THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER

Me, Mr. B. and Wyatt (one of his Webelos II running buddies), go tonight for what will be my second-to-last camping trip before they move on into Boy Scouts, which does not encourage, let alone require, parents to go camping with them. So two more nights on the ground (albeit with an air mattress) and [...]

Mr. B’s Webelos II Cub Scout den is building a catapult this morning on some rural land northwest of the rancho. Presumably a good deal smaller (and less dangerous) than this Roman ballista. I hope so, anyhow. It’s part of their engineering achievement dealie for their Arrow of Light. Don’t ask me what the AoL [...]

This is the made-in-China, two-person tent Mr. B. and I used on his Cub Scout camping trip last month. Quite a change from my Boy Scout days in the 50s when we only had WWII-surplus pup tents assembled from shelter halves. They almost always leaked. Lots cheaper now, too. The surroundings are the campsite at Inks Lake [...]

Mr. B. and I leave tomorrow, after his youth basketball game at noon, for his Cub Scout Pack’s overnight camping at Inks Lake State Park. Weather looks good, so far, seventies daytime and fifties at night, just cool enough to make sleeping easy. I should have plenty of time to photograph this spring’s glorious crop [...]

The Owl Box on Ustream. Live feed of a wild mother Barn Owl sitting her eggs, courtesy of Den 6, Pack 2, Capitol of Texas District, Cub Scouts of America. Yep, Mr. B.’s outfit.

Alas, the extended freeze warnings for the weekend across much of Texas have eliminated the Cub Scout’s planned Saturday overnight on the Battleship Texas. It wasn’t the Cub Scouts who canceled, it was the folks who run the battleship. They’re worried about their water lines freezing and so will be cutting them off and they [...]

We’re having fun this year making Mr. B.’s fourth racer for the scouts’ Pinewood Derby on Sunday. He wanted to go for a win, again, so we followed the speed rules: dimensions, etc. Then we made the axle holes too big, so the wheels are loose, and completely fouled up the camo decal. He was [...]

* Back when I used to eat sugar with abandon, Necco wafers were my favorites. Just as well I can’t eat them anymore. They’ve turned organic, flavored by such as red beet juice. Sounds dreadful. * Dick Cheney is backing Kay Bailey Hutchinson for governor. Lordy. While Sarah plumps for Rick Perry. This could be [...]

* Back when I used to eat sugar with abandon, Necco wafers were my favorites. Just as well I can’t eat them anymore. They’ve turned organic, flavored by such as red beet juice. Sounds dreadful. * Dick Cheney is backing Kay Bailey Hutchinson for governor. Lordy. While Sarah plumps for Rick Perry. This could be [...]

Well, spiritually, anyhow. My back and sides still ache from sleeping (or, trying to) on a malfunctioning air mattress and I can feel the start of a cold from the chilly rain we encountered with the Cub Scouts out there this morning. Mr. B., with the resilience of youth, shrugged it all off. I remember. [...]