Ornithology

Brownie Scouts Ruthie and Shelley insist that they are quite enough experienced for the rainbow bridging, and they boil their vests in a cedar sprig dye. The spotty mossy throw-up color is not what anybody expected, but it is, new Junior Scout Ruthie points out, more practical for hiding in trees and filling out the ornithology worksheets. We all have to admit we love her grown-up voice, and maybe she’ll stop being such a pain in the log for us now.

The new Junior Scouts plan to earn many new badges in their new Junior vests, and they march off to the forest. The already Junior Scouts follow because you should always take an opportunity to learn something new or to assist others when you are already proficient. Only the eldest and most freckled Scout, Rebecca, stays back, because her mother is divorced and glues on badges instead of sewing, and one of the badges has begun to peel off just like everybody predicted. Soon she will clutch a bare green rag like a beginner, and she will not know which way to turn or where is North or where it will lead her.