Scoutin'

that 12 year old Boy Scout who was missing for 3.5 days in the hills of Western North Carolina was found today...alive! i was all worked up about it and was worried he would turn up dead. thank God he is alright! what a great, feel good story. of course, that means i am now free to make fun of him with impunity.

here are a couple quotes that caught my eye today when reading about this little boy:

from Spokesman Review:
Michael had stayed behind with an adult leader Saturday morning while the rest of the troop went for a hike "because apparently he wanted to sleep in," said David Bauer, a ranger with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Michael was there when the troop returned for lunch, but the group of about 10 Scouts and their three adult leaders soon noticed he was missing, Bauer said.

[His father said] "He ate lunch, chatting with the boys. He was walking around with I think some Pringles and a mess kit. The next moment, sounds like a blink of the eye, he was gone."

Searchers found Michael's mess kit late Saturday within a mile of the camp site, and White said they had also found a candy wrapper and a potato chip bag.

after being found, the first words out of his mouth, from CBC News in Canada:
"He just said, 'I'm hungry,"..."He wanted peanut butter crackers and water."

and perhaps best of all, from FoxNews:
A two-year-old dog named Gandalf from South Carolina led search-and-rescue officials to Michael's location, which was about a half-mile northeast of the campsite where he was last seen.

i apologize for being insensitive and would he have perished in the woods, i would never state these things publicly, but come on! he skipped the hike to sleep in and hooked back up with his buddies for lunch...then he wondered off with a can of Pringles and a candy bar...got lost for 3.5 days, and when found (a half mile from the campsite!!!), immediately requested peanut butter crackers!!

wow.

if i've learned anything from this story, it is: this kid is a litterbug. and it saved his life. he left a trail of cellophane and cardboard in his wake so thick, all 'ol Gandalf had to do was follow it straight to him. so i ask you all to litter. litter like there's no tomorrow. it may be our only hope.