With the savings from that part of the project we splurged on Eagle Scout stamps from Zazzle.  Not necessary, but a fun extra touch.

The Court of Honor slide show has been a lot of fun to make, and we hope family and friends enjoy it too.  Sorting through pictures brought up many memories of campouts, hikes, and other activities with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.  But to harp on a familiar theme, our children grow up so quickly!  There are events for which we wish we had taken more pictures, but we’re thankful for all the pictures that we have, and we’re especially glad that somebody (was it Uncle C?  We can’t remember.) had the presence of mind to record a little something which will appear at the beginning of the slide show.  (How’s that for a teaser?)

We hope to see many of you at the Court of Honor, and a report on the party and family reunion will follow once we’ve recovered.

We interrupt the month’s postings of Christmas carols to bring you the following announcement:  Thing One passed his Board of Review tonight, and is now an Eagle Scout!

Congratulations, Thing One!

A Court of Honor is planned for next month, more details to be announced later.  We hope that many of Thing One’s family and friends will be able to join him in January to celebrate this great achievement!

Editor’s Note: Many, many thanks are due to the wonderful, hard-working volunteers and donors who made Thing One’s Eagle project possible.  He couldn’t have done it without you.  Thanks to Gary Ard, Eric and Linda Carlson, and Ralph Richards for their donations, and our friends from BSA Cub Pack 144, BSA Troops 125, 175, 180, and 186 for spending a wet, cold November Saturday restoring part of the Duwamish riverbank for native plants and salmon.  Together you logged in 174 hours of service.  Way to go!

See a photo album for Thing One’s project in the Gimlet Gallery.

November 21 was my Eagle project. It was removing white poplar from a site at the Duwamish River in West Seattle, and then laying down cardboard and mulch to keep it from growing back. We started at 9:00 am and ended at 2:30 pm. About forty volunteers came from several different groups:  the Sound Stewards of the People for Puget Sound (the community organization that approved my project);  former Cub Scouts from my pack who are now in other Boy Scout troops in the neighborhood; my scout troop; and other members of my church, friends, and family.  Some people had to leave early and some came late, but those who came late replaced those who left early so it worked out well.

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Thing One’s Eagle project has been approved, and we’ve set a date for the work party. In late November, he and his fellow volunteers will spend a Saturday removing invasive white poplar from Terminal 105 of the Duwamish River to help the native plants and salmon habitat.

Yesterday he sent out an email flyer with directions, date/time, and other specifics to Scouts and other friends and family; if you’d like to be included, leave a note in the comments and we’ll send you all the details.   Look for a report next month!

Learn more about Thing One’s Eagle Project:

• Restoration Ecology Network Current Projects at the University of Washington: Terminal 105, Duwamish River
• Port of Seattle Parks (scroll down to Terminal 105 Park)
• Self guided tour of the Duwamish waterway (PDF)
• Trail to Eagle (National Eagle Scout Association)

Last Saturday I went to the Order of the Arrow’s Hyiu Chuck chapter of the T’Kope KwisKwis lodge service project for Camp Pigott. We moved firewood from the side of the road to the firewood cover. Then, we went to Scoutcraft and moved poles into a truck. We also made a trail to the Wilderness Survival merit badge area. Then, we had lunch and talked about the parts to play in the pre-ordeal ceremony. Then we went shotgun shooting with clay pigeons (which I did never hit, but my dad actually got one) for about an hour. Then, we had dinner, cleaned up and left at about 7:00 pm.

I had fun doing this and I would like to go to another one. I met new people and also one who goes to my school and was staff at Camp Parsons. I liked shotgun shooting the best.

Editor’s Note: After finding a Seattle Historical Hike report on kitsapscouts.com, The Gimlet thought it would be fun for our scout troop and cub scout pack to do the hike as well:  after all, this is our city!  The older scouts would like to earn their Hiking and Backpacking merit badges this year and get in shape for longer summer backpacking trips; to that end, they planned to extend the historic hike beyond its end at the Center for Wooden Boats to a ten mile hike, ending at Woodland Park in North Seattle.

• Download the Seattle Historical Hike map and worksheet from the Chief Seattle Council (PDF)

At 8:15 Saturday morning we got on the express bus to downtown Seattle.  About half the troop rode the one bus.  We arrived about 8:40 which was 10 minutes late and met with the rest of our troop.  Our guests were an Eagle Scout father, his Scout son, and Cub son.   In total we were eight Scouts, two Cubs, and three adults.   We were all eager to get started.  The Scouts who were working on their 2nd Class rank advancement showed me how to orient the map and then we were off.

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Our family’s third generation of Roughriders has begun:  Thing One started high school this week.  We’ve been swamped with homework (Thing One) paperwork (his parents), writing checks and buying supplies (also his parents) ever since.  In addition to the usual basic subjects, he’ll continue to learn French and play the cello in the concert orchestra.

On the shopping list was an upgrade to the full-size cello rental, and new shoes to replace the pair we bought at the beginning of the summer, which he has since outgrown. (!)  We hope this pair will last at least until Christmas.

A Court of Honor was also on the schedule this week, where Thing One received eleven merit badges and his religious On My Honor award.  He has now earned all the merit badges required for Eagle, and has begun work on his Eagle project.  It’s very exciting to be so close, but it’s not done yet; support and encouragement from family and friends (and a weekend work party to be scheduled later this fall) will help Thing One finish the journey.

If you’re searching through the blog archives muttering, “But didn’t he just start middle school?” the answer is Yes.  We still can’t quite believe that we’re to this point already, because that means that (1) our little Thing One is a not-so-little-and-still-growing teenager; (2) a driver’s license, college, and a mission are all going to be here before we know it, too; and worst of all:  (3) we are now officially old fogies, not the twentysomething newlyweds we were last week, or so it seems.

Here’s Thing One’s bed, (fairly) neatly made.*  This is how it looked for nearly the entire summer, as he was away at youth conference, then NYLT, then we were all at Philmont, then Thing One left again for Camp Parsons, Camp Pigott, and WashJam.  Next summer is already filling up with the National Jamboree, Camp Parsons, and the possibility of NYLT staff and a trip back to Philmont for a NAYLE session.  As for now, The Gimlet has commented how odd it is to drop Thing One off at seminary at 6:00 am and expect him to work his way through his day without any help from parents.  Although parenting has often been described as a process by which we give our children roots and wings, to actually arrive at the stage where we watch our oldest begin to test his wings is an exciting, poignant, and reflective time.  His room stays neat now, but more often than not, it’s empty.

• “Finding Joy in the Journey” by Thomas S. Monson (Ensign, November 2008)
  With a ten-year gap between Things as our perspective, we can attest that there is much to enjoy and look forward to at every age.
• The Value of the Eagle Scout Award and Eagle Scout testimonials:  How does it feel to earn the Eagle Scout rank?  What kept you striving toward Eagle?  What did you learn from becoming an Eagle Scout? Watch these and more short videos from the National Eagle Scout Association.

* A certain reader from Tulsa will notice that the afghan she made as a baby gift for Thing One is still in use!  (Although he doesn’t take it to scout camp.)  It’s looking quite ragged around the edges these days, but he still wraps up in it to read or watch TV.

Visit the WashJam photo album in the Gimlet Gallery.

On August 20, 2009, my troop went in to Fort Lewis for WashJam. There were about 6,000 people who came to this camp.

There were activities like the mountain man area, where there was caber tossing, shot put, and knife throwing. They also had tomahawk throwing and archery, but those were either closed or had a long line.  Other fun activities were gold panning and blacksmithing.

On Friday I worked at a pizza stand to raise money for my 2010 Jamboree troop.  While trying to get rid of the last pizzas of the day, the whole pizzas had dropped in price since the afternoon from $18.00 to $10.00. at one point while walking through camp I made advertisement for the pizza. “oh wow, camp food! It may be charred on the outside! It may be raw on the inside! But at least it’s got that special outdoor flavor! … of lighter fluid! Mm-mm, when do we eat? Come and buy your troop whole pizzas for $10.00!” it was easy to work with the troop in the stand as runner (brings to the table the order) and as stocker (brings pizza from truck to stand and carries signs about the pizza and specials.

There was music at the end of the day at the stage, which the staff had built at Fort Lewis.  The rental equipment was bad and shocked one person, and there was nothing in between shows for a few minutes, but some of the songs were still good.

On Saturday I went to the NYLT staff meeting, which talked about when they would know who the staff would be, and when the dates of the staff meetings would approximately be. We also got to talk to who would be staff, which was fun. Later, WashJam had an inspirational speech at the stage at night.

Sunday was church all day. They had sacrament meeting at the stage for all 1,600 LDS troop members. After the priesthood meeting, there was dinner, breaking camp, and a fireside with talks. After the fireside, we finished up breaking camp and left.

I liked going to WashJam.  It was fun to especially do the mountain men area, and I liked the Order of the Arrow museum, and the booths about different camps, like Camp Sheppard and its High Adventure program. There were lots of things to buy at the stores.  It was fun to see people that I got to know from OA, NYLT, and Camp Parsons earlier this year.

If your troop goes to a future WashJam, see everything you can, and do as much as you can, because there’s not enough time to do all the activities. Sometimes it was hot and sometimes it rained, so troops should bring a pop up canopy.  It’s also a good idea to bring folding chairs so you don’t have to sit on the ground, and lots of food for breakfast and after the stands close.  I would recommend troops go to the next WashJam because it is fun to be with so many scouts and there are activities to do there that you usually cannot do in your home area with just your troop.

See this year’s Camp Pigott photos in the Gimlet Gallery.

The Gimlet reports: The troop earned more merit badges in one camp than ever before.  Then Sunday we had a number of the boys complete boards of review for their next rank advancement.  It was a successful camp and great fun.  Reports are that all the boys enjoyed camp.

Thing One completed the last requirements for his last two required merit badges for Eagle and will be seeing the merit badge counselor tonight.  It certainly makes this Scoutmaster happy.  Now if I can just get another adult leader to commit to WashJam next weekend we will be set.

At 6:00 am Monday morning, we met at the church building to go to Camp Pigott.   When everybody loaded their bags and themselves into cars, we drove off. The merit badges I signed up for were mammal study, and fish & wildlife management (combined classes), leatherwork, small boat sailing, and space exploration. Not much happened on the first day of merit badges, but it started to rain, and ever since, it started raining on and off, without wind (bad for sailboat). In the week, I also earned fingerprinting.

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Must be a teenager thing:  Thing One has serious thrill issues this summer, from climbing mountains with one arm tied behind his back, to swimming with jellyfish.  He earned merit badges in Oceanography and Rowing (plus two partials to finish up at Pigott), thus completing all the elective merit badges needed to earn his Eagle.  Read on!  (and see all our Camp Parsons photos in the Gimlet Gallery, which is also getting a serious workout this summer.)

Many thanks to the scoutmaster and scouts of Troop 125 for inviting Thing One to be their guest this year.  He had a wonderful time and looks forward to more adventures with his new friends!

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