I enjoy mornings and I am usually one of the first people up at camp. This morning as I hiked to the Upper Lodge (it is a six-story climb!) I greeted several campers who I assumed were working in the kitchen. But no, the kitchen help was already there and these two campers, a Senior Lodger and a First Lodger, were going to a “Music Party”. The older camper told me “I wanted to teach other campers music”. I know something transformational is happening here when campers wake themselves up an hour and a half before breakfast to teach younger campers music.
As I walked around yesterday when Senior Lodge and A1 Trips were returning, I heard campers ask each other “How was your trip? And the reply was: “Awesome!”. It’s clear from these comments, from speaking with trip leaders and with the campers I picked up myself, that the Timberlake trips went really well, despite the occasional downpour. They also involved some great examples of the TL Work Ethic. A trip that was intentionally low-mileage ended up canoeing across Ninevah Lake and hiking up a local mountain and finished the day pleasantly wiped out. The Jay Peak trip hiked a full 11 miles by mid-day before being picked up.
One example of the Creativity Ethic is campers writing their own songs and even their own short musical to be performed for Council Fire tonight for the whole camp. My personal favorite project? Tricking out the BLT truck! The Arts crew made a six-foot flaming meteorite on one side and a matching kaleidoscope comet on the other side of the flatbed truck. Silver upright pipes were added in the back for effect and the boys were ready to drive around all the camps to show off their new ride. The fact that they picked a time without a soul on the camp roads didn’t dampen their enthusiasm for their joyride.
Senior Lodgers, who have taken apart the bridge to Haikubo and are busy building a new one, as well as the railings to a new staircase in our work project area, are demonstrating the Work Ethic. Also, a group went to our brother camp Flying Cloud and a camper led that hike as part of his Pioneer rating. Perhaps even more unique to Timberlake is that a counselor offered an optional activity of brainstorming session on discovering the most efficient way of doing it. He thought 1-2 campers would sign up but he actually had to turn people away! Ten campers focused all afternoon and presented their findings at staff meeting.
I am excited about how our Empathy Ethic came into practice yesterday. It was a “normal day” of projects and activities, but during circle up and meal time there was an experiential component to learn about bias and privilege. For breakfast and lunch, bandannas were randomly distributed which gave privilege to the wearer. At lunch, we switched roles and during the afternoon we debriefed the experience with the campers. Yes, the campers knew it was a game and yes, for some, it was quite unpleasant and there were even a few tears of frustration. One young camper took off his bandanna, threw it on the ground and stamped on it because he didn’t want his privileges to be upsetting other. That’s pretty amazing. We accept the power reactions as validation that, just as on a wilderness hike, going into a place of discomfort is where the magic and transformation happens. It was good to process the experience as a group, share what we learned and drop the bandannas symbolically into the trash for closure.
This afternoon we’ll be having our “Cardboard Carnival”, inspired by the F&W simple living ethos and also by the short documentary “Caine’s Arcade” which captures so perfectly childhood ingenuity: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U)
Tomorrow A1 campers leave us and our 9-12 year olds leave for trips. Senior Lodge will work on Fair Fire and many other projects when they are the only campers at Timberlake.
Overall, it’s truly wonderful what is happening in camp. To have over 60 staff members focused on the camper’s experience and to share the same goals and vision is extraordinary.
Onward and upward, every moment is precious.
— Tulio Browning, Timberlake Director