Main Camp Begins

David Vining begins his day of coaching on the tennis courts by singing “Oh What A Beautiful Morning”… some of you remember that haunting sound to this day (his voice is not the greatest). Loudly singing, even though the voice is not up to the demands of the song, makes us all more confident. If David is willing to put himself out there, surely I can “risk” doing ___. It is precious to see what happens when we STOP worrying about what others are thinking and simply be ourselves.

Camp is a place of love. We accept each other without conditions, celebrating the unique abilities and qwerks of a large community bonded together for a month of camp fun. At this point in the session, we are just beginning the voyage and all of us feel a little uneasy. It takes a few days to adjust to the new setting… and this is true for all of the campers who arrived today.

No matter how many years a girl has come to camp (and some of these girls have been coming for a VERY long time), the first days can be hard. Our memories of the previous summer, our previous cabin, our previous feelings are in the front of our mind. We want to “Feel the same” as last year (they are remembering the way they felt after they settled in).

I know all this… but honestly, I don’t see ANY sad faces! It looks like heaven out there… lots of big smiles, lots of hugs, hand holding, skipping, and running. They are making themselves comfortable, for they have learned the secret of success at camp. Live moment to moment, noticing the good that surrounds, and focus on others not yourself. Simple life skills that work beautifully at camp.

Points of interest… we scheduled all campers by 12:30! The new system included about 25 upload stations in two locations. If a line formed at one spot, we sent a group to the other location… there was never more than a 5 minute wait. Despite technical issues (when are there not techinical issues), it really was a breeze. ALSO… the salad bar works great as a buffet line. We served the entire camp a buffet lunch in 20 minutes! It went so quickly, the crew had cleaned up four of the six lines and nobody was waiting for food at 12:30. Amazing! The old system took twice as long!

Looks like we will enjoy another hot day at camp, a high pressure system that has blessed us with beautiful weather for the last 10 days. While the temperatures are a bit higher than normal, it really works well in this setting (about the time the temperature rises to the upper 80’s, a thunderstorm arrives and cools us off). The “weather dog” says that this pattern will break on Friday when temperatures drop about 10 degrees and stay down for as far as the forecast goes. Not a bad place to be!

Thank you for your support and friendship. Margaret, Katie, and I LOVED seeing you on the Dining Room porch. So many wonderful friendships that span so many wonderful years. We have been given a place of honor in your family life (sometimes for generations) and such trust and love is deeply touching. We will do our very best to make this summer amazing… I am confident that it will be our Best Summer Ever!