Hello Again Blog Readers!
Turns out, it can be much harder to get out of the woods and back to a computer than I thought it would be. So, where are we?
Our July Session has come to an end and the August Session campers have arrived. This all happened in a whirlwind of powerful moments, some sadness, and, of course, immense amounts of joy!
I wanted to take some time to tell y’all a little bit about how we close out a session. Just like the beginning of the summer, we hold a Friendship Fire. This is a time for our community to come together. This is time in reflection, rather than the anticipation we feel at the start of something new.
I truly love the closing Friendship Fire because of one special moment. That moment is when all of our community members have the opportunity to speak on behalf of Flying Cloud. This is often when we, as staff, realize all the work we have been doing has not been in vain. The lessons we sought to impress upon these youths have in some way broken through and we have made a powerful impact on their lives. This summer, more than any summer I have been a part of, I saw something truly special happen. The campers started using language and verbalizing their experience in the same way the staff speak. Here they were, expressing themselves with such maturity and self-awareness like I had never seen before. To share with you, here are some quotes from the night:
“Flying Cloud accelerates my growth.”
“Flying Cloud encourages me not just to be myself, but to seek within myself the person I want to be.”
“Flying Cloud showed me that there are so, so many ways to be a man.”
And the last one I want to share with you is an extension of a standard line. Every summer, a camper will say Flying Cloud is my second home. This year I heard this gem:
“I used to think Flying Cloud was like a second home. Now I know the truth though. Flying Cloud is my real home.”
These are just four comments from the 30 kids who chose to speak on behalf of Flying Cloud. We felt like that was exactly how we needed to wrap the first-session bundle. I feel safe saying it was a session deserving such a wonderful close.
But, with the closing of the first session, we were thrown right into the start of another!
Sunday’s cooling temperatures (a much needed relief from some serious heat and humidity!) heralded the arrival of our August session campers. In a interesting twist on enrollment patterns, second session brought us 18 campers who have never been to Flying Cloud before. As I think I have mentioned in the past, sharing Flying Cloud with others is just about my most favorite thing to do. So rest assured, I am psyched for this fresh community. We open our August session with a Friendship Fire, just like we did for the July session.
This time though, we already have the essential tool of fire. What we are missing though is the metaphorical coal that we light the fire of our community from for second session. Friendship Fire is that coal. As usual, we gathered in Kahonkahona (our ceremony lodge) as dusk settled on the clearing. To symbolize the gathering of individuals into a new community, we brought a small bed of coals on which to build a fire. As our Camper Leaders (the four campers who have shown leadership and responsibility) orient the new campers to the Flying Cloud ethos, each camper or staff (both new and full season), placed a stick on that fire. Slowly, those coals brought that wood to flame and light was shed on the darkness of the approaching night, on our new group. Here too, the campers and staff share a piece of themselves. We asked some questions and the most powerful one was, “What do you want to share with your brothers at Flying Cloud this session?”
“A sense of responsibility.”
“My passion for nature.”
“A sense of happiness and love.”
There were many more, but these were the ones that stood out to me. I believe these three quotes do a fitting job of representing what it means to live at Flying Cloud.
I know this post was a long one and I have rambled on for quite some time now. What can I say is Flying Cloud inspires me, especially this summer. I would like to share that in all of the summers I have spent at Flying Cloud, I have never had as much fun as I am having this year. And I am not the only person saying this. I am hearing similar sentiments from campers and staffers alike. If I could summarize briefly why I feel like we are enjoying ourselves, I would say this:
We seem to have found an uncanny ability (within the relationships between our staff and other staff at F&W camps, our staff and our campers, and our campers and other F&W campers) to access a passion and appreciation for all of what is great about childhood. These range from silly games to intentional recognition of the personal journey we are all on, whether this is the paths we walk alone or the trails we walk with one another.
Thanks for all of your support and for lending us your boys.
Be well,
~FF~