It was an opportunity to find one’s way in one’s own backyard; a large step up from childhood’s need to define the boundaries of home and family in order to sense security. And it was the Scout who always ventured forth to define and secure the borders of the places people called home for the safety and benefit of the whole tribe.
We may not need scouts today to serve this function for our tribe or community, but we do need to understand the definition of what we call Place. Places where people live and call home, deriving a sense of meaning and belonging that comes through the effort to belong, and to be a part of something larger than ourselves.
The Scout Mission was thus an opportunity for four young lads to set out into the wilds of Lyndeborough and explore the ways and means of navigating these places we call home. How to find one’s way in an era of GPS technology, coupled to the convenience of letting the machine “figure it out”, may get us to a destination but it does little to serve the need to understand the journey. Traditional means of map and compass were thus the tools of the trade for this mission, and the lads proved equal to the task when thrown into the “deep end” when asked if they could navigate their way back over 6.4 miles of convoluted trails to “home”!
That I write about this tale lends truth to what a remarkable and capable group these stalwart lads are! May the wilds, and real wildness, remain and live within them through the days!
Keith
