Surprising Sunflowers

Just outside our house there is a bird feeder. It is a joy to sit by the windows, read the paper, and watch the birds. I would feed them all year long, but during the summer I never remember to do so: it is not necessary (we live in a veritable garden of Eden during the summer, tons of food for birds naturally available), and it takes time to fill the feeders (something we don’t have). Feeding the birds IS a good thing to do in the winter, it makes life much easier for the thousands of birds who choose to make camp their full time home. North Carolina mountains get very cold in the winter and many of those birds would not make it without a little extra help (I tell myself).

I say this because NOW, surrounding that perfectly placed bird feeder, there are dozens of beautiful sunflowers. These “leftovers” are now giving joy to the world (they are really pretty) and soon to the birds (tons of natural sunflower seeds). Good deeds lead to unexpectedly good outcomes.

This is the lesson of life that is so well taught at camp. Here we encourage the girls to be their best. To stretch themselves to do new things, meet new people, do chores, write home, be themselves, laugh at silly things, and pray. They grow to have a great attitude no matter what the circumstances may be, and to gratefully appreciate the good that surrounds them in this postcard setting. These are worthwhile in themselves, but what really surprises us is their unexpectedly worthwhile benefits down the road. Lives are transformed, strengthened, and re-directed at camp… the beauty of such moments last long after the summer is gone. The birdseed of camp is often enjoyed as a surprising flower many years after the fact.

Speaking of feeding: the camp ate well last night. The rising 10th graders came up to our house and feasted on beef tenderloin (cooked over an apple wood fire), roasted veggies, garlic potatoes, crusty rolls, a fancy salad, and ice cream. They drank Coca-cola from cute 8 oz. glass bottles with colorful straws. They went crazy over the 6 gallon slushy machine going in the game room, serving up our now famous Tuxedo “Sun Drop” frozen treats. We served appetizers from my sister’s restaurant “Casa Rolls” in Chattanooga (Buffalo Chicken dip, Black Bean dip, and Artichoke heart dip). We kept candy (sour patch kids, pretzel m&m’s) in the candy bowls and served the girls on fine china. They hung out at our house from Flag till Call to Quarters playing games, talking, eating, and watching movies. It was delightful. The rest of camp had “Chinese” night, with General Tso’s chicken, stir fried beef, white rice, fried rice, and fortune cookies served by a kitchen staff wearing chinese hats.

The various group night activities were all big hits: skating got the biggest notice as the huge Prevost coaches pulled in front of the dining hall during flag, awaiting the group of excited rising 9th graders who would be taken to “Skate-a-Rama” for a private 80’s themed party. We gave the girls each $5 to purchase whatever they wanted at the snack bar (my treat) and before they left we took a group picture (I put on an awful hippie costume and was in the front of the picture). It was fun.

Today will be a nice warm day, a good chance of afternoon showers, pretty much the same forecast as yesterday (tomorrow is the same thing). Looks like a pattern! Tonight we will enjoy our blow out “Corn Roast” evening by the lake. Gervais will serve his famous ribs, turkey legs, bbq chicken, black bean- corn- and tomato salad, slaw, bread, and Roasted Corn in the Husk (dipped in butter). We will have kegs of Root Beer that will flow all evening, Party Barge cruises on the lake, hay rides on Apple Hill, and a concert by Kat Williams (just back from her European tour). Kat has been performing at our Corn Roast for 5 years now, she can really get the party rolling and has an AMAZING voice. The girls sit, talk, play games, eat, and dance. It is very relaxed and very good. A quality night.

All these good things… like little seeds are eaten and enjoyed in the moment then fall into the loamy soil of time; sometimes to re-appear years later when bumping into a camp friend at the airport. They don’t always die, they sometimes live on… little “sunflowers” in our lives that bring beauty and remind us of joy.

We are also being visited by the ACA (American Camping Association) for our in depth camp assessment by this accreditation group. This process is very time consuming (preparations for meeting all standards require lots of off-season work), it also is inconvenient (today is a busy day, not an easy one to add a huge job to); but it is worth it. Such standards keep us sharp, we don’t just re-do what we always did… we want to be the best and these little inconveniences help meet that goal.

Thanks for reading.

Jimboy