Mike is teaching at Webelos Woods at Camp Pigott today. The three of us were all supposed to be there. Nick was supposed to be taken into a patrol led by Boy Scouts and taught what it's like to be a Boy Scout. Mike and I were supposed to be in classes to help us understand the differences as our boys go up to the next level. But two nights ago, Mike told one of the leaders that he didn't plan to sit through the classes again this year.
"Is there anything I can do to help out?" he asked. Beware the open-ended offer to help. He'd thought he was offering to help clean up in the kitchen after lunch, but he ended up teaching his own class. This leader has told me that she has plans for Mike. So last night, Mike was scrambling to gather together four hours of presentation material.
My friend, Kathy, had brought over a bag of ice and I had made us tea lattes for a few minutes of chat time. Mike walked into the kitchen with a big hello (he likes Kathy a lot), and was off on his hunt for materials and camping gear. Did I tell you that we were all supposed to be camping tonight too? I started grousing because Mike needed more time to prepare.
"They only ask him to teach because he's that good," Kathy said.
"He's only that good because he prepares well ahead of time," I said. I love when I can actually come up with the right answer while we're standing there. Usually, I think of that perfect answer at 4:15am when all my problems come clear.
Mike is good at leading. He didn't want to become a manager at work, but his quiet style and his dedication to doing his work the right way made him perfect for the job. He's all that much better at Scouting because he truly empathizes with the boys and works very hard to make the meetings engaging. He gets to relax more at the campouts because that's fun all by itself. Well, there is the fact that he is often asked to run the campfire these days. He likes to prepare for that too, but when he doesn't get the chance, you'd never know. He has stories to tell, skits for the boys to do, and songs to sing.
Somehow, the energy at those campfires surprises me. The man I married was, for the most part, a quiet man, not prone to singing in public. When we dated, he serenaded me in the kitchen with his guitar while I cooked, but he's always kept that singing quiet, between us. These days, we whistle in harmony in the kitchen or sing silly songs, but it isn't for public ears, or so I thought for the first seventeen years of our marriage. Two years ago, at a Camp Brinkley campfire, he sang an echoing "Deo" to begin a song in his clear baritone voice and I almost cried.
So Mike has come to be a man who leads in Boy Scouts. He's at camp by himself today because I have a staph infection on my leg from falling down on Monday and Nick was up all night with a cold. It's a beautiful day and I'm wishing that we could have cooked dinner around a campfire, slept in the open air, and woke to have coffee, spam, and eggs for breakfast with friends before we headed home on Sunday morning. Still, I can imagine the energy in the room of parents he's teaching. I can imagine him running through the spit skit, or a camp song or two. I know he's trying to keep them engaged in the same way he would with our den of boys.
For years, Mike had taken a back seat to my social nature, my tendency to get involved with the people around me. He was sometimes that nameless man that was married to me. Now, the tables are turned. Last night, I hobbled around trying to help him gather things for his classes and what we thought was going to be his campout with Nick. Now, I'm more often in the background, Mike's wife and helper. It's a relief to get out of the spotlight, to tell you the truth. It also makes me happy to see Mike shine. He is that good.
Thank you for listening, jb
"Is there anything I can do to help out?" he asked. Beware the open-ended offer to help. He'd thought he was offering to help clean up in the kitchen after lunch, but he ended up teaching his own class. This leader has told me that she has plans for Mike. So last night, Mike was scrambling to gather together four hours of presentation material.
My friend, Kathy, had brought over a bag of ice and I had made us tea lattes for a few minutes of chat time. Mike walked into the kitchen with a big hello (he likes Kathy a lot), and was off on his hunt for materials and camping gear. Did I tell you that we were all supposed to be camping tonight too? I started grousing because Mike needed more time to prepare.
"They only ask him to teach because he's that good," Kathy said.
"He's only that good because he prepares well ahead of time," I said. I love when I can actually come up with the right answer while we're standing there. Usually, I think of that perfect answer at 4:15am when all my problems come clear.
Mike is good at leading. He didn't want to become a manager at work, but his quiet style and his dedication to doing his work the right way made him perfect for the job. He's all that much better at Scouting because he truly empathizes with the boys and works very hard to make the meetings engaging. He gets to relax more at the campouts because that's fun all by itself. Well, there is the fact that he is often asked to run the campfire these days. He likes to prepare for that too, but when he doesn't get the chance, you'd never know. He has stories to tell, skits for the boys to do, and songs to sing.
Somehow, the energy at those campfires surprises me. The man I married was, for the most part, a quiet man, not prone to singing in public. When we dated, he serenaded me in the kitchen with his guitar while I cooked, but he's always kept that singing quiet, between us. These days, we whistle in harmony in the kitchen or sing silly songs, but it isn't for public ears, or so I thought for the first seventeen years of our marriage. Two years ago, at a Camp Brinkley campfire, he sang an echoing "Deo" to begin a song in his clear baritone voice and I almost cried.
So Mike has come to be a man who leads in Boy Scouts. He's at camp by himself today because I have a staph infection on my leg from falling down on Monday and Nick was up all night with a cold. It's a beautiful day and I'm wishing that we could have cooked dinner around a campfire, slept in the open air, and woke to have coffee, spam, and eggs for breakfast with friends before we headed home on Sunday morning. Still, I can imagine the energy in the room of parents he's teaching. I can imagine him running through the spit skit, or a camp song or two. I know he's trying to keep them engaged in the same way he would with our den of boys.
For years, Mike had taken a back seat to my social nature, my tendency to get involved with the people around me. He was sometimes that nameless man that was married to me. Now, the tables are turned. Last night, I hobbled around trying to help him gather things for his classes and what we thought was going to be his campout with Nick. Now, I'm more often in the background, Mike's wife and helper. It's a relief to get out of the spotlight, to tell you the truth. It also makes me happy to see Mike shine. He is that good.
Thank you for listening, jb
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