Camp Camelot

Have you ever seen the musical Camelot? It is a wonderful story, based on the King Arthur legend… and your children have not seen it!

I know this for I asked them that question at Breakfast Club. The reason: things just seem to be so perfect at Greystone and we should be thankful for that fact.

The example of perfection most recently enjoyed by our community was the rain showers that hit camp over the past 12 hours. About 1 inch of rain fell last night… the first big shower arrived about 10 minutes after we started the EP (lip synchs for the bungalows and cabins). It rained HARD for about an hour, then stopped in time for us to walk back to our cabins and get ready for bed. The showers arrived again after everyone was asleep… a long and steady rain that would have sounded wonderful in the cabins. All of our cabins have tin roofs and if you have ever slept in a tin roofed cabin during a rain shower you know that this is a heavenly experience. At 7:30, just as the reveille bugle blew, the rain stopped and the fog lifted. As I write this (10:15) the sun is out and the girls are enjoying a perfect summer day. Tell me if this is not just like the words of the title track of the 1960 Richard Burton movie:

The rain may never fall till after sundown.
By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
In short, there’s simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot!

Are the Greystone Groupies seeing the world through rose colored glasses?

I don’t think so. I think the rest of the world is guilty of not appreciating the little gifts of Grace the God blesses us with all the time. Take away the distractions and focus on what is directly in front of you and see if any situation doesn’t look more rosy. Our problems at camp are simple ones (is it going to rain today???) but the principle is the same. Camp is a place of life lessons, we hope that we are instilling a sense of contentment and gratitude in these girls. Rain or shine, we will be certain to enjoy the journey.

Breakfast: Pancakes and sausage links (yes… the classic pig in a blanket). I took some photos of the fruit bar for proof of extravagance… these photos were taken near the end of the meal, note how full everything still is. The cantaloupe is the best thing on the bar right now… perfectly ripe and sweet. I also think that the Greek Yogurt and Granola deserves a shout out. Hayes, the counselor so proudly showing her bowl masterpiece, had gotten a bowl of yogurt with berries and topped it with granola. It would be a $20 breakfast item in New York, and the most popular item on the menu. Many campers will gradually become foodies while at camp… it is hard not to be inspired by our kitchen.

Breakfast Club finished the first of our four “themes”: Social Growth. “Be Unselfish in your friendships.” We tend to selfishly seek out friends that make us feel better about ourselves, who make us look better to others. We encourage the girls to be unselfish in their friendships… seeking out new friends from those who appear to not have anything to “give”. Be a friend to the friendless, the loner, the quiet girl. It is a wonderful aspect of camp life.

Skiing started today, girls who sign up for skiing enjoy an entire day on Lake Keowee (a beautiful big lake in South Carolina). They ride a bus to the ski facility (located within the gates of Keowee Vineyards). This multi-million dollar development purchased the land that surrounds our marina, thus we now are in a very exclusive neighborhood! They ski, swim. eat pizza, stop off for ice cream, and are back at camp in time for supper. Good Times.

We also started overnights last night (Cabins 10-12). The girls walk up to our mountaintop meadow before supper, getting their camp site established and eating a picnic dinner (dessert of banana boats, really tasty). They then walk back to camp for EP (nobody wants to miss EP), then walk back up the hill for their campfire and s’mores before sleeping under the stars. Last night’s rain cut the overnight to more of a late night out (the rain at EP got some of the sleeping bags wet and we knew rain was in the forecast). They enjoyed everything but the sleeping (went back to their cabins around 11:30 PM).

Lunch: Philly Cheese Steak and fries. I LOVE THIS MEAL… the rib eye is sliced thin and pan fried with onions and peppers then smothered with Monterey Jack cheese. It is shockingly good.

Dinner: Chicken Casa Dilla, queso, bean salsa and Oreo Cream Pie for dessert. Oreo cream pie is the hands down favorite of the campers. Heavy cream, sugar, oreo’s… simplicity itself. We will give you the recipe, worth doing it for special child occasions.

EP tonight is Opening Vespers. A quiet EP that is heart fillingly beautiful. The girls silently enter the pavilion in their whites. We sit by cabin groups and sing slow songs as the group gathers, then my mother tells the story of “The Keeper of the Flame” (a true story of love represented by a fire kept for generations). Each cabin has memorized a short verse on light that they will then stand and recite for the camp, we then light candles… every person in camp has a candle and as the light spreads the sight is quite simply breath taking.

The girls will be surprised to find themselves loving this EP. It is a wonderful tradition we have always done it and it always has an impact. It is nice that the girls appreciate moments of quiet as well as moments of crazy fun.

Thanks for sharing your girls, they are wonderful.

Jimboy

PS The Joke: THROWBACK THURSDAY is when we do oldies… this one from my Dad was suitable to the rain last night.
It was a dark and stormy night and a young woman was walking home from her job as a waitress. She heard a thump thump noise behind her, so she picked up the pace. The thumping picked up pace at the same time so she glanced over her shoulder only to see a HUGE BLACK CASKET! It was moving toward her with big thumping hops!!! She ran for her apartment building door and locked it behind her as she ran up the stairs. The door crashed in and the coffin continued the chase. She got to her room and locked the door behind her, but the coffin broke through! She ran for the bathroom and picked up the only weapon she could find: a bottle of cough syrup and hurled it at the casket… and the coffin stopped.