The Present

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!!!!
Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow".
You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.
And remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history Tomorrow is mystery Today is a gift That's why it's called the present!!
And that my friends is why I finish each blog post and each podcast with...
HAVE A GREAT SCOUTING DAY!

How to Prevent Tent Condensation in Winter

Tent condensation manifests itself either as frost on the inside surface of your tent or moisture droplets that are transferred from the inner tent to your clothing and gear. It is undesirable, particularly in winter, because it can make your gear wet and degrade its insulating properties

Here are a few camping tips to limit the amount of condensation buildup in a single or double-walled tent.

Vent Your Tent

The best way to prevent moisture from building up you tent is to help it escape by venting your tent. If your tent has a front door and an inner bug screen, you can unzip the outer door fully and still prevent snow from coming inside by keeping the screen closed.

Alternatively, if you side porches, like on the Tarptent Scarp 1 shown above, it's best to open both of them up wide to prevent frost build-up inside. In my experience, venting though a smaller hole is far less effective at reducing condensation or frost build-up.

Don't Cook in your Tent

If you can avoid it, don't cook or melt water in your tent. This only turns it into a Turkish Steam bath. If the weather is just too crappy to avoid this, try digging a hole under your tent's front porch, if you have one, and cook inside it with the door to the tent closed behind you.

Don't bring snow into your tent

If you bring snow into the tent, you are significantly upping the chance that it will melt and increase the internal humidity in your tent. Brush all snow off your boots, back, ropes, and gloves before you get in the tent. If you have a porch outside the main door, leave all gear that doesn't need to be dried there. If you bring snow into your tent despite these precautions, carefully sweep it out.

Don't exhale into your sleeping bag

It's tempting to put your head inside your sleeping bags on those long winter nights. Don't do it. Keep your face clear of the bag and avoid exhaling moisture into your insulation. You can exhale a liter's worth of water at night: not only will it degrade your insulation, but you'll have to carry it all the next day as extra backpacking weight if it remains trapped in your bag.

Dry out your sleeping bag in the morning sun

If it's sunny in the morning, open up your sleeping bag and dry it out in the sunlight on top of your tent. Many down sleeping bags have darkly colored interiors for just this purpose, to absorb as much of the sun's radiation as possible and accelerate drying. Bringing a wet or damp sleeping bag back into your tent on a subsequent night is not desirable because it will create condensation and retain less of your body's warmth. .

Put Wet Gear into a Stuff Sack

Don't try to dry large items such as pants or a sweater in your sleeping bag at night. Instead, put them into a stuff sack, close it, and stuff it in your sleeping bag to keep the contents from freezing. If necessary, you can dry these garments using your body heat by wearing them the next day.

Those are some basic tips to stay dry in a winter tent. If you can recommend any others, please leave a comment.

February Roundtable

  February 3, 2011

 

Commissioners Announcements (10 minutes)

Dates:

• 2/9 - OA Chapter Meeting
  
• 2/9 - Nominating Committee Meeting (Bill)
  
• 2/17 - District Committee Meeting
  
• 2/18-20 - Winter Camporee
  
• 2/24 - Leader Specific Training
  
• 3/5 - University of Scouting
  
• 3/3 - Roundtable
  
• 3/9 - OA Chapter Meeting
  
• 3/17 - District Committee Meeting
  
• 3/18-20 - Outdoor Leader Training
  
• 3/26 - District Pinewood Derby Race
  
• Announcements from District Executive
  
• Announcements from District Commissioner
  

 

 

Commissioners Story or Activity (1 minute)

Letter from Scout Camp

 

Dear Mom & Dad,

 

We are having a great time here at Camp CatchaCough. Our Scoutmaster is making us all write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and worried. We are OK. Only 1 of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away.

 

Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Charlie when it happened. Oh yes, please call Charlie's mother and tell her he is OK. He can't write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search & rescue jeeps. It was neat. We never would have found him in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning.

 

Scoutmaster got mad at Charlie for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Charlie said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas could blow up? The wet wood still didn't burn, but one of our tents did. Also, some of our clothes. John is going to look weird until his hair grows back.

 

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster gets the car fixed. It wasn't his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked OK when we left. Scoutmaster said that a car that old you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why he can't get insurance on it. We think it's a neat car. He doesn't care if we get it dirty, and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the tailgate. It gets pretty hot with 10 people in a car. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrolman stopped and talked to us.

 

Our Scoutmaster is a neat guy. Don't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Travis how to drive. But he only lets him drive on the mountain roads where there isn't any traffic. All we ever see up there are logging trucks.

 

This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Scoutmaster wouldn't let me because I can't swim and Charlie was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster isn't crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about the life jackets.

 

He has to spend a lot of time working on the car so we are trying not to cause him any trouble. Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When David dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Also Raymond and I threw up. Scoutmaster said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken.

 

I have to go now. We are going into town to mail our letters and buy bullets. Don't worry about anything. We are fine.

 

Love,

Your son

 

P.S. How long has it been since I had a tetanus shot?

 

Commissioners Presentation
(15 minutes)

• Recognition Awards PPT.
  

Scout Games (10 minutes maybe)

Learn the names

 
 

• Stand in a circle
  
• Holding a ball of yarn, call out your name.
  
• Throw the yard to someone across from you
  
• That person must call out your name and then theirs.
  
• Next person must call out the names in order until the yarn has made it around the room
  

Commissioners Recipe (Pass out while PP is shown)

Chicken Quesadillas

 

• Ingredients
  
  • stove, dutch oven, can opener, fork, small pot, aluminum foil
    
  • 2 10oz cans white chicken meat, 2 Tbsp chili powder, 2 tsp minced garlic, 12 large soft flour tortillas, 8 oz shredded Mexican-blend cheese, salsa
    
• Directions
  
  • Heat dutch oven to 450.
    Pour chicken, undrained, into small pot on stove.
    Add chili powder and garlic.
    Shred chicken with a fork and mix well.
    Stir chicken while it heats for about 5 minutes.
    
    To make quesadilla:
    Place tortilla on square of aluminum foil.
    Spread 1/6 of chicken over tortilla.
    Sprinkle cheese over chicken.
    Top with second tortilla.
    Place in dutch oven.
    You can place a second quesadilla on top of the first.
    
    Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, then lift by corners of foil.
    Cut into 1/4s or 1/6s and add salsa if desired.
    
    Serves about 6 people
    

 

 

 

 

Commissioners Minute (20 minutes)

 

Big L and Little L

 

Which position leads in this district?
Anyone else?
OK, those are the Leaders of the district, the guys that run the show, the guys with the cool patches, the guys in control.

This is an 'l' (hold left index finger up vertically)
This is an 'L' (stick left thumb out horizontally)
Do you see the difference?
This 'l' is a Little L.
This 'L' is a Big L.
(from now on, make the Big or Little L sign as appropriate)

This is a key difference, especially when we're talking about 'l'eaders. The ones you mentioned are 'L'eaders - guys in a position of 'l'eadership. You think of them as 'l'eaders because of their position.

But, a 'l'eader is someone that leads because some 'l'eadership is needed, not because he is in a position. A 'l'eader is proactive - he sees a need and takes care of it. A 'l'eader steps up and makes decisions.

All of you can and should be 'l'eaders, whether or not you're a 'L'eader.

So, basically:

• 'L'eaders don't always 'l'ead.
  
• 'l'eaders aren't always 'L'eaders.
  
• the 'l'eadership of this district is not limited to the 'L'eadership
  

 

 

Two Great Opportunities for your Scouts

@ Danville Science Center

 

Jupiter, the Great Gas Planet – February 8, 6:30PM

Anthony Pilato, astronomy enthusiast and member of NASA's Planetary Ambassadors, presents a program on the planet Jupiter. Learn about its cloud belts and iconic "red spot." This program will be presented in the Science on a Sphere gallery

Talking Prairie Dogs and Fortune-Telling Fossils: Adaptation, Natural Selection and Biodiversity – February 11, 4PM – 7PM 

Did you know prairie dogs can talk?  Were you aware that studying fossils can tell us how to protect endangered species today?  The Danville Science Center will be visited by biologists and science educators from NESCent - the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, NC, who will talk about evolutionary biology - essentially changes in plants, animals and other organisms over time - and how it leads to the amazing diversity of life on Earth.  

 

PS

Check out our Field Trip Guide - http://www.dsc.smv.org/visit/WebGVG1011.pdf

 

 

Jeff Liverman

Danville Science Center

677 Craghead Street

Danville VA 24541

434 791 5160

www.dsc.smv.org