Telchar was a moleskin that I kept with me in my son’s Boy Scout days. I would draw in it at camp outs, while Trey was busy on his journey to become an Eagle Scout. I also used it as a reminder source, since smart phones were not readily available .

 I was a single dad bringing up three kids. I made lists constantly, and now I’m glad I did. The lists have a bittersweet plangency.

I was so out of my depth.

 I’ve been drawing single eyes for years and years. It’s my go-to doodle of choice. Typically, they are heavily mascara’d and shadowed.

I have absolutely no idea why I love to draw them, but i do, and there are many of them out there in the world.

 This one was from a scout trip where we rode bikes on the Katy Trail, in mid-Missouri.

If you’ve never done it, you should. It’s beautiful out there.

 Trey was learning to play tennis with his little brother, Parker. I was on the sidelines, reffing the fights and painting in watercolor. This was in Lake Lotawana, I believe.

 Also in Lake Lotawana, Parker had a little league game. This was the outfield, without players.

 The field around my son’s soccer practice. I cannot recall what the list of movies is for.

 Trey and I took a trip to Philmont Ranch, the Boy Scouts premiere summer camp. It involved carrying everything you needed to survive for 14 days, on your back, over 60 miles of exceedingly rough and mountainous terrain.

It was terrifying at first, because if you forgot something, you were out of luck. But it ended up being one of the best things I’ve done in my life. It was so beautiful there.

I would never do it again, because it was very hard, and I am old. But I had a great time, and Trey absolutely loved it.

 Summer camp at H. Roe Bartle Reservation was one of Trey’s favorite things.

I tried to go with him every year, which meant 10 “vacation” days of awful food, terrible sleeping conditions, bugs, and hot, humid weather, plus Boy Scout chores. It was exhausting.

But the camp is beautiful, and the people were terrific.

 I was eternally grateful when I learned to use Google Drive. It made these endless lists of paintings obsolete.

 I remember this campout distinctly. It rained like hell the whole weekend, and the boy scouts had a puddle diving contest.

They were muddy. They were soaked.

And they had fun.

 I did several t-shirt designs for the Scouts. This one actually got printed.

One of the things I admire most about the Boy Scouts is that they capitalize on the expertise of every individual, and rarely diminish a person for not being able to do a thing. This especially applied to the scouts themselves. Encouragement, not condemnation. It almost always brought out the best in the boys.

 After learning a little bit about programming, I’m convinced that writing code is an art form. It requires knowledge, discipline, and creativity. And tons of patience and perseverance.