As Senior Scouts, we were allowed to have a knife as part of our uniform. I had a sheath knife. Scouts were able to camp on any open ground with the permission of the owner. Communities would, generally speaking, look out for the boys in camp.
My first camp was at school property – then grass – east of the Harrison College school hall. We each brought some supplies. It seemed as if the person helping sort out, mixed the salt with granulated sugar. That night, our English Scoutmaster cooked rice pudding. The sugar and salt mixture turned out to be somewhat of a laxative.
Years later, I had an experience on what was then Providence School playground. We were camped there on a two-person hike for a proficiency badge. Before falling asleep, I felt movement back and forth across a finger. I jumped up and we searched. My colleague hit a centipede with a knife – or so we thought – but we could not find it after. We went out of the tent and came across one curled up. He touched it with his knife. It sprang up. That was its last effort.
As we were looking for more, just in case, the headmaster of the school drove in. We explained and he opened the school for us. We got a little sleep.
At scout camp, we learned to cook, sometimes with hard lessons like the cook’s patrol not cooking enough and us having slim pickings. Can you imagine not knowing how to hard-boil eggs? True!
Local disposal – burn, bash and bury empty cans. There were not that many cans then and garbage collection was not systematic.
Campsites – Codrington College had a spring-fed freshwater pool then. Some Lighthouse grounds were convenient. School playgrounds, naturally. A few estate properties.
But where may we camp today? Unfortunately, the answer probably is – nowhere. Nowhere is safe enough. How are we to be safe again? The answer is – prayer. Yes, prayer to The Father for His Love; His divine love to infuse our souls, our bodies, our every thought and action. Love is the answer – divine love. Just let us all pray sincerely for this love and our country shall make a turn for the better.
Don’t trust man. Trust God.
Michael Rudder
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