Day 7 "Gems in the Mud"

“Gems in the Mud”

At Scout class at Trackerschool

There are many grueling hours

Spent staying awake in lecture on hard wooden benches,

Carrying a log when someone stole your lance,

Belly crawling through a swamp,

Or just trudging along soft sand roads for miles

At 3:00 in the morning

After a midnight raid.

Yet,

What makes all that worth the effort

Are the sparkly gems I came away with.

Like bathing in the creek in the moonlight with a friend,

To wash off the mud and soot camouflage;

Or having your throat cut with a red felt tip marker

By a shadow scout,

Who was hiding, waiting to teach me,

To pay better attention,

Or sensing the presence of someone in the tree

When I couldn’t see them

But knew they were there.

Felted merino wool and silk with bead embellishments.