The Michell Spot: July 2008

Is a blog too much time to invest? When I started this blog, topics raced through my head. I would write several a week. Then it was one or two a week. Then once or twice a month. Now I just feel like it's too much time to devote.

What's wrong with me. I'm turning in to more of a "Jon Michell IS..." Facebook kind of guy. You know, one quick sentence, and peace out.

But it's not just my blog world that has been effected by my shortened attention span. All sorts of areas have been affected.

I'm satisfied with watching trailers on Apple.com rather than spending two hours in the theatre. Talk Soup is a better way to catch up on a weeks worth of TV viewing. I find myself shoving food in my mouth over the kitchen sink instead of sitting down with the kids for a meal. I've become a text messenger; I now know what LOL, ROTF, WTH, and LMAO mean, and actually use them. I don't need to listen to an entire album, I'm satisfied with hearing fifteen second clips at the iTunes stores. When people send me email jokes I scroll down and read the punch line first to see if I want to invest in reading the entire joke.

We live in an instant coffee, microwave, cliff note, no foreplay right to the good stuff kind of world.

What happened to long walks on the beach? The Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain? Where's the great poets of our time? The wonderful conversationalists? What happened to the LP, the mini-series, or the seven course meal with the thirty minute chocolate souffle that has to be ordered be for you even get your salad?

I'd like to vent more about this but my Hot Pocket is getting cold and I gotta check out the last three episodes of Project Runway I DVR'd in the next forty-five minutes before I go to bed.

I think Tigger put it pest when he said, "TTFN."

Last Spring a friend at church, who had a son a year older than Dylan, kept talking to me about Cub Scouts. He was the Tiger Scout leader and his boy would be advancing in rank to a Wolf that following summer. One of his jobs was to recruit a leader for the incoming Tigers. So every Sunday we would drop of the kids at Sunday School and he would see me and mention Scouts. I definitely thought about putting Dylan in Scouts but someone else would have to lead, that was a given! What did I know about scouting? I was in the scouts for one year when I was in second grade. All I remember was making a Pinewood Derby car with my dad and drawing a lot of pictures for craft time at the Den Mother's house. I also remember being taught the proper way to apply a band-aid, but that was about it. I never continued. I never asked my parents why.

I went home and looked for some online information about scouting and this Pack in particular. What really got me was that this Pack, Pack 1 was chartered by our church, First Christian Church of Huntington Beach. And it was the first chartered Boy Scout organization in Orange County, California. I felt that there was some providence in God bring our family to Huntington Beach, then FCC, then Huntington Christian School, and now this Pack. I knew this was where my son would be. That fact that in this organization we could be free to be open about our faith was really important to me. Here is a quote from the Pack 1 website...

"we consistently and intentionally look to Jesus Christ as the model for our lives. The intention of our Pack is to connect boys to God and establish values for Christian growth, so that they may worship God and serve others through their character and leadership. We achieve this by pointing to God's presence, His creation, and His desires for the conduct of our lives as spelled out in the Bible. We believe that Jesus is the source of the strength and wisdom necessary to live up to our Promise and Law. We welcome all Cub Scout-age boys as members and it is our hope that through our program and leadership, every boy will be influenced to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ"

Finally at the end of that spring the Scout Pack had a open house for prospective joiners. Dylan and I went. It was really cool. They made rockets with two liter bottles of soda and Mentos candies. Dylan had a great time and I thought this is what every red-blooded American kid needs. At the end of the meeting we filled out our paperwork and I saw a sign up for the Tiger Den Leader which had still not been filled. I told them to keep me in mind if no one else signed up.

Our first activity was that summer at family camp. We spent the weekend camping at Rancho Las Flores, a Boy Scout run camp on Camp Pentleton. It was awesome! We had a flag ceremony everyday. Campfires at night with skits, stories, and s'mores. There was a bb gun range, an archery range, and a tomahawk range. We made more rockets, this time with water filled two liter soda bottles and a bike pump. We even went on a snipe hunt (nobody caught a snipe, they said they rarely do).

It was there at that camp I decided, I want to be a part of this. This was cool. This is what I wanted scouts to be about when I was a kid. This is what my scouting experience was lacking. So I told them to sign me up. I would lead the den. It was actually perfect, because since I work odd hours and most weekends I could make sure that all our activities could fit in to my schedule.

Well, it's been about a year since that first family camp. The next one is in a couple of weeks. I can't wait. This year we bringing the girls along. I've had so much fun this year in scouting. Mostly because of the kids. They have taught me so much about myself and boys and patience. It's been very special to have one on one time with Dylan, engaging in a common experience. I've learned how a radio station works, how to make a Pinewood Derby car and a Raingutter Regatta sailboat, I've learned silly songs, solemn oaths, and how to make Indian talking sticks and square knots. God has brought eleven very special boys into my life and allowed me to help them learn about themselves and each other while gaining character and always to Do Their Best!

Here are some highlights of the last year...