Tempus Fugit

Once again, I find myself stunned by the fact that I am completely incapable of keeping this blog up-to-date. Previously, I've missed a few weeks or months, and here I am realizing that I have missed pretty much an entire calendar year. That's pretty bad, even for me.

Happily, my job as scoutmaster does not require me to keep the blog up-to-date. If it did, I obviously would not be writing this blog entry, or for that matter, any blog entry here. So, let me start by saying that yes, we are all still here and Scouting on. Obviously, our lives did not stop just because the blog did - we have done so much since the last posting about the 2013 Asbury Park Zombie Walk.

To begin, in the past year, we've picked up two new Scouts. One is the younger brother of a Scout that joined us when their troop folded (as troops sadly sometimes tend to do), and the other, is the second of possibly four brothers that will be joining the troop over the next decade or so. Both are doing quite well with their rank advancement and learning how to be a Troop 101 Boy Scout. Our other boys are doing well - our eldest at 17 made Life Rank and is currently working his way to an Eagle Scout project and - hopefully - his Eagle Scout rank. We have four Scouts working their way through the middle ranks, and hopefully by June of 2015 they will all have made the rank of 1st Class, and be ready to start working on their Star Ranks at summer camp.

Our 3 youngest are moving along quite well through the early ranks, all of whom show great potential in rocketing up through the middle ranks rather quickly. For the one set of brothers, it sets quite the fire under the older one when he realizes that his younger brother could easily out rank him at some point. Also on the horizon is another crossover from the Cub Pack coming this spring - and he has quite the legacy to live up to. His great-grandfather was Scoutmaster, his grandfather was Scoutmaster and his father is Cub Master as well as an Eagle from 101 - obviously there is no pressure there what-so-ever.

As for me, things have been busy on a personal level.

For those who have no idea what a Scoutmaster does, let me say that running a troop is like having a part time job. Despite what anyone at Council may say, my job is not "one hour a week, one weekend a month, and one week a year". (This is part of the reason this blog is almost never up-to-date - of all the things I need to do, this is not high on the priority list.) Summer camp alone - while the actual event is only a week - takes months of prodding to make sure that merit badges are signed up for, medical forms are filled out, everyone is paid up, and for me to pack all that we need, it takes at least 3 weeks of running around!

On top of all this, I work full time. Happily while at work, I have downtime enough that I can answer emails and help set up events for the troop during the week. (What I can't do is stop and write a blog entry though). The miracle of modern technology (and a Scoutmaster willing to use it) allows me to answer questions almost instantly when they come up. The week before a campout I have to make sure everyone is notified that we are going, if we their Scout needs any special equipment, get a head count, and make sure that the person buying food for the weekend gets everything we need. The last thing I want is a Scout to go hungry. I am always the last to eat, which means if we are low on food, I go the weekend without - but frankly, I could afford to miss a few meals.

Finally, I am married and my wife and I are expecting our first - soon. Like, "I'm-expecting-a-phone-call-any-minute-soon". So my spare time has been spent getting the nursery ready, and basically preparing for my life to be completely turned upside down.

As you can imagine, a blog is least of my worries.

The only reason I am writing today is because its snowing out, and I have to do some work in my garage for the baby - and since I have no heat and spray paint won't spray correctly in cold weather, I find myself at a stopping point for the moment.

Which segues into the reason I wanted to write a blog today. We live in New Jersey, and our winters can be "hit or miss". Sometimes we get monster storms, sometimes you can ski all winter in a t-shirt. Its just the nature of our area - or global warming. However you want to look at it.

When it does snow, I like to encourage our Scouts to go out and not only help their family clear the snow, but also friends and neighbors. Sometimes we forget how quickly things change over the course of the year, and we forget that what was routine last winter is an impossibility this year.

The reason I bring this up is because just this past weekend I had this exact issue happen to me.

My parents moved into their current home in 1985. They have been living in this home for 30 years, and for 30 years their driveway has been a nightmare to clear of snow. Their house is located on the side of a hill - or mountain depending on how you look at it. If I had to guess, from the back of the property to the front sidewalk/street there is probably about a 10-15 foot change in elevation. At the center of this elevation change is their house - a split level built probably sometime in the 60's. While the font entry and the rear entry of the lower floor is the same level - meaning that the house isn't built into the side of the hill - the driveway slants down to the street, thus creating the nightmare.

I don't know the actual degree of angle for the drive, but we were taught as soon as we got our licenses that you set the parking brake when you pull in. (A good rule of thumb - never park on a hill and expect the gear shift pin on your transmission to hold the weight of your car from rolling away - always set the parking brake.) If your car door had a weak spring, there was enough of an angle to close the door on you - and I took a few to the head over the years.

Over the years we went through winter after winter - and for the most part they were mild. Sure, there were a few that were really bad - one I even used snow shoes to get to friends' houses - but our little Sears snowblower managed to do the trick; if the snow was deep enough. That stupid little thing needed at least 2" of snow to work, and even after you were done, you had to go back and really clean it down to the asphalt if you didn't want ice to form. Eventually, the little guy started showing his age, and dad went and got a big gas powered monster. (Oddly enough, this was about the time I went off to college for 4 years. Up to that point I was doing the bulk of the shoveling when I could manage (dad could get pretty sneaky shoveling at 4am)).

The monster served him well. Even when I got back from college, I would use it to clear the drive so dad didn't have to. We would even load it up and drive over to my grandmother's and do her driveway. It was a beast to get on the truck, but it was self-propelled and could eat snow 2' deep like it was nothing.

As I and my sister grew up, we eventually moved out - as children tend to do. Things were fine up until last winter - my grandmother had fallen ill, and my mother had tumbled down some stairs and broken one ankle and sprained the other - while on vacation in Russia. Between going to the hospital for my grandmother and rehab for my mother and working two part-time jobs, the stress began to take its toll on dad. Eventually, my mother began walking under her own power - though she hasn't fully recovered - and sadly, by February my grandmother passed. It was at that point dad, as eldest child and executor of the will, had to now deal with even more stress of the sale of my grandmother's house, distribution of assets, etc., etc. (Even as I write this, the house has still not sold.)

By this point, summer was here and things were moving ahead as life usually does. My wife and I had broken the good news about the baby, and life just... went. Then fall came and dad started having trouble with his health. He was in the hospital a few times, and now wears a monitoring vest for his heart. Mom is still not walking correctly, and my sister is still living in Florida. I do live closer, but not close enough to drop by whenever.

Then the weather report came for this snow storm - a possibility of 2'.

...and just like that, you realize that even with a self-powered snow blower, your parents are going to be snowed in. You also realize that there are probably other things that they may no longer be able to do. My parents aren't 88 like my grandmother was - they are only in their 60s - but sometimes life throws a curve ball.

Happily, arrangements have been made for someone to come and dig them out.

So where am I going with this long tale? I know my Scouts go out and help those whom they perceive as "elderly" with snow removal - as they should. What I am getting at is check in with those who aren't so "elderly". Many people pass as a result of a heart attack or over exerting themselves while shoveling snow...

...and they aren't all that elderly.

So, don't just check in with the 80+ crowd this winter, check in on everyone you know - even if they declined help last year, they may just need it this year (even the young ones expecting a baby could always use a second set of hands :)