This weekend I had the opportunity to go camping with?Boy Scout Troop 91 of Prairie Viillage, Kansas of which my grandson Paul is a member. They hosted an overnight "family" event (primarily to recruit Cub Scouts - grandson Miles is one) at Camp Klassen, near Ottawa, Kansas. Paul's and Miles's mom and dad graciously allowed me to chaperone the boys for this adventure. I loved the chance to relive my own misspent youth and spend some time with my grandsons.
Camping in some respects has changed very little from when I was a little Scout growing up on the prairie back in the early 60s. ?Boy Scount camping still feels like one has been dropped in the middle of the plot of The Lord of the Flies. Sleeping pads are no more comfortable. All boys are still total pyromaniacs at heart. Troops still march on a diet that consists largely of fatty meat products, partially cooked. It still gets very dark and cold at night.?Kids still play with knives and call it whittling. Bonfires, skits and songs are really dorky, but cool. And camping is still just about as much fun as a kid can have before he discovers girls.
While I remember reading that there are now merit badges that involve computer games and other digital technologies, personal tech was forbidden at this camp. Boys actually played cards - with a deck of cards! They practiced campfire skits. Sang songs. (The dads and grandpas, however, still monitored the progress of Saturday football games on smartphones and read e-books and took digital pictures.) It was a little retro, but really fun to see kids in nature doing non-technology things. Last Child in the Woods, anyone?
But tech is creeping in, even in scouting. Flashlights?are now LED headlamps.?Tent tech has changed dramatically. This is pretty much the tent I had as a kid:
It was made of green canvas and supported by stakes, wooden poles, and guy lines. I learned to trench around the base, use a good rain fly and ground tarp and not to touch the walls when wet. Of course I still got wet, ?and the thing took what seemed like an hour to set up.
Here is today's tent technology (and this tent is several years old):?
Four shock-cord poles, no stakes, plastic clips - and in less than 10 minutes...
Voila! The thing kept us warm and dry.
Yet I was most delighted by the things that remained unchanged. The?foil packet entree?for example. Ours was a frozen hamburger patty, frozen hash brown potatoes, frozen carrots, and fresh sliced onions - coated with Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper. If you cooked it for 15 minutes the hamburger was thawed, not cooked. In about 45 minutes, you got this... Mmmmmmmm. Most boys - and I think a couple dads - ate theirs partially cooked.
Anyway, the boys and I survived.
We are upright, alive, and capable of a smile after a night of camping. Perhaps the boys' parents will trust me with their well-being again.
I love technology. I love the information, the entertainment, the engagement inherent in it for children.?
But I also love my real live grandchildren, being outdoors, and having an experience.?
It's lovely to get away from the screen and look at life instead. We should all do it more often.
Source: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2012/11/5/tent-know-ledgy.html
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