Refreshment time for cubs

 While we all wait for a clear idea when society as whole can reopen not least Scouting with some localized cases of the Covid Delta (formally known as "Indian") variant causing concern, I thought we'd look back to better times.

Summer often means excursions for Cubs usually in connection with various parts of the program they are working towards as much as it is fun and informative in its wider way.

Any outing in the summer for children (and often adults) is likely to end with refreshments and here they are in line waiting no doubt for  a '99' ice cream which most British children love, being whipped ice cream with two chocolate flacks and usually served with a strawberry juice. 

An array of colour

 

Another warm weekend here as we look at flower objects near the canal, with these being really vibrant although I had to mindful of the bumble bees that loved collecting the nectar from them  and bity insects that can make me very ill.

Buttercups are a thing that fascinated me from a young age not least because at our original junior school we had them in the verges of the school and also tending to grow on the school pitch which was used for football.

These were found growing at the verge of a wall near the canal itself and so intermingled with other things like the Nettle which was a bain of my schoolboy years often catching my legs on them and needing anti histamine tablets to deal with the sting and rash.

Enjoying the view

It's been a warm week although not a good one health wise needing to stay indoors for a few days with bed rest.

Here we have the trees out with full foliage with many blossoms out attracting the attention of the local insects which I needed to dodge. 

Talking of which here is a close up of one taken on the moderate telephoto end of the standard zoom, the equivalent of 82 mm in 35mm film terms at F5.6 which worked out quite well given I'd normally use the dedicated 90mm Macro lens being able to operate in the minimum focussing distance to get an acceptable depth of field.

The Beagle Scouts

Schultz was a comic genius, not just drawing funny cartoon strips but also for what he showed about humanity and childhood within Peanuts not just in the characterization but also in the situations where the Peanuts gang interact with each other often making some good observations.

Scouting features from 1974 within the strip onwards within the birds joining on 9 June 1974.

On Snoopy's first hike he gets lost in the woods and is rescued by Loretta, a scruffy looking Girl Scout selling cookies. 

Snoopy has the potential to be a great leader but can get carried away with his imagination but across the cartoon strip we see him endorse the message of Scouting, acting as Akela for a troop of birds helping them learn about themselves, develop and grow.

The Beagle Scouts a word play on Eagle Scouts, the highest level in U.S. Scouting you can achieve were discovered in this strip from 23 July 1978 when Marcie and Peppermint Patty are out observing wildlife something they may of done had they been in Girl Scouts

He instructs them as here about identifying trees and in nod back to B-P's own past has them doing Guard Duty

Snoopy probably isn't the first Pack Leader to feel disappointed in his troop and it's fair to say the allure of bright lights and romantic relationships does impact on membership at fourteen plus.

There is indeed something magical about Camping under the stars.

Lucy Van Pelt as ever tries to put Snoopy down, questioning his Scouting, not that she'd know much about it as it threatens her sense of social importance within the gang but he's having none of it.

This short strip from 13 May 1974 is the first appearance of Snoopy as a Scout with the last frame a masterstroke.

They go to camp, getting the fire started and toasting the Marshmallows.

In referencing scouting, Schultz, I feel is not just recognizing the importance of scouting as a right of passage of so many children and young people that would be felt with the peanuts gang but showcasing with humour what it has to offer

What it's all about

 

"We're off on an adventure" said Christopher Robin to Pooh wondering just where they'd end up and what it is they would be doing together.

That to me is a large chunk of just what it is this thing we do is, we may make plans , "be prepared" know where we are headed but it's the things we learn along the way, the skills we develop and the friendships that count.

I encountered a lot of people while I was out taking this picture I'd never met before and found it really relaxing.

End of week edition

 

Sometimes it's like you're sheltering from something.

It may be rainfall which you've prepared yourself for with waterproof jacket and umbrella at hand which we've had more than enough of last month when getting out was very hit and miss or it's things that prey on your mind.

This pandemic it's fair to say hasn't helped with that especially if you have general or social anxiety both with restrictions and endless often contradictory discourse about where we're going with it.

Just getting out and being in the outside with sun, able to talk a bit with people this week has helped with that apart from just focusing on what's in front of you, leaving that to resolve itself as it usually does.

A stroll along the cut

Phew it's been a pretty warm few days here.

I went out exploring around the local canal (or 'cut' as we say around here) where it was very busy over the Bank Holiday period where I spied this narrow boat that had travelled down from deepest Lancashire with its colourful decoration.

Lighting is a very funny thing being most changeable and making or breaking a picture.

Here it is working with the scene providing reflections within the canal itself with the slow moving stream flanked by the trees and vegetation in full bloom taken before the light got too harsh along the Trent and Mersey.