Happy Trails*

Sigh.

I had such high hopes for 2014.

One was that the Boy Scouts of America would do a better job adjusting to modern day conveniences like computers, networks, listservs, etc., and that they would once and for all, clarify their membership policy.  Looks like it's not going to happen on either count.  My son aged out six months ago, and I haven't been a leader there either, but I still get correspondence addressed to "chartered organization representative" inviting me to one function or another, in spite of repeated requests to remove me from their rolls. The local council as a whole isn't really good about using computers, although there are exceptions.

Second, I had hoped that the "alternative", now called Trail Life USA, would not get off the ground. Well, I'm going to allow the reader to judge for themselves if they choose to go to the website, but apparently the group is not for Catholics, Jews, Mormons, or members of other churches that have chosen to affiliate with the BSA through either chartering an organization or its individual members joining.  As odious as some people find the BSA, you'll find a lot to dislike with "trail life", whose motto appears to be "Walk Worthy".  Caveat Emptor!

*--Dale Evans Rogers, for Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, 1952.