There really is a ridiculous amount of rain… and we don’t really mind. The sun shines every day and we go to activities and there is very little we are kept from achieving by all these little streams we have running through camp where our trails used to be. Campers are already excited about doing more trail work next week. Dry warm weather is at times lovely and can also create lethargy. This rain is energizing our community.
Interdepence Day
Our dinner was pulled pork; with over 200 pounds of it that cooked for seventeen hours. This extravagant amount of meat, with homemade slaw and black eyed peas was also accompanied by a special vegan, gluten and dairy free lasagna. A real team effort gets it all done (parents: see photos on SmugMug). Flying Cloud had their fill (and then some) And then we had our parade and songs and skits with crazy loud singing! And ice cream! And a turtle drum!
Cabin Cookouts
This evening I was preparing for a meeting with my support staff and was very much in an “indoor mode”. We were in the upper lodge cooking up some leftovers when another thunderstorm broke. We got a pot on the stove for heating hot dogs and hustled down to check on everyone and to “bail them out”. I couldn’t have been more wrong – they needed no rescuing. EVERY cabin had a fire going, despite the heavy downpour. They roasted their hot dogs and then proceeded to play in the mud and run around in the woods. So far, this was one of the best nights of camp.
Guy Night & Unfair Olympics
We separated the campers into two groups, the 9-11 year olds (elementary school) and the 12-14 year olds (middle school). The older campers had a very complete workshop on gender norms, homophobia and discussion of some of the challenges and opportunities of identifying as male. Campers were very engaged and we were still fielding questions and comments right up to the quiet bell. Younger campers had a 20-minute session talking about how we react to comments like “you throw like a girl” or the reactions you get if you have friends that are girls.
Here is a glimpse into some of the sentiments written, pondered and discussed by TL campers:
How do you stand up to your own close friends who discriminate on others?
People in my school saw Jew in an offensive way and I’m afraid to tell them to stop because I’m Jewish and I’m afraid they will make fun of me for my religious beliefs.
How can you stand up for people without having everyone assume things about you?
How do you stand up for someone if your best friend is picking on them?
After discussing these and other questions, we then had a great game of capture the flag on Bear Point.
The “Unfair Olympics” was an evening of competition with a twist – not everything was fair and equal. One canoe in the race might have had a paddle and another had none. We debriefed this later and hope it sparked a better awareness of privilege and inequality.
Town Meeting
We’re always encouraged by meaningful conversations with campers. Many suggestions centered on balancing rest, work and play. As a parent, I find it very refreshing that campers bring up concerns about getting enough rest and are also willing to hear solutions such as sleeping in, going to sleep earlier or napping during rest hour (radical ideas!). There was a lot of interest in camper-led activities, which tells me they really are dialed into what we are doing and just want to do more of it.
It will be exciting to challenge ourselves as staff to respond to as many of their requests as we can during the final ten days of camp.
J1 Departure and What’s to Come….
We were sad to see our J1 campers leave. What a great bunch of kids – we will miss you. We’ll be doing another beading ceremony on Tuesday as well as awarding the first Ratings awards of the summer.
We found it was great to pull together as a camp and not only do all these activities, but also clean up camp and get ready for Senior Lodge Trips that leave on Wednesday. We have a lot of fun planned for our smaller camp with Big and First Lodge coming up next.