My wife has struggled for 21 years of marriage to understand why I always put the OA fellowship of my boyhood lodge on the family calendar.  Year after year although many of my old buddies had stopped going I made the pilgrimage to Camp Coker to at least eat a meal and visit with people during Santee fellowships.  But eventually (for good reasons) life catches up with you and that's just not possible. 

I know in the big picture this window of time where I have two kids active in the program and going on pack and troop camping trips will close.  I also know that being a camp director is not a forever job although I sure am enjoying it.  I think all this started to dawn on me in 2017 when I missed the Dixie Fellowship (my first in almost 30 years) so that I could go with my Tiger Cub on his spring camping trip. 

• OA Lodge 120 Gosh Wha Gono S2.5
• 1981 National Jamboree OA Service Corps Flap RC1
• OA Lodge 79 S2.5 Unlisted With Number VER Background
• Vintage BSA Patch Order of the Arrow Flap Chief Shabbona
• OA Lodge 428 Loquanne Allangwh Flap Mint 25th Ann.Texas

So I'm taking the long view that this season of my life long Scouting journey is about doing the program with my kids and that doesn't leave room on the calendar for me to attend every TOR or lodge event that I would like.  I hope some of my friends that might wonder where I've been will understand it's not that I don't want to support the lodge or program I just have to keep my compass centered on priorities.

I've got a hundred .99 cent auctions ending tonight on my Santeeswapper account as I try and thin out old inventory that hasn't sold. My Five Dollar Store has 79 live auctions running and Patchsniper has Jamboree medical and region patches ending tonight.