So here I am, sitting on a fence again.\u00a0 I\u2019m only two steps from my Arrow of Light and then I can graduate from my pack and be a Boy Scout.\u00a0 I\u2019ve wanted to do that ever since I was a Tiger, when my big brother Max made Eagle in Troop 5.\u00a0 But he\u2019s off at college now, and I\u2019m left at home with just my parents and my fox terrier, Snuffy.\u00a0 But there are two troops in our town, and my cousin Bill is in the other one: Troop 1.\u00a0 Not that him and I are all that close, but family\u2019s family, Grampa always says.<\/p>\n
My parents aren\u2019t all that big on the Boy Scout idea, anyway.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019ll you make time for your sports and<\/em> being a Boy Scout?\u201d they keep asking me. \u201cMaybe instead of trying to pick between two troops you should be deciding between your traveling team and Scouts, \u2018cause you probably can\u2019t do both.\u201d\u00a0 What to do\u2026 what to do\u2026<\/p>\n It ain\u2019t easy not being eleven yet with an 18-year old brother and parents who drive me to my games and pack meetings and that\u2019s about it \u2018cause they\u2019d thought their parenting days were sort of over till I came along and sent \u2018em back to diaper-washing and pear-mashing school.\u00a0 Yeah, they love me, and I love \u2018em back, but secretly I know they\u2019d like to be taking cruises and such, like their friends are doing now.<\/p>\n Anyway, yesterday in the school cafeteria, two of the guys in Troop 5 just happen to run into me\u2014\u201caccidently on purpose,\u201d as my Gramma would put it.\u00a0 \u201cHey, like, what\u2019s happenin\u2019, Eddie,\u201d Sean and Jack ask.\u00a0 Sean Collins, he\u2019s Troop 5\u2019s Senior Patrol Leader, and Jack Davis is a Patrol Leader there.\u00a0 \u201cNot much,\u201d I reply, a little on my guard.\u00a0 \u201cSeen your cousin Bill lately,\u201d they go.\u00a0 \u201cYeah,\u201d I tell \u2018em. \u201cYou know we ride the same bus to school every day, right?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cHas he talked about Scouts with you?\u201d they wonder.\u00a0 \u201cNo duh,\u201d I say; \u201che wants me in Troop 1.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cSo, are you gonna?\u201d Sean asks, sorta trying to look like he doesn\u2019t care one way or the other. \u201cHaven\u2019t decided yet,\u201d which is sure the truth!\u00a0 \u201cTell you what, Eddie,\u201d Jack says, \u201cTroop 5 is goin\u2019 on a hike on Saturday; if your team doesn\u2019t have a game, why don\u2019t you plan on coming along.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNo game,\u201d I tell \u2018em, \u201cbut I\u2019ll have to check if my parents have anything planned.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cOK, so text me if you can go,\u201d says Sean; \u201cwe\u2019re leaving around 8, and Mister Monahan can pick you up with some of the rest of us.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cOk, and thanks,\u201d I reply.\u00a0 I\u2019m polite, \u2018cause these guys are at least two years older than me; I\u2019m surprised they\u2019re even talking to me\u2014I\u2019m still at least two years away from zit city.\u00a0 \u201cNo biggie,\u201d says Sean.<\/p>\n Back on the bus, ol\u2019 cousin Bill sits next to me, which is a little weird since he\u2019s, like, 14.\u00a0 \u201cHey, Eddie, how\u2019d you like to visit one of Troop 1\u2019s meetings tomorrow night?\u201d he says, smiling.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, OK,\u201d I say, \u201cIf one of my parents can drive me there; it\u2019s getting darker earlier now and they don\u2019t like me riding my bike at nighttime.\u201d<\/p>\n So I go to the troop meeting, and I gotta say it was fun.\u00a0 Learnt to tie some knots I didn\u2019t know, got to figure out how a compass works, and played some relay games with the patrols.\u00a0 Cool guys; definitely not dorks.\u00a0 They were pretty OK to a skinny little kid like me!\u00a0 Maybe this is the troop I should join.\u00a0 But I\u2019m still not sure.\u00a0 And besides, I said I\u2019d go on that hike Saturday.<\/p>\n Saturday shows up all white; we got our first snow Friday night.\u00a0 \u201cHey, I\u2019m off the hook,\u201d I think; \u201cthey\u2019ll cancel that hike for sure and I can just hook up with Troop 1 and it\u2019s a done deal.\u201d (I figure I can sell my parents on doing both Scouts and sports; after all, the sports stuff slows down for a while once I\u2019m done with fifth grade.)\u00a0 I\u2019m wrong.\u00a0 We\u2019re in the middle of breakfast and I get a text from Sean: \u201cpick u up in 10 \u2013 the hike\u2019s on.\u201d\u00a0 Oh, crap, I\u2019m not even geared to go.\u00a0 Charge upstairs, get dressed for snow, grab my Sorels, find my gloves, charge back downstairs just in time.\u00a0 Doorbell rings; it\u2019s Sean.\u00a0 \u201cOK, Sunshine, let\u2019s get outa here,\u201d he grins.\u00a0 \u201cHey, what time will you all be back?\u201d my Dad yells from the kitchen.\u00a0 \u201cNot to worry, Mister Stafford,\u201d shouts Sean, \u201cwe\u2019ll have him back by dinnertime.\u201d<\/p>\n Piled in the car, I look at Sean. \u201cI can\u2019t believe we\u2019re gonna do this!\u201d I\u2019m saying to Sean and the others.\u00a0 \u201cWhy not?\u00a0 The snow?\u00a0 Just makes today more fun, Eddie!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019s that supposed to happen?\u201d I fire back.\u00a0 \u201cWell, we\u2019ve got a surprise for you\u2026 We\u2019re not only hiking today, but Troop 1\u2019s challenged us to lose \u2018em in the woods.\u00a0 Your cousin Bill texted me last night about the idea, we put our \u2018phone tree\u2019 into action, he\u2019s rounding up his troop right now,\u201d he throws back.\u00a0 \u201cWhatta you mean, \u2018losing\u2019 Troop 1?\u201d I\u2019m puzzled.\u00a0 \u201cGame we invented,\u201d Sean tells me.\u00a0 \u201cWe get a head-start; then Troop 1 tries to track and catch us.\u00a0 Sorta like \u2018Capture the Flag\u2019 but better.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cHeck, that\u2019s no contest!\u00a0 We\u2019re gonna leave a huge trail in this snow!\u201d I say.\u00a0 \u201cYou think?\u201d he says. \u201cWell, wait\u2019ll we\u2019re there and we\u2019ll show you.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m wondering, unless we stick to plowed roads, there\u2019s no way we\u2019re gonna not leave a trail a blind pig could find.<\/p>\n We get to the field that borders the woods, pile out with the others, and the two troops assemble.\u00a0 The two Senior Patrol Leaders hook up and match their watches; then Sean comes back to us.\u00a0 \u201cOK, guys, huddle up.\u00a0 It\u2019s a half-hour head start and a four-hour time limit.\u00a0 If we make our final destination by the four-hour mark and the Troop 1 guys haven\u2019t caught us, we win.\u00a0 And today we\u2019re gonna win!\u201d Sean assures us.\u00a0 Our take-off point, where we can leave the plowed road, is a half-mile away, so on the whistle we take off\u2014there\u2019s nearly thirty of us!\u2014at a jog.\u00a0 I\u2019m looking left and right; there\u2019s not a mark on the snow on either side of the road, so how the heck are we supposed to \u201cdisappear\u201d?\u00a0 Then I find out.<\/p>\n At the take-off point on the roadside, Sean brings us up and gives the order: \u201cOK, buddy-up and scatter by buddies; no two buddy pairs on the same heading; gather by patrols in 15 minutes by your Patrol Leaders\u2019 calls (I learn that each patrol has a different \u201ccall\u201d); then patrols round up as a troop, at Liberty Corner, in one hour.\u00a0 Don\u2019t lag; those guys are good trackers and fast, and it\u2019s a good four miles to the Corner.<\/p>\n Almost faster than I can figure what to do, the Scouts break and run for the woods\u2014in over two dozen different directions.\u00a0 I eyeball the route I\u2019m gonna take, and get set to take off, too, when I notice Sean\u2019s hung back for a bit and now he\u2019s running pretty much alongside me.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re my<\/em> buddy today, Eddie,\u201d he calls between breaths as we charge for the woods on the far side of the field. \u201cCan\u2019t have a newbie gettin\u2019 lost out here!\u201d<\/p>\n Wow! These guys are in shape!\u00a0 I\u2019m a Lacrosse forward, so I should be able to pretty much keep up with even the big guys, I think.\u00a0 No way. These Scouts are fast!\u00a0 Yeah, Sean\u2019s letting me set the pace, but I know he\u2019s just cruising.\u00a0 As we clear the first rank of trees, I\u2019m hearing a bunch of weird calls\u2014some like birds, some like animals.\u00a0 Sean tells me it\u2019s the Patrol Leaders and their patrols staying in touch (we\u2019d left all our electronic stuff home, like Sean said we were supposed to do\u2014wristwatches yes, but no iPhones or Droids or even GPS\u2019s).<\/p>\n The woods are thick; the leaves and pine needles are covered by the snow; it\u2019s white and unbroken but dark and shadowy beneath the thickness of the evergreens overhead.\u00a0 The deer have eaten clean the lower branches before the snowfall, so we\u2019re making good time and not breaking branches as we run (that\u2019s when I learn that good trackers, like the guys in Troop 1, look for the direction a branch has been broken in; this tells \u2018em the direction we\u2019re going).\u00a0 It\u2019s almost silent; snow absorbs sound, I learn.\u00a0 All I hear is me and Sean\u2019s breathing, and the occasional patrol call.<\/p>\n We hit a clearing, jump a brook, claw up a steep bank on the other side, and continue the same fast pace we had on the open field.\u00a0 Sean\u2019s listening and pointing, \u201cThe Timber Wolf Patrol\u2019s over to our left, Eddie; the Screaming Eagles are at our two o\u2019clock.\u00a0 Can you hear \u2018em?\u201d\u00a0 We keep going at a jog. Sean lets out a whistle every now and then, to let the others know where we are.<\/p>\n Near the hour-mark, Sean and I break into a second clearing; it\u2019s Liberty Corner.\u00a0 Two patrols have already come in; the third\u2014the Bloody Bears\u2014is coming in fast at our six.\u00a0 The Banshees, who must have overshot, we figured, were probably coming back around to join up.\u00a0 \u201cHey, those Troop 1 guys\u2019ll never track us through this mess,\u201d I pant.\u00a0 \u201cWanna bet,\u201d says Jack; \u201cthey\u2019ll pair off just like us and each take a buddy track to where our own patrols formed up, then they\u2019ll figure where we\u2019re headed by the tracks of eight-at-a-time.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThen why\u2019d we do it that way,\u201d I\u2019m wondering.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re figuring that all they need to do is have one pair of their buddies go wrong.\u00a0 When and if<\/em> they catch us, there\u2019s a roll call and they have to have every one of their Scouts there within five minutes or we win!\u201d Sean tells me.\u00a0 \u201cSo save your breath; we\u2019re not near done yet.\u201d<\/p>\n We head out again, climbing an abandoned farm fence and taking off across an open field.\u00a0 The Banshees still hadn\u2019t finished their loop back, so after about a hundred yards or so, Sean signals the three Patrol Leaders to hold up.\u00a0 He checks his watch, puzzled.\u00a0 \u201cThe Banshees have some of the fastest runners in the troop; hope they didn\u2019t get nailed by the Troop 1 guys. If we\u2019re not at full muster at the finish, we\u2019re doomed and Troop 1 wins.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey, hear that cracking in the woods over there?\u201d I shout.\u00a0 \u201cGood ears, Eddie, it\u2019s the Banshees,\u201d Sean says.\u00a0 Sure enough, the Banshee Patrol vaults the fence and charges straight for us.\u00a0 \u201cWe thought you were in front of us,\u201d Sean says.\u00a0 \u201cWish we were,\u201d pants Bryan, their Patrol Leader; \u201cgot stuck in that bog and nearly lost our boots!\u00a0 If the Troop 1 guys follow our path, they\u2019re in for one nasty surprise. \u00a0But here we are, so let\u2019s book it!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot so fast,\u201d Sean says, \u201cNow it\u2019s single-file, slow, and foot-step it.\u00a0 Banshees, you take point and set the pace.\u00a0 Eddie here and I\u2019ll take sweep.\u201d (Sweep, or \u201cTail-End Charlie\u201d is considered the most important position on a trek like this, I find out, because we\u2019re responsible for any injuries or other problems.)<\/p>\n Out of the field and into the woods again, our path now looks almost like it\u2019s only one Scout walking; that\u2019s how precise our steps became.\u00a0 But Sean doesn\u2019t figure it\u2019ll fool Bill or his troop for long, so after about ten minutes of this he passes the word forward to hold up.\u00a0 We group up and split into patrols again, this time heading due east, but on separate tracks, at a trot.\u00a0 I\u2019m guessing that the pace can\u2019t last too long and I\u2019m right.\u00a0 By now, I sure wish this had been a Nordic ski trek!\u00a0 I could definitely appreciate being able to pole and glide instead of slogging through ankle-deep snow!\u00a0 After we cover another mile, we re-group and Sean gives us a new plan: \u201cOK, Banshees and Eagles split left and right, circle back to the west end of that fence line we crossed back there, but stay in the woods, and wait for the others.\u00a0 Wolves and Bears, you\u2019re on my six; we\u2019re gonna cut straight east, then south, then northwest to the fence line.\u00a0 Patrol Leaders, check your compasses, then head out.\u00a0 Eddie, you\u2019re with me.\u201d\u00a0 We take off.<\/p>\n The route Sean picks for us and the Wolves and Bears isn\u2019t fun.\u00a0 We cross two more streams, or maybe it was the same stream twice, and then hit a thicket we have to crawl under.\u00a0 \u201cMy Dad lived out west for a while,\u201d Sean tells me, \u201cand this stuff is like the chaparral he told me all cowboys hate, \u2018cause it\u2019s too thick to go through straight up, too wide to go around, and too tall to jump over.\u00a0 I\u2019m hoping it gives Bill and his troop fits.\u201d\u00a0 Well it\u2019s giving me<\/em> fits, too, I\u2019m thinking; this stuff is just plain nasty.\u00a0 The Scouts seem to be used to it; not a swear-word from any of \u2018em.\u00a0 Are they nuts, or just plain tough<\/em>?\u00a0 I wonder.<\/p>\n All of us out from under the other side, we climb a knoll that\u2019s bare of trees and such but has some pretty big boulders layin\u2019 around.\u00a0 \u201cJack, pick two of your Scouts to stay behind this boulder,\u201d says Sean, pointing to one that\u2019s almost as tall as a man. \u201cThey should wait here a half-hour.\u00a0 If they spot Bill or any of the Troop 1 Scouts, they need to stay low but book it down the other side back to us, with an estimate of how much lead-time we have.\u00a0 If they see nothing and 30 minutes pass, then they head straight for us fast as they can.\u00a0 Got it?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re good,\u201d says Jack.\u00a0 \u201cJason and Seth, how about you two take the boulder; you\u2019re the fastest runners in our patrol.\u201d\u00a0 They agree, take their positions, and the rest of us are on the trail again.<\/p>\n We\u2019re just about a half-mile from the boulder knoll when Jason and Seth break through the woods and catch up to us.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re less than ten minutes behind us, Sean, and they\u2019re comin\u2019 like Transformers on steroids!\u201d they pant.\u00a0 \u201cOK, we\u2019re on the run.\u00a0 Follow me; I know where we\u2019re headed now!\u201d shouts Sean, and we\u2019re off at the fastest pace we\u2019ve run all day.<\/p>\n Sean brings us up at an old wooden bridge.\u00a0 It\u2019s crossing a stream with steep banks on both sides.\u00a0 The stream\u2019s shallow, and it froze overnight.\u00a0 \u201cOK, grab some downed branches and sweep the bridge clean of the snow,\u201d he tells us as he grabs a switch and begins brooming with it; \u201cfast now.\u201d\u00a0 We follow his lead and within minutes there\u2019s not a flake of snow on that bridge.\u00a0 \u201cOK, take your branches and follow me\u2026slowly and carefully.\u201d\u00a0 He walks to the center of the bridge, slips under the side-rail on the right, and gingerly lowers himself onto the ice, steps away downstream quickly.\u00a0 \u201cC\u2019mon\u2026 one by one,\u201d he whispers.\u00a0 We follow, gently lowering ourselves till our feet touch the ice, then moving downstream fast but careful, so it doesn\u2019t crack.\u00a0 We keep moving single-file downstream on the ice till the stream bends and we can\u2019t see the bridge anymore.\u00a0 Sean raises his hand and freezes us, then quietly, \u201cEverybody turn right, right here, and climb the bank; use your branch behind you to smooth out the snow.\u201d\u00a0 We do this. Except my branch gets stuck in a bush on the bank.\u00a0 When I try to pull it loose, my left foot slips and I slide down the bank onto the ice, breaking through and feeling a sharp stab in my ankle. \u201cOh, S***!\u201d I holler.<\/p>\n Sean, Jack, and two other Scouts quickly form a \u201chuman chain\u201d and Sean reaches down; he pulls me out of the water and ice, and up the bank.\u00a0 The others sweep the mess I made in the snow, covering my slide-path best they can.<\/p>\n The pain doesn\u2019t go away.\u00a0 \u201cI think it\u2019s broken; oh crap, my ankle\u2019s broken!\u201d I start to shiver; I want to cry and know I can\u2019t let that happen.\u00a0 Not now.\u00a0 Sean pulls my pant leg out of the way and presses his hands to different sides of my Sorel and ankle but doesn\u2019t unlace the boot.\u00a0 I still hurt, but not so bad.\u00a0 Jack and Bryan have taken their jackets off and wrap me in them, just to make sure the shivering stops.\u00a0 It does after a little bit and they put their jackets back on. We quickly agree: it\u2019s a sprain, maybe; nothing\u2019s broken.\u00a0 I see Sean, Jack, and Bryan exchange looks.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s gonna be OK, Eddie, we\u2019re gonna stay right here with you till you feel like walking slowly.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNo!\u201d I holler.\u00a0 \u201cYou CAN\u2019T do that!\u00a0 We\u2019ll lose the challenge if you guys don\u2019t go RIGHT NOW and get to the finish.\u00a0 It\u2019s OK, \u2018cause I\u2019m not really a Scout yet, anyway, so I don\u2019t count!\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a shout from upstream: \u201cThere they are!\u201d\u00a0 Bill and a bunch of Troop 1 Scouts are pointing at us and calling others.\u00a0 They carefully, quickly, walk-slide themselves down the ice, till they\u2019re standing right below us on the bank.<\/p>\n I\u2019m still hollering. \u201cGet outa here, guys!\u00a0 They haven\u2019t caught you yet! Run!\u201d\u00a0 But they don\u2019t move; not one.\u00a0 \u201cAw, this sucks\u2026 Will you guys please<\/em> go already?\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m practically begging.\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 They just stand there, sorta grinning at Bill and the Troop 1 gang. \u201cThought we\u2019d lost you at the bridge, Billy.\u00a0 You guys are pretty smart\u2026after all!\u201d Sean says.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, you almost did.\u00a0 Smart move.\u00a0 So how come we catch you here, when you\u2019re so close to home base?\u201d Bill asks.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s me, Bill,\u201d I say.\u00a0 \u201cI screwed up and twisted my ankle, and these guys just won\u2019t get outa here!\u201d<\/p>\n Bill gets thoughtful for a little while.\u00a0 He turns and speaks quietly with the other Scouts, then raises his eyes to us and says quietly, \u201cYou all had a good run, Sean.\u00a0 So, where can we build a campfire and chow down?\u201d\u00a0 Sean looks down.\u00a0 \u201cThe rest of 5\u2019s probably got the fire goin\u2019 already, and it\u2019s just beyond this bunch of hedges a little ways.\u00a0 C\u2019mon and join us; no point in two<\/em> fires when one\u2019ll do just fine!\u201d<\/p>\n Bill looks over his shoulder at his troop.\u00a0 \u201cGeorge, Brooks, Mike, and Adam, can you rassle up a stretcher-like for Eddie here, so it\u2019s easier for him to get to the campfire?\u00a0 \u201cSure, Bill,\u201d they say, and in pretty quick time I\u2019m aboard a tree-branch stretcher with some jackets slung through their sleeves to make a base.\u00a0 Off we go, and the campfire\u2019s roaring when we get there. I can smell the hot dogs and cocoa, and start feeling better right away.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t fair, ya know,\u201d I tell \u2018em\u2026 \u201cTroop 5 would have won today if it hadn\u2019t been for me, and I shouldn\u2019t count \u2018cause I\u2019m not a Scout yet!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYeah, it\u2019s a tough end to a good race, but somebody\u2019s gotta win, and today it was Troop 1,\u201d says Sean, and the other Troop 5 guys nod.\u00a0 They agree. \u201cBesides,\u201d Sean continues, \u201cyou\u2019re a pretty game kid, and any troop would be glad to have you join up!\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m still feeling pretty sucky: \u201cYou all coulda left me behind and won!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYeah, they coulda,\u201d says Bill, \u201cbut Eddie, aren\u2019t you getting it yet\u2026 That\u2019s not what Scouts do, and today you were a Scout\u2014one of us<\/em>, no matter what<\/em> troop.\u201d<\/p>\n That does it.\u00a0 I know the troop I want to join.\u00a0 Happens in a flash.\u00a0 I stick out my left hand.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m joining YOUR<\/em> troop,\u201d I grin.<\/p>\n \n # # #<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n In 1921 the BSA published THE BOY SCOUTS YEAR-BOOK. My father, a boy at the time, read it cover-to-cover; he became a Scout in part as a result. Some 30 years later he passed it on to me. I did the same. The one story that had the greatest impact on my wanting to be a Scout was by Brewer Corcoran: \u201cYou Tell \u2018Em, Tenderfoot.\u201d What you\u2019ve just read is an update of his original story, retold from the perspective of a boy on the cusp of becoming a Boy Scout. I humbly owe my own life of Scouting experiences to my father and Mr. Corcoran, and I thank my wife, Linda, for encouraging me to write this and for being the best editor and cheerleader a writer and husband could have. <\/em><\/p>\n I hope you\u2019ve enjoyed it, and will pass it along to a boy who just might be as inspired by it as my own Dad and me. Andy<\/div> HappY ScOuTing!<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n