Please Allow me to Introduce…..Myself

Would you look at that? A few weeks into 2024 and I’m writing again. Maybe this is now a habit?

It occurs to me that some of you might be new here, or maybe it’s been awhile. Either way, I probably didn’t do a formal introduction of who I am and what this site is all about.

• I am father of two.

• I have been a husband for the last 16 plus years.

• I am an Eagle Scout and actively involved in Scouting with a few different roles.

• I ran a 50K a few years ago (for fun) but I still don’t consider myself a runner.

• I am a photographer.

• I am someone who loves the outdoors.

So let’s break it all down. Born and raised and in Kansas City, moved to Dallas in 2016. My wife and I have two kids (boy and girl) and a house full of animals. I am a dog person at heart, but the cats in the house are ok. I am Eagle Scout and as of late, have gotten involved once again. I have been back in it since my son was in Kindergarten. I started as a Den Leader, now I have moved up to Cubmaster. I have also helped lead a few Adult Leader Trainings as well as have taken a few myself. (check out the previous posts for more information).I have fun a few half and full marathons, as well as a 50K. I continue to play soccer as often as I can, so I’m in decent enough shape, but I’m not truly a runner. Between photographing my kids’ activities, just being a dad and a husband, being a Scout, and holding down a regular full time job (not photography) I stay pretty busy. Maybe I’m too busy, but you will never find me without something going on.

Hiking, camping, playing soccer, taking photos, it doesn’t matter. I am happy when I’m outside. I’ve been to several state parks, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, the Smokey Mountains. It doesn’t matter. As long as I’m outside, I’m happy. I can always find something new, something overlooked.

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” — Albert Einstein

That’s probably the best way to describe my photography. It’s outdoors. It’s the beautiful landscapes, the hustle and bustle of the city, but it’s also the details. It’s the little things. The things you miss if you don’t slow down.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” — Ferris (Matthew Broderick)

Inspiring Others

This is going to sound like a copy of a post several months ago. (Leading and Learning) It is, but it isn’t.

Being an adult in Scouting can sometimes be WAY more challenging than being a youth in Scouting. As an adult, we know so many things already. We know what skills we have (or don’t have). We know what it feels like to be embarrassed or self conscious about trying new things. We know what it feels like to be judged. Don’t get me wrong, the youth have all of these same feelings too, but somehow they don’t let them hold them back the way adults do. For as outgoing and extroverted as I am, I hate being the “expert” or the one in charge. I really don’t like having everyone look at me as the authority. I’m the same as you, I just happen to be on the other side.

I was reminded of this again a few weeks again at a BALOO training that I was once again Course Director for. This course was about the same size as the last one, but had so many different challenges. (Ask my staff, I was a little frazzled as we got closer to training weekend). As always, the staff and I rallied and put on a great training session for the adults.

How do I know it was great? Not only from the surveys, but from an email I got from one of the participants. With their permission, I have taken a few key remarks from them:

“Your willingness to accommodate her with her social anxiety went a long way…This was her 1st training with Scouts. She had a great time…Another positive note is she is looking forward to IOLS next fall. Again everytime someone asks her how was it she says it was great!!” — anonymous

That right there. That is why we do what we do. If our staff and the other participants could make her feel this welcome, included, and engaged, think about what she kind of influence she is going to have on the youth in her unit. (Note that IOLS is a similar training at the troop level, a step up from what she did with us) Not only did she have a great time, but she is ready for more.

It’s been said before but I think it needs to be repeated: “We are all here because we have the same heart.” That’s it. Couldn’t say it better. All we (the leaders) do in Scouting is for the youth. If we help adults along the way, that is just an extra bonus.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” — John F. Kennedy

I certainly think that with feedback like that, we are embodying the Scouting spirit and truly living by it. Continue to change lives.

Scouting Part 3

I went through Cub Scouts when I was in Elementary School. I crossed over to the Troop when after that and went through it all the way through High School. We had a brief stint in Order of the Arrow and became members in the Tribe of Mic-O-Say together. We went to Boundary Waters (Northern Tier) as Scouts and most of the guys I crossed over with earned their Eagle. A month before I turned 18, I earned my Eagle. I was reluctant, at the time, or just not really interested in completing my journey but felt the pressure to get it done. At the time I didn’t really feel like I was doing it for myself, but more for the people around me. Sure I had support, but there were certain people that I didn’t want to let down. I did it for them, not me. Looking back now over 20 years later, I’m happy that I earned it. It has probably opened more doors than I realize, but in ways there were less obvious than I was lead to believe.

I was always under the impression that 1% of scouts achieve the rank of Eagle nationally. Now, if you look at the numbers I think it’s grown to about 5%. Still very small. Yet, to me, at the time within my troop, it seemed like it was a lot more common. Out of 4 families, there were 11 boys and 10 of us made Eagle (that’s 91% for all you math nerds). My Eagle Court of Honor was with 3 other scouts. Maybe that was to save time and money and celebrate everyone all at once? Talking to other Scouts and Troops, that’s not the way they are ‘typically’ done. We were either the odd troop, times have changed, or both.

Either way, putting all that together, it didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. Some projects take months to complete the actual work, and then you can have months of paperwork. Some projects are physically challenging and take a lot of coordinating with finances and equipment. Some are simple. I picked a relatively simple project, all things considered. 

I know it has opened doors for me, but I guess I don’t really see it. All of my jobs have been somewhere where I had a connection. Whether it be family members, or a friend (who also happens to be an Eagle Scout), it was always on my resume but it never really came up in conversation and if it did it wasn’t pointed out as exceptional, but rather “good job”, moving on. Maybe that was just the way I remember it looking back and maybe I’m completely wrong. Maybe they didn’t really know what Scouts was all about? Who knows?

I think the real difference I have seen being an Eagle Scout is when my son got involved with Scouting and I mentioned that I was an Eagle Scout, I was looked at differently. I got the impression that if I said something needed to be done a certain way, they would listen. I got the impression that they were all ears to hear what I had to say. Not that they were waiting on me to lead them, but that they knew things were going to be done because I couldn’t let them not be done. I have kept a more active role here lately and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. At the time of this writing, I just got awarded my beads. If you know you know.

I’m not writing all this to say that I’m special or that I know more than anyone else. It’s just funny how can you do one thing for ‘someone’ else at the time and end up looking back on it and being so grateful that they pushed you in a certain direction. So grateful in fact that you came back to them years later and they pushed you again to keep moving forward.

“You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself.” – Andrew Carnegie

I guess I was willing to climb, because I didn’t stop then and I’m certainly not stopping now.

Scouting Part 2

I came back and got involved for my son first and foremost, but also for myself. It’s not about me: it’s about my son and the youth. It’s about imparting to them what I learned. It’s about giving them the tools to create the lifelong friendships that I have. To do this I’m heavily involved (my wife would sometimes say to involved). To give the youth the best experiences, I have to improve my own experiences.

I have been through leader specific training, BALOO training to get a refresher on the skills I once knew really well. I went to WoodBadge* for “corporate level leadership training in the realm of Scouting”. I am soon to go on a follow up course to that back at Philmont.** I have been a Den Leader and I am soon to be a Cub Master. Those are simply the “official” titles I will hold. I have been volun-told (a term in Scouting signifying that you are volunteering for something but you don’t have a choice and sort of expected, told, to do it. Very common with adult leaders.) for a number of other positions since I’ve been back in it.

*I’m not going to bore you with the history of WoodBadge here. That’s a story for another time.

**Philmont, again more stories for another time.

Sure it’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun. If I can encourage one scout to continue their journey into a troop. If I can encourage that one scout to continue their journey in the troop and achieve the rank of eagle, than my job is done. Really it’s a lot simpler than that. If I can encourage my scouts to be better people overall because of the friendships and the lessons and the skills that scouts teaches them, and they use those friendships and lessons and skills to make the world a better place and make themselves better people in the process, than I have done my job. My legacy will live on.

It has nothing to do with the fact that I wanted to get back to Philmont in anyway that I could. Like I said though, Philmont is more stories for another time.

Inevitably, at all points through out my Scouting journey:

• As a youth - You’re a Scout? How close are you to Eagle?

• When I applied for jobs - You were a Scout? Are you an Eagle?

• As I got back into it with my son - Who has any experience in Scouting? (raise my hand) Great, did you earn your Eagle?

If at any point you mention that you were or are currently involved in Scouting, you get asked if you earned your Eagle.

Whenever I’m talking to others who were/are involved in Scouting it’s one of two things: “I am an Eagle” or “I was in Scouts for awhile but quit before I got my Eagle”.

Scouting Part 1

Sure, Scouting has changed over the years. Scouting BSA (formerly Boy Scouts of America) has gone through some changes over the years. A name change for sure, but now the inclusion of girls and young women, just to name a few. No matter what you call it, or who you include, some things haven’t changed. Sure the requirements have evolved with the times, but haven’t we all? What hasn’t really changed is the methodology of the teachings, the skills that are taught, and the friendships cultivated along the way.

Speaking of friendships, some of my friends today are people I knew in scouting when I was younger. There was a handful of us that got into Cub Scouts together. Most of us made the transition to a local Troop together as well. (shout out to PACK 3197 and Troop 282)      

Was it the fact that we did Scouts together for all those years, or the fact that we saw each other everyday at school from 1st grade to senior year that solidified the friendships? The world may never know but I think Scouts has been a big reason. I say that because as time went on, I got older and I got away from Scouts as an organization, but not as a mentality. I still remember most of the skills and lessons I was taught over the years. A few years ago my son got into Scouting and therefore I got involved once again. It was weird though. It was the more things changed the more they stayed the same.

I have friends that I have met now as an adult in Scouting. While we aren’t the best of friends, I know who I can go to in a pinch. I know who when I see them again it will be like old times, no matter how long it’s been since we’ve seen each other. For as big as Scouting is, it really is a lot of little circles. Who knows who. I know so and so, do you? That’s the thing, it’s like being an alumni of a particular school. It doesn’t matter what your major is, you have something in common. Except in the case of scouting, you don’t have to graduate to be treated with equality. Going to a school for a year is different than spending four years and graduating. Sure you were at the same place, but it’s not the same experience. Scouting doesn’t have that. If you were only in it for a year, you are welcomed with open arms and the idea that “things have changed since you were in it” (no matter when that was) and “welcome back”. It’s weird.