Hi everyone, I know it’s been a while, so I wanted to write and let you know that second half is cranking along quite well. We’ve had what feels like a bit more rain than usual this half, but I’m happy to say we’re rolling along well despite that.
One moment that stands out for me was when I was leading a birch bark collecting activity so that we could try distilling the oils out of the bark and boiling them into glue for hafting obsidian blades onto handles. It was pouring rain, and I wasn’t sure anyone would want to do the activity. I announced it, and a large group of campers immediately ran over. We went tromping off into the forest, knives and raincoats at the ready, and they merrily went to work stripping the bark off a downed paper birch. I didn’t hear a single word of complaint about the rain. In fact, people were going out of their way to take in the experience of the dripping wet forest. We harvested the bark and brought it back to camp to process around a big hot fire. The rest of the morning was spent chatting and feeding the fire, and I’m happy to say our experiments worked! Hopefully your son will be able to show you a stone tool he made with a handle he hafted (that means “attached”) with our natural glue.
In other news, I wanted to let you know that we’ve just had our first Naming of the session. After nearly perfect (meaning sunny) weather for a Quest, five of our FC brothers were honored in a ceremony attended by 25 Indian Brook campers and all of Saltash Mountain camp. The night started with a downpour and five great rounds of Battle Blanket, followed by a clear, starry sky and these five new names being added to the rolls: Sprinting Wolf, Mink Circle, Harvest Rain, Summer Bear and the counselor Sky Brother Listens. Please join me in honoring these wonderful young men.
Well I’ve got to run. We head out on trips soon and I’ve got to go get my gear together for our next big adventure! I look forward to seeing you all at Fair on Saturday, August 15th, or at pickup day the next morning.