Hi Ho, Hi Ho, 'tis Ordealing We Shall Go

[Oldscout448]

Well, we have the bells, feathers, deerskins, drum, 15 blazes, etc,etc, all loaded up.   Now off to the deep, dark woods.  without wi-fi or cells.  Gonna get down to about freezing temps tonight.  Guess I need to stay near the "fire"   See you on Sunday

 

Oldscout

 

[TAHAWK]

Blankets?

[Eagle94-A1]

Capotes and matchcoats?

[Stosh]

Snowed yesterday, Camporee is next weekend.  Don't forget the mittens.  

 

As a kid I remember camping on Mother's Day weekend and having 8" of snow fall on Saturday night.  

Edited April 25, 2015 by Stosh

[Oldscout448]

Well I'm back,

all in all it went pretty well, considering the ceremonies team had only managed to get in two practice sessions beforehand and only 3 out of 4 showed up for those.  A far cry from " back in the day" when we met every Tuesday from January to June.

 There was the newbie who did Friday night  Meteu, I just sort of expected him to stand there and just recite his lines.  He moved , he gestured, he made eye contact,  the " You who love ... " was delivered in almost a whisper, the "thunder in the mountains" line  echoed off the trees  fifty yards away!

 I was sitting at the big drum (we only have 5 scouts on the team)  eyes wide. Holy cow this kid is good! 

Afterward the scouts who had been on the team for years freely admitted he carried the ceremony, and made them look like beginners.  When asked how he had managed to deliver such a performance he just said " 5 years of drama classes, and 4 years of high school plays" 

 Ah ha!  I have a coach! 

Nope, He says he is off to some out of state collage in the fall.   Arrrrrg!

 

But it was cold up there  boys,  I'm from western New York, and Maryland weather seldom bothers me, but the Pre is held up on a ridge and the wind just kept blowing harder and harder, and I was sitting very still at the drum so as not to draw attention, as a scouter I really should not even be drumming, but there was simply no one else there.  We had 5 scouts that makes the four speaking parts and one torch bearer.

  Now our chapter is so small, we have joint ordeals with a nearby chapter,  we went first Friday night 8:45-9:30. they were slated for the 9:45-10:30 slot.  We finished up about 9:40 and I told my boys who were starting to shake from the cold to go in, get warm, get some coffee or something, I'll stay and keep an eye on the 15 blazes (modified tikki torches) until the other team get here.  

 They scuttled off and I sat back down to wait,  9:50 no team,  10:00 still no team,  about 10:10 I could feel my self going hypo, so I got up and grabbed the two small deerskins (with hair) we like to hang up because they look "Indian-ish"  and wrapped my self up them.  Slowly warmed up a bit. About 10:25 the other team showed up, too cold to yell at them ( not my team anyway) I thankfully stood up to head back to the warmness of the lodge and some coffee if there was any left.. 

 

 "Ummm sir?  could you drum for us? please?"

 

Their team had only 4 members, and their advisor stayed back at the lodge.

 

"gathered now to help and serve"

 

" Sure, but I am keeping the deerskins"  I did not drum very well, drumstick kept slipping in my numbed fingers.

 

Was well after 11:00 when we got back to the lodge,  told my team "good job" and headed for the kitchen,  the cook crew had been waiting for us ( God bless 'em)  and the cracker barrel and coffee was most welcome indeed. After I thawed out a bit I looked around for the other advisor,  but I think he had gone to bed.

[Eagledad]

Ahhh!, now those are the memories that scouting is made of. 

 

Barry

[JasonG172]

Awesome Story!  

[Stosh]

We had a OA tap-out over the weekend at our district camporee.  3 youth and 4 adults made up the team.  Of the three boys, only 2 were in native dress, the other in blue jeans and modern shirt (not uniform).  He did take his shoes off for some reason.  Maybe to be more Indian-like or maybe to just look ridiculous.  

 

The two youth that had reading parts read rather well off their paper lined "buffalo-skinned" scrolls.

 

Needless to say it was rather pathetic.

 

It wasn't just me either, One of my boys who attended summer camp out-of-council, asked if this was supposed to be the same ceremony that had the lanterns, tap-out and fanfare of the other camp.  I just said every council does it differently.