Adjustment

Camp is a very unusual place. Let’s consider just a few of the ways this community might be different than home.

• The lack of technology - A typical 8-12 year old now spends an average of 6 hours a day looking at a screen. This way of connecting to the world is changing the way their brains are wired; they need a break, but it is a big difference from what they are used to.
• The Schedule - Everyone wakes up at 7:30 and goes to bed at 9:40 (who keeps that schedule at home?). Bugles and Bells signal what to do and when to do it. We eat breakfast at 8:20, lunch at 1:20, dinner at 6:15… we take an hour to just lie on our beds and rest (talking not allowed). The daily schedule is really different from home!
• The People - The community here is magnificent, but it is very intense and dense. Everyplace we go we are interacting with people. They smile and want to talk. It is wonderful, but very different from home!
• The weather - Very few places in camp are air conditioned… thus when it is hot, we are hot; when it is cold, we are cold; when it rains, we get wet. The lack of climate control is very different from home.

Thus we are all getting used to camp life and these first days are marked by this simple fact. Main Camp is marked by remarkably happy campers, but I know there are some girls who might have moments of homesickness. If you get a homesick letter you should read my blog on resilience. Bottom line, don’t worry about it! Adjusting to camp is part of the experience, a good thing for almost every person (camper and counselor alike).

The weather is once again about perfect. There is a good chance of rain showers this evening, but we don’t think it will effect our wonderful Opening Vespers EP. Traditions like this connect the campers of today with those from years past, for we run them almost exactly the same now as we did then. Campers find themselves drawn to these quiet moments in the summer when we step back and consider the beauty that surrounds us and how we are growing.

Breakfast was French Toast and sausage links (yes we use home made bread). Lunch is Philly Cheese Steak, waffle fries. Dinner is a blow out “Italian Night” with Pasta, Meatballs, Stomboli, Canoli’s… it is going to be great!