Thursday... we call it SUN - DAY

Here comes the sun.

After two days of overcast skies today is a day of “mostly” sunny skies and considerably warmer temperatures. We awoke to a brisk 50 degrees, so Laura decided to serve hot chocolate after morning assembly as a little treat before classes. It was SO GOOD! The girls were thrilled, as they should be… we make hot chocolate the right way (Milk and two kinds of chocolate heated slowly till hot).

Let me take a moment to list some resources that you should know about (if you don’t already).

1. Morning Assembly devotions are online and we encourage you to follow along. They are short (5 to 10 minutes) and really great ways to start the day. We archive all the devotions, so you can hear last years devotions (by the same ministers as we will have this summer) as well as what your girls are hearing right now. There is a short delay, but we sometimes get them loaded the same day as they are given. Quality material for your letters and after camp conversations.
2. Emails are free but letters are better. The “Campintouch” service does offer little add-ons that you can purchase with “camp stamps” but I don’t suggest anything other than written words. Emails are appreciated by the girls but not cherished. Hand written letters are cherished and kept like treasures. Emails are often thrown away after a quick read. Don’t neglect the hand written letter, it is worth the trouble.
3. Photos… how we do them. We take lots of pictures every day, more as the camp goes on (there have been some technical difficulties). We put the photos into folders. Morning, Afternoon, and Evening folders will have photos by our camp counselor photographers (we have about 15 of them working at various times of day). I have my own folder, we also have a professional photographer who comes out from time to time and her folder will always have JMP at the end of the album description. JMP stands for Julie Mallett Photography, she is a wonderful talent with a fantastic eye… trained by the best, we are lucky to have her come to camp from time to time. We do the best we can to get everywhere in camp and get shots of all the girls, but some girls really “hide” from the camera. We will try to avoid getting into a “rut” of walking the same path every day thus getting the same activities and people… but we ask you be patient. The best way to get a picture of your daughter is to email them with instructions to get their picture taken: with so many photographers around it is EASY to get many pictures taken of yourself every day!
4. Photos… how to sort them. Some days will have 1000 photos, some days will have 2000 photos. How to sort them quickly and not go crazy? Click on the photos button (under “My Account”) and open a folder. At the bottom of the page, set it to display 48 photos per page. Quickly scroll through the photos and click on the “star” icon on every photo you like. After going through the whole folder, you can then open these “Favorites” and see them blown up and take your time. I can scan 1500 photos in about 15 minutes… building my favorites folder as I go. Be generous with marking a photo as a favorite, it is easly to delete it from your group later on.
5. Photos… why we sell them. I want to give the photos away, but this is not an option available to us with this service. Campintouch provides the software and makes the photos available to you in a way that is safe and secure. At this time, the only option we have is to let them charge for the high resolution downloads and prints. You can right click on the enlarged photo and save that for free… it looks good on phones and smaller images (just not good for prints).
6. Photos… why they are so good. We think they are important. We use excellent equipment, hire talented photographers, and love documenting the beauty of this place. A good photograph is moving… some photographs are fine art… we seek the treasure of a great photograph every day and are just as delighted as you to get it right. Photography is an effective tool to convey the depth of this experience, to squander the opportunity that this setting provides for great pictures would be a crime!

Enough of that…

Food today:
Breakfast: Pancakes & link sausage (perfect pig-in-a-blanker material), steel cut oatmeal (the best batch of the summer…), Blueberries, Raspberries, pineapple, cantaloupe, greeek yogurt, cereal, etc.
Lunch: BLT’s!!! We use fresh baked bread, thick cut tomatoes (not local yet), and big leaf romaine lettuce. Kettle fried potato chips, real mayonnaise. Can’t wait!!!
Dinner: Chicken Enchiladas! Gervais takes boneless breast chicken and slow roasts it till it is fork tender, pulls the chicken into strips and loads up the Enchiladas with a LOT of chicken. Bakes the whole thing in a house made sauce and serves with Spanish rice and a big salad. It is so good.

EP tonight:
Opening Vespers. This is a tradition rich program that goes back to our first year. My mother tells the story of “The Keeper of the Flame” (a story about a mountain family who kept a fire going for generations), then the girls recite short Scripture verses by cabin groups, and the program ends with every camper and counselor lighting a small candle. The simple beauty of this program is most memorable. Not all camp programs are loud… many of the best are actually very quiet.

Thanks for reading.

Jimboy