And So It Goes…
Hey all, Curtis here. Our camping season is finally over, and camp itself is very quiet. No more morning meetings in the pine grove, no more bells ringing us from activity to activity. The docks have been pulled out of the water, and the kitchen has been shut down. This place belongs to the squirrels now (just yesterday I caught one head-first inside a jack-o-lantern, eating, his butt stuck up in the air).
Now that it is quieter, I have some time to sit and remember my favorite moments from the summer. There was a morning meeting where Taya took us on a trip through time to the 1800’s, to see what Windsor Mountain was like way back when (Hint: it was very silly). We were introduced to the song “Just Like a Fridge” by the counselor Alex, a song that quickly became a campfire favorite. And I remember one game of capture the flag where I decided not join either side, and instead a group of kids and myself started a neutral team that tried to negotiate peace between the warring tribes.
But the best moment for me, without a doubt, was a comic book creation class that I was supposed to be co-teaching with a camper. I say “supposed to be” because I didn’t end up teaching the class at all; the camper showed up on the first day with an outlined lesson plan and took over the class in the most amazing way. She taught basic drawing techniques and the principals of art, she discussed with us story ideas and the importance of plot, and she gave feedback to the other students as we began designing our own comic books. It turned out that I was just there to supply the materials, and I’m not ashamed to say that I learned quite a bit that I did not know before.
It was an incredible moment for her, to practice leadership and to own her talents, and it was incredible for me to be witness to it. I remember sharing the story with staff members that week, and I was so proud of her.
Hopefully when your children came home they had a few stories to share as well. Maybe they talked about the crazy and fun things that happened here, or about their struggles and their accomplishments. This place creates stories, thousands of them, every summer. It is a joy to have my own at the end of each season, and a privilege to watch them in the making.
When next summer comes I’ll be able to add some new ones to my collection. Until then, it’s just me and the squirrels.