Well, amazingly enough we’ve made the transition from first half into second! I’m having the surprising realization that no matter what we do, the summer still slides by. We’re at the fun part of the year now when I’ll casually mention a day of the week, and kids will say “cool…. When’s that?” It’s a nice sign that they’re truly living here and in the moment.
As always, the transition from first to second half can be difficult and painful, with a lot of really wonderful young men leaving the community, but at the same time, we’re all thrilled to be forming a new community, with even more excellent Flying Clouders. This year we had fourteen campers stay full season, which means that nearly half of the camp has already been here for a month. As a result, we’re finding that campers are jumping right into the flow of things with very few of the regular bumps around establishing community norms.
Since we had so many people here over Changeover Day, we decided to do something extra special. I’ve been telling people that the goal for this summer is to make Flying Cloud even more like Flying Cloud, basically meaning that everything we do should be from us, and based on the values we want to uphold. For Changeover, this meant having a party, of sorts….
By lucky chance, I discovered that a handful of people were planning to have a barbecue in our gravel pit the day of changeover, and so we decided we’d send our campers down to investigate. In teams of eight, including one counselor, the campers camouflaged themselves and stalked down to the party as silently as they could. As they approached the gravel pit, they recognized the party-goers as FC staff, listening to music, tossing around a disc and roasting hot dogs. Reassured that FC was at no risk, the campers decided to have a little fun with their beloved counselors. One camper snagged the watermelon we were keeping in the shade, and others snuck up as close as they could, planning all sorts of nefarious tricks. We counselors were caught completely unawares, and the campers were quite happy to have an opportunity to exercise their stalking and invisibility skills.
In another tidbit of exciting news, we’ve hired one more staff member! Wind Stirs the Embers has agreed to join us during second half, to help out with perfecting our FC bread baking techniques and to be a general support person. We’re thrilled to have him, and he’s thrilled to be here.
Finally, here’s a nice photo from the end of first half of our Fire Keeper lighting a bowdrill fire under the watchful eye of his mentor Forest Flame for all the parents who came and spent the day with us during Visiting Day. We played games, did chores, and spent a little while on activities, as well as having a delicious potluck lunch, courtesy of the parents. Thanks to everyone who came!
