I am in charge of the animal skulls

Last Saturday I volunteered with the Girl Scouts. They had a large one day of activity, learning, and enjoying the outdoors. It was at Camp Tuckaho out in Troy, MO. I love the Girl Scouts and I do regret not taking scouting further into my life. Here was my opportunity to make up for time lost.

I filled out the application a few months ago and explained that my hobbies were "crafting, interior design, and the environment." I also mentioned that I was very allergic to animals so please, no horses, goats or farm animals.

I showed up on Saturday happy to see the sun and eager to work. I ignore all the stupid mom leaders that have no comprehension that others are in the world but them (not spoiled mothers; busy mothers that have been doing nothing BUT mothering for the last 10 years and can't function in the real world anymore. They can't say bathroom. They say potty, even to 32 year old adults and their 9 year old children who have grown out of the phrase, I could go on, but I know you all know what I mean and will you NEVER turn into those mothers).

The volunteer coordinator informs me that I am at the Nature Center. I meet 4 other women working there, all with former girl scout daughters who are now in their 20's. These women are experts, they know what they are doing, they have got this down. They know their skits/lesson/activity. Another woman shows up with three large duffel bags. We start unloading. They are full of animal skins, skulls, and footprints. They are not just skins, but the whole epidermis of the animal: eye holes, claws, noses. etc. We pair the skull, skin and tracks up and lay them out on the table. The women in charge looks at me (the one with no part) and says, "are you ok, handling this?" Afraid they kick out sissies in the Girl Scouts I confidently say, "yes, whatever you need me to do."

The day was a plethora of over 100 activities to choose from: trails, archery, rock-climbing, making slime, yoga, Pilate's, anything you can think of and Tuckaho is large, so it was more about pick an area and see what there is to do there rather than cherry-picking activities because you would spend all day walking. Over 3500 girls from the St. Louis area were there, including Grace (my niece) and her troop.

The first troop came and I let them guess the different animals (they look different when they are flat) and touch them. I showed them how a beaver jaw and a squirrel jaw look very similar even though they are different in size. I was amazed at my expertise compared to an 8 year old. I could easily impress them with my "facts." A little National Geographic Channel goes a long way.

The day went on and I got into my groove, while personally being a little grossed out, I knew how important it was to get over it. At the end of the day I could properly identify the coats and skulls of a beaver, squirrel, rabbit, otter, raccoon, skunk, possum, deer, coyote, bobcat, & fox.

I was happy that I did get challenged out of my comfort zone and I am thankful they didn't have me in charge of any live animals, that wouldn't have been a little much. Saturday ended up to be a gorgeous fall day and I loved that I got to spend the whole day outside. Around 3:30, the sun sank beneath trees and it got cold quickly. I was grateful to be at the nature center because we has access to an indoor (heated) facility with a real bathroom and hot coffee in the kitchen. The volunteer coordinators broke me in softly and now have me hooked. I would do it again, animal skulls and all.

In the nature center I saw this quote: In the end, we will only conserve what we love. We only love what we understand, and we only understand what we are taught.