1. Tell what precautions must be taken for a safe swim.
2. Demonstrate your ability to jump feet first into water over your head in depth, level off and swim 25 feet on the surface, stop, turn sharply, resume swimming, then return to your starting place.
3. Demonstrate water rescue methods by reaching with your arm or leg, by reaching with a suitable object, and by throwing lines and objects. Explain why swimming rescues should not be attempted when a reaching or throwing rescue is possible, and explain why and how a rescue swimmer should avoid contact with the victim.

I wish I’d looked at this sooner.  Now I have to go swimming in October. 

This afternoon I called a family friend who has a pool.  When I asked if I could come over and jump in for a bit, she said it was fine, but asked if I was sure.  “It’s really cold!” she said.  Yes, even in Las Vegas, pools get cold in October.

I picked my son up from school this afternoon and told him that we were going to make a quick stop to work on one of my Scout activities.  His main reaction was that he wanted to dunk his head in the pool. 

First, I did requirements a and c, which did not make me get in the water.  Yet.  I summarized the handbook’s rules for safe swimming and demonstrated how to rescue a swimmer in trouble. 

Then it was show time.  I regret now just how long I stood at the edge of the pool and hesitated before jumping in.  I was pretty afraid of the cold. 

Finally I did.  The cold didn’t hit me until I broke back up to the surface.  I swam the length of the pool and back with a loud gasp from the chill every time I took a breath. 

I figure if I’m going to follow in the footsteps of Boy Scouts as much as possible, I should probably get used to occasionally getting into very cold water.  It actually felt a lot better as soon as I got out.  In fact, mostly to make up for my sad hesitating before jumping in, I jumped in again and did another lap.  I still hesitated, but not quite as long, which is something, at least.  My son almost missed that second try, as he was busy dunking his head. 

I found out soon after that the water was 62°.  This experience at least let me teach my son by example an important principle that he probably gets tired of hearing me preach: suffering builds character.

6. Demonstrate how to display, raise, lower, and fold the American flag.  Last week I emailed the principal of my kids’ school and asked if we could use the flagpole for this demonstration tonight, adding that I have my own flag to use.  He wrote back that it was fine, and this was the first activity in my family’s weekly home evening tonight.

As we drove over, I recounted all the material from the handbook about displaying the flag.  When we got there, I showed the kids how to fold and unfold it, then one kid helped me attach it to the line, while the little kids helped me hoist it up and then down again.  While it flew at the top for a minute, we decided to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  Afterwards, the oldest child folded the flag, as I had shown them all, while I held the other end. 

11.  Identify local poisonous plants; tell how to treat for exposure to them.  I went over the handbook’s section on this, adding my own warning about oleander, which are very popular in Las Vegas.  Of course, one kid pointed out that it was unlikely that any of us would ever eat one. 

12.  Show first aid for the following: simple cuts and scratches, blisters on the hand and foot, minor burns or scalds, bites or stings of insects and ticks, poisonous snakebite, nosebleed, frostbite and sunburn.  I paired up each family member with another and we all took turns demonstrating on our partner how to treat for each of these.  I did my teacher thing and kept asking if this or that certain way I wa thinking was the right thing to do, and would either confirm or correct their responses as we went, then actually demonstrating what was in the handbook.  My wife, apparently, knows a lot about first aid.

4a.  Demonstrate how to whip and fuse the ends of a rope.  I was actually dreading this one, because the illustration for whipping looked hard, but it was actually very easy–I did it fine on the first try.  Finding a video on YouTube showing how to do it probably didn’t hurt.  The kids each got to whip an end of rope, and everybody liked the fusing show, where I melted some rope under a candle lighter. 

13-14.  Participate in a Scoutmaster conference / Complete your board of review.  I’ve gotten to sit in on a few real such meetings, so knew what to ask my family to do at the end of our night: I showed them the pages in the handbook that listed the requirements that I had now done, and said that they could ask me about the experiences or quiz me, or whatever they liked.  A couple of questions from each family member satisfied them that I had truly finished.

But I realize now that I need to talk to my wife about how this project is helping the family–or not–or how it could do better–because it shouldn’t just be about me. 

All that being done, I looked at the requirements for Second Class.  My plan gives me until the end of November to do them.  It’s more challenging, more specific, and builds on what I’ve already done.  I’m excited. 

I still have two more days of September, but I’ll start work on Second Class tomorrow.

8.  Know your patrol name, give the patrol yell, and describe your patrol flag.

Since my patrol is my family, I figured our patrol name would be “The Huston Family.”  Silly me.  When I discussed this with everyone, we had just watched an old episode of a certain great 80′s show that we’d borrowed from the library, so everybody quickly decided that we would call ourselves “The H-Team.”  Our yell is based on an old inside joke we share–when people ask for comments or feedback from us, we respond with the most random, inane thing we can imagine: “I like pie.”  This is our yell.  “I like pie!”  Inspiring, no?  Surely it will strike fear into the hearts of any opponents that we might meet in some game. 

We brainstormed a list of things that should be on our flag, and I slapped some related clip art together from the list.  We made our list last Monday, but I just made the “flag” today (in Microsoft Paint).  A copy is printed up and “flying” on the wall of our kitchen.  Here it is:

10b.  Show improvement in the activities listed in requirement 10a after practicing for 30 days.

It took me a little over 30 days to measure this stuff again, but I have been exercising regularly.  Here are the current stats:

¼-mile run: 1 min. 46 sec.

Pull-ups: 12, barely one more than before. 

Push-ups: 21.  I squeezed out one more than I thought I could, because I thought I’d done 20 before, and really wanted to beat it.  I forgot that it was only 15 before. 

Sit-ups: 60

Standing long jump: 7 ft. 6 in.  I forgot about this one altogether, until I reviewed this blog, so I did this one a few days later. 

12a.  Demonstrate the Heimlich maneuver and tell when it is used.

The book says not to use a real person to do this, but to use a dummy.  So I demonstrated on myself.  I think the information sank in well for all of us, though.  Surprising how even in a young family everyone seems to have a story of seeing this used in real life.

I’ve also worked on #11, about local poisonous plants, but I actually can’t find a decent Web site that gives this information clearly, and a book I checked out of the library only had native recipes for local plants, and wasn’t really helpful for this at all.  I’ll get it soon.  My schedule has me finishing Tenderfoot by the end of the month, and I still have a few to go…

And I want to keep practicing those knots to be sure I won’t forget.  I still run the Scout Law through my head every now and then, just to keep it fresh.

First I explained why we use the buddy system (requirement #9), then I showed how to tie a double half hitch and a taut line hitch.  I used a cheap little nylon rope that came with some camping stuff and which I’d never used. 

As I tied my knots, I told the kids that when we went to Lake Powell with their grandparents last week, I tried to help anchor the boat by tying a couple of ropes together with a square knot.  I did this twice, and one of them came out as soon as it was pulled.  I thought I’d gotten it right, but maybe the ropes were just too big for that to work.  I was a little discouraged by that, but then on Saturday this knot practice really paid off.

We went out to eat with our kids and they were each offered a balloon.  They’re too small to handle balloons reliably on their own without losing them and crying as the colorful toys float away, so I usually just tie the string around their wrists loosely, but in a simple knot that can’t be undone.  This time, for the first time, I was able to do better.  I tied the strings with a taut line hitch, and slipped the loops over their wrists.  They could adjust them, and take them on and off when needed (like in the van), but they stayed on with no problem when we wanted them to. 

As I told my kids about the practical value of knot tying and showed the family what I’d learned, my wife smiled at me.  But then I had to untie my practice rope from the leg of her piano.

1.  Present yourself, properly dressed, before going on an overnight camping trip.  Show the gear you will use.  Show the right way to pack  and carry it.  I dressed for warm weather for obvious reasons, with a pair of old work boots I rarely wear, which I now realize are too small and need to be switched out for a real pair of hiking boots.  I’ll check at Deseret Industries for some.  As we packed our backpacks with the relatively sparse supplies that would constitute our emergency kits, we discussed what was essential, including our tent and sleeping bags, our food and water, and our tools.  The packing was difficult and taught us a lot about saving space and making priorities.  I tried to make my bag look like the picture in the handbook.  Good packing is a lot like playing Tetris. 

2.  Spend at least one night on a patrol or troop campout.  Sleep in a tent you have helped pitch.  It was a very enjoyable campout, though since we were trying to skimp on supplies, we didn’t have any padding for our bedding.  I was surprised to wake up not very sore at all.  I pitched the tent myself since my wife was busy preparing lunch and watching the baby.  Did you know that seven people can sleep almost comfortably in a 9′x7′ tent?  It helps when five of them are children, and nobody minds snuggling up.

These are supplies we’ve been building up for years, by the way.  We just got our own sleeping bags last month; until now we’ve always borrowed from my in-laws.  I got the tent as a bargain at a sporting goods store a couple of years ago.  The saw I used to cut some firewood from dead trees in the area was a gift from Santa last year (though most of our wood just came from the kids scavenging for sticks and chunks of wood from all over–it worked terrifically).  We’ve tried to make stocking up on such supplies a priority over time.  Did you know that lint from your laundry’s dryer is great for starting campfires?  Seriously, save some up and try it. 

3.  On the campout, assist in preparing and cooking one of your patrol’s meals.  Tell why it is important for each patrol member to share in meal preparation and cleanup, and explain the importance of eating together.  I brought our little propane stove (my other big Christmas present last year), and heated up some soup on it for part of our dinner.  As we ate, my family patiently endured my little lecture to complete this item, which basically said this: those things are important so that we can all feel closer and feel the satisfaction of contributing (and so that no one feels left out or taken advantage of).  They also endured hearing me do this:

7.  Repeat from memory and explain in your own words the Scout Oath, Law, motto, and slogan.  I spent the day repeating the Law in my head, and muttering it under my breath, until I felt ready to repeat it.  I found that the best way to memorize it was to divide it up into six pairs of words, and remember the logical order of their topical flow.  Here, I’ll do it now: A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.  I did that without looking.  You’ll just have to take my word for it.

By this point, the kids were asking–a few times–why Dad is doing all this Boy Scout stuff.  I told them that I want the skills and experience.  They didn’t have much of a reaction, but I’ll tell you that I haven’t been able to sign off the other item I’ve been working on–#4, the knots–because whenever I practice it, all of the kids want their turn looking in the handbook and working on my little nylon rope.  It’s been fun watching them get into that, but I need time to master that darn tricky taut line hitch!

Our 72 hour kits are in pretty good shape, by the way.  I do need to store more water, though.

I belong to a small neighborhood gym, which I go to sporadically, so I went this morning with this requirement in mind.

¼-mile walk/run.  I got on the treadmill and warmed up at a jog for a bit, then I cranked it up as fast as I felt I could go and started keeping track of how long it took me to run a quarter mile.  I did it in 2 min, 5 sec.  It occurs to me that a treadmill really isn’t the best way to do this–it sets up an artificial barrier.  Next time I’ll measure off a quarter mile and just run it, if I can.

Pull-ups.  I did 11, which is actually better than I thought I’d do.  I tried not to hold back on any of these–I want to give it my all now and see if I really get much better in a month, but I’m still pretty sure I could have done a few more of each of these if I’d really tried.  Maybe my improvement over the next 30 days will be more self discipline.

Push-ups.  I only did 15 in a set, but keep in mind that I’d just finished the run and the pull-ups.  No, never mind, that doesn’t make it any better at all.

Sit-ups.  40. 

I exercised some more, then went home for the last part.  It would have been too strange to measure my standing long jump at the gym.  When I got home, I got three of the kids down stairs to help me.  One made sure I was standing at the edge of the carpet.  Another put down a toy when I’d jumped as far as I could.  The third took my tape measure and gave me the total.

Standing long jump.  6 ft, 2 in. 

Then they each wanted to measure their jumps.  Then I made a shake: two cups milk, one cup apple juice, two bananas, two little cups of Yoplait strawberry yogurt, and a whole bunch of ice.  Blend.  Makes enough for two adults to have some, and for nosy kids to each take a gulp of yours. 

Telling my kids about my work on this project reminded my oldest son, who turned 10 a few months ago, to ask if I’d finally ogtten his Webelos book.  I’d gone down and done it on Friday.  We have the next two weeks with no work or school and he’s excited to start doing Scout stuff.

1.  Meet age requirements.  Wow.  The first thing to do on the first day of this project and I’m already defaulting.  *sigh* 

2.  Complete a Boy Scout application and health history signed by your parent or guardian.  I printed one out from the Scout Web site and filled it out.  Unit type?  One option was “lone Boy Scout.”  I guess that’s me.  After filling in a birthday from the 70′s, I wondered what to put for grade.  I have several courses done beyond a Master’s Degree.  I estimate I’m in grade 19, and put that down.  For school, I put the name of the school at which I work.  I do not check the box to subscribe to Boy’s Life: my Webelos-age son already gets it.  Each month when it comes in the mail, I read it before giving it to him.  Parent or guardian signature?  I go ahead and sign.  I have no health history form, but no health history problems, either.

3.  Find a Scout troop near your home.  I figure that when a requirement says “troop or patrol,” I’ll just substitute “family.”  Check. 

4.  Repeat the Pledge of Allegiance.  Not only do I remember this from my own school days, but I’ve said this at work nearly every day for the last ten years.  Still, reciting it on my own now is strangely hard.  I have to stop and review: did I do it right?  I did.  Hooray. 

5.  Demonstrate the Scout sign, salute, and handshake.  Check.  I showed my wife how to do these things.

6.  Demonstrate tying the square knot.  No rope handy; I used the ends of the straps on a backpack. 

7.  Understand and agree to live by the Scout Oath or Promise, Law, Motto, and Slogan, and the Outdoor Code.  Check.  I almost have these memorized already!  I didn’t know there was an outdoor code. 

8.  Describe the Scout Badge.  The background for this page was not chosen at random. 

9.  Complete the pamphlet exercises.  I read through this with my wife.  (I’ve decided that when a requirement says “parent or guardian,” I’ll usually just go to my wife.)  We conclude that my occasionally mooning the kids is not child abuse. 

10.  Participate in a Scoutmaster conference.  “Scoutmaster” will probably be my wife, too.

I’ve been surrounded by Scouts all of my life, and they always seem to have the most exciting lives, full of fun, camaraderie, new experiences, and adventure.  The ones who’ve gone the furthest with it appear to have gotten the most out of it, and are often the most fulfilled people I know. 

Like a lot of people, I wasted my teenage years watching TV, playing video games, obsessing over trendy music, and feeling sorry for myself for no good reason.  I was never very happy, and as amazingly wonderful as my adult life is, I’ve always regretted those years of freedom, strength, and opportunity that I threw away on nonsense.  I admit it: I feel like I need to atone for that great blank canvas that life handed to me and which I only ruined with thoughtless scribbling.  It’s not that I did a lot of terrible things, it’s that I just didn’t do very much at all.  And I hope that I can make up for it a little now–and enjoy life to the fullest–by becoming an Eagle Scout. 

Of course, this isn’t official.  Boy Scouts ends at 18, and nobody older than that can become an Eagle Scout.  I have no illusions about joining a troop of teenagers, or having a Court of Honor, or anything like that.  I simply intend to go through the Boy Scout Handbook and do all of the activities on my own.  I want to have the skills and experiences that an Eagle Scout would have had. 

I’m beginning with the following expectations: I will do every requirement.  If it is difficult, or doesn’t apply to my situation, or is too unusual to be practical for me, I’ll adapt it reasonably and document it here.  For example, for requirements that involve meeting with a parent or Scoutmaster, I’ll meet with my wife or present what I need to before my wife and children.  I hope that they’ll be inspired by this project.  Actually, I just hope that the older kids don’t make fun of me. 

Only activities that I do starting today count.  I won’t look at a requirement and say, “I did that on my own three years ago.  Check.”  I’ll do things again, if needed. 

The third habit of highly effective people is to “begin with the end in mind.”  So, I’ve surveyed the requirements for each of the six ranks–tenderfoot, second class, first class, star, life, and eagle–and made a brief schedule.  The last three have minimum required time periods for leadership and service, so it would be impossible to do this project in just one year.  I plan to be finished within two years.  I’ll work on each rank during the following time frames:

Tenderfoot: August-September 2009

Second class: October-November 2009

First class: December 2009-January 2010

Star: February-May 2010

Life: June-November 2010

Eagle: December 2010-May 2011

Yes, I will do an Eagle project.

The requirements for each rank, and the page that I’ll be using for reference, may be found on the official Scouting Web site here. 

I’ve been motivated by other such projects in recent years.  Two of my favorite books are A.J. Jacobs’s The Know-It-All, a memoir of his project of reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in one year, and Ammon Shea’s Reading the OED, his story of reading the Oxford English Dictionary from beginning to end in one year.  (Both books were excellent, by the way, and are highly recommended.)  Next week, a movie comes out called Julie & Julia, about one woman’s experiences working her way through every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook in a year.  Similarly, I’ll use this blog to record the events in this project and my thoughts about them. 

Do all of these projects hint at a societal yearning for self improvement, a desperate hunger for novelty, or are they cheap attempts at exploiting quirky ideas for publicity?  I honestly believe that the first option is the truth.  I think that a lot of people are already tired of living passive, consumer-oriented, virtual lives.  There’s a need out there for real life, life you can hold in your hands and taste in your mouth, life that might make you sore and bloody at times, but a life that will keep you cool in the heat of day and that will warm you up at night.

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

I think people are also getting bored with the media’s addiction to everything “edgy,” or “dark,” or “shocking.”  There is a genuine desire in our world for a simple, clean, natural life that emphasizes values, family, and decent hard work.  I wonder if this way of life hasn’t found more of a large-scale voice yet because we’re afraid of being labeled “uncool.” 

Well, I am uncool.  I spent enough time absorbed in the mainstream’s definition of cool, and it got old.  I got old.  Now, from the vista of maturity, unclouded by the haze of youth that blinded me when I should have been doing this the first time, I want to be a Boy Scout. 

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,
brave, clean, and reverent.