Girl scouts

My mother is (ok, she dosn't do it any more but says she is) a life long girl scout. My sister was a brownie (my mother was her troop leader). I was never any form of girl scout. When my friend Katie called me up last Monday upset because her father was in the hospital and asked if I would take her mother's spot teaching a petal painting class at a girl scout's weekend retreat (Adirondack Rondevous 2007: Reality Remix) I was happy to help and even happier that I'd be helping at a girl scout camp. Despite some lost in translation about what I'd actually be doing, I finally figured it out and got the supplies from Katie. I printed up directions, made a sample and at 8 AM Saturday morning, I was off to the camp. I did skip Sagefest (something that I've only once done before willingly) but it was intresting to see the varying tallents of my students for the day. Most of them seemed to be about 9th grade level (about 14 or 15 years old). I realized that among my first group, one of them had really taken the assignment to the max and did an amazing job painting flowers of varying colors on her box. I started thinking "Was that how good I was when I was her age?" then I realized that my ability level was about the same as four of the other girls in the group with their faces very green with envy when they saw how well this girls' box came out. I am begining to recignize that even for other people, its not nesicarily the tallent that gives you the drive, its the drive that gives you the tallent. Had I been where the other four girls where sitting, I would have told myself, "Its too late to fix this one now, I'll do it that good next time" and I would. Or (in the case of drawing) I would go home and practice like there was no tomorrow. With out my saying anything to any of the girls beyond an umbrella aknolegement that they all did well, I realized the one girl taught the others more then I ever could.