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Son 1.0 is working on his Environmental Science merit badge, the last one he needs before he can get his Eagle Scout. So we’re spending a good deal of time these days going over requirements, looking for areas to complete so we can plow through this stuff before school starts in the fall.<\/p>\n

But Son 1.0 does not live by the ES merit badge alone. \u00a0Seems the Boy Scouts did something sorta cool this year. \u00a0They brought back some retired merit badges for 2010, and 2010 only. \u00a0Carpentry (hand tools only), Signalling (semaphore and Morse code), etc. \u00a0The one Son 1.0 is working on now is Tracking. \u00a0It used to be called Stalking, but the name was changed for obvious reasons. \u00a0Or at least it should <\/em>be obvious.<\/p>\n

One of the requirements for Tracking is to make a plaster cast of a wild animal track. Of course, tracks are everywhere, except when you want to find one. \u00a0All was saw was trail runner’s tread and truck tires. \u00a0We looked for a while, but the mosquitoes were beyond vicious so we ran away to the boardwalk that sticks out into the Teal Pond.<\/p>\n

There were hundreds, maybe thousands of odes, and consequently, the mosquito count was nil. \u00a0I could have slept naked on the end of that walkway and awakened the next day with nary a bump. \u00a0Yay, odonates!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A dozen species were present – Cherry-Faced Meadowhawks, Common Green Darners, Twelve-spotted Skimmers, Blue Dashers, Widow Skimmers, and countless Bluets of multiple varieties all zoomed around the pond, over our heads and around our faces. \u00a0One particularly audacious Darner landed on my head. \u00a0How he got any traction is totally beyond me…it’s pretty sparse up there.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

What it turned into was a nice walk with Son 1.0. \u00a0We also call him Eagle Eye, because he spots things we miss, \u00a0and we don’t miss much. \u00a0Newly emergent damsels, almost invisibly translucent were no match for the All-Seeing Eye of Son 1.0. \u00a0He spotted, I took pictures.<\/p>\n

It sometimes strikes me that I have another summer with Son 1.0. \u00a0After that, there are no guarantees. \u00a0I may get a summer here and there, but the way time is accelerating for all of us, my guess is that we’ll see less of him as he goes out into the world to blaze his own trail. \u00a0That means time is precious, and I better take all I can get, even if it means a mosquito-infested walk carrying a pail of drywall mud and other supplies for casting wild animal tracks.<\/p>\n

Respectfully submitted,<\/p>\n

Canoelover<\/p>\n

P.S. \u00a0No more Latin genus and species names. \u00a0You don’t care, and I already know them. \u00a0If you wanna know, ask.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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