A Georgia Girl in Germany

Zachary had tons of fun at Camp Baden-Powell last week, despite the 24 hours of torrential rain...no, make that FLOODING...that hit the area. Fortunately, in true Boy Scout fashion (and following the Boy Scout motto: “Be Prepared”), the scouts, leaders and camp staff reacted well to the deluge. The scouts were unaware that 90,000 people in the region were without power, numerous towns had been cut off by the floodwaters and the Sheffield city center was literally underwater. Talk about a national crisis!

The rain hit on Monday, and that evening the scouts were sleeping comfortably inside after an impromptu movie and popcorn night hosted by the staff to get them out of the weather. One of the troop leaders commented that the next morning he didn’t hear a single negative comment or see any long faces. They were all still motivated and enjoying camp.

The only rain-related thing Zachary commented on was that he didn’t get to finish his Swimming Merit Badge because the dam broke and the bus couldn’t get them to the pool. So, he only went swimming one day. The next day, they tried to get to the pool, but to no avail. The following day, they readjusted and began working on the Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge. After all was said and done, he completed three Merit Badges (First Aid, Space Exploration and Wood Carving) and started two others.

I figured he’d be dead-tired when I picked him up at the airport, but despite the 10:50 p.m. arrival, he was wide awake and talked nonstop on the way home! I guess that means he enjoyed the campout!

There are three things to note in the photo below: (1) Zachary’s huge post-campout grin, (2) the eagle neckerchief slide he carved and (3) his campout patch that’s appropriately shaped like an umbrella, complete with a handle and huge raindrops falling from the sky!

When we made it home, Zachary went to work unpacking his backpack so his gear could dry out. Most everything was sealed inside ziplock bags, and when he opened the first one he looked at me and asked, “Do you smell that?” I was about 10 feet away, so fortunately didn’t immediately catch the musty odor. By the time he was done, the odor had spread though. He even willingly took a long shower before crawling into bed--a first! He said it was because they only had cold water for showers while there. I was just glad that he wasn’t going to imbed that odor into his sheets!

Unfortunately, even though he took two disposable cameras with him, he didn’t take a single photo. He was concerned that all the rain would ruin the film (because he dropped a camera into water at Intercamp the month previous and lost the last few photos off the roll). Oh well, at least he has the memories.

Labels: Boy Scouts, England, Zachary