I was in Cub Scouts for a couple of years. During the last year I was a member of the Webelos den and was training to be a Boy Scout. One of the first requirements is that you have to demonstrate your proficiency at tying knots, so I had to learn a half dozen knots before they’d let me try for my Tenderfoot badge: the square knot, the clove hitch, the sheet bend, the two half hitches, the taut line hitch, and the bowline. All of which I learned, along with the Boy Scout Oath, the Boy Scout Law, the handshake, salute, and sign, well enough to convince Mr. Murphy, the Scoutmaster of Troop 833, St. Ignatius Parish, that I was worthy of joining. I passed with flying colors, of course… and that’s about as far as it went. I kept the scorecard for a little over a year, until we moved to Northfield, and tossed it out.
I worked at the parish rectory when I was a freshman in high school, and one night I went through the lost and found and found my Boy Scout Handbook, which I guess I had left in the gym. I took it out, thumbed through it, considered taking it home, then put it back and left it there. It had gone from meaning everything to me to meaning nothing.
My brother Pat is an Eagle Scout. One of us made it, anyway…
Linda Hill runs Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Now a word about Post Corn Flakes with freeze-dried fruit: strawberries, peaches, and blueberries.
The Sound of One Hand Typing 
I have trouble making a nice bow never mid all these knots. I would fail for sure
LikeLike
I couldn’t tie a bow to save my life until I was in the 4th grade. I could tie a square knot, but couldn’t add the loops, and that’s all a bow is, a square knot with loops. I had some kind of a mental block about it.
LikeLike
Mom said she didn’t believe in the girl scouts. I think now she just didn’t want to have to get involved with taking me to meetings and all the other stuff, selling cookies, etc. I don’t think I minded. My kids were never into it either, probably because I didn’t push it.
LikeLike
Scouts were a big deal by us. A friend of mine once said that she didn’t believe in “paramilitary organzations like Scouts,” though her daughter was in Campfire Girls.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Would you be able to tie those knots now, John?
LikeLike
With one hand? I doubt it….
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was a Girl Scout for a long time. I kept my Girl Scout pin for the longest time and finally pitched it. My hubby is good at tying knots.
LikeLike
Sorry you pitched it: by now, things from our childhood are antiques, and you might have gotten a few dollars for it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You make a good point.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Knowing how to tie knots is a good thing, John. I didn’t last very long in Boy Scouts.
LikeLike
I was barely a Cub Scout…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Knots mystify me. I mean, I would make a bad criminal. Anyone I tied up would be loose in a matter of minutes. Thankfully I did not choose a life of crime.
LikeLike
I remember the knots well enough, though I can’t do them now due to my right hand. I just can’t remember what they’re used for.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, you are still one up on me!
LikeLiked by 1 person