My mom recently had her attic renovated, which meant that I had to go up there and remove all the stuff I'd stashed up there when it was just free storage. Rummaging through that memorobilia this week, I found my old boy scout merit badge sash.

It's pictured here, both front and back.

The merit badges are the little circular patches on the front side. As you can see, I earned 28 of those puppies before I got my Eagle Scout award and retired from scouting. They are: swimming, cooking, leatherwork, canoing, mammal study, citizenship in the community, lifesaving, rowing, reptile study, basketry, nature study, environmental awareness (now apparently called environmental science), pioneering, citizenship in the nation, fire safety, first aid, wilderness survival, camping, art, pottery, citizenship in the world, personal management, communications, orienteering, woodworking, soil and water conservation, personal management, and forestry. (Notice that geology is missing...)

On the back of the sash, you can see patches from the Goshen Scout Camps in Virginia, the Philmont axe, the Arrow of Light (the only cub scout award that can be worn on the boy scout uniform), a patch showing that I swam a mile, an Order of the Arrow lodge patch, another commemorative patch from Philmont Scout Ranch, and my Boy Scouts of America Lifeguard patch.

Scouting was really good to me. It gave me a lot of confidence in my skills as an outdoorsman, and gave me a lot of great experiences in nature and in society. I doubt I'd be who I am today without thos formative experiences. Though I don't agree with everything that the BSA stands for today, I think that on the balance they do a great service for our communities and our boys.

Any other scouts out there? Any of you earn the geology merit badge?

Labels: action, art, gear