Life is An Adjustment

A good friend used to say that “Life is just a bunch of adjustments”. His name was H.M. Barfield (Lell Harboe’s father who spent many summers helping out at camp in the “good old days”) and he was a very wise man who never hesitated to share his life widsom if asked.

As H.M. grew old and his body gradually failed, he kept his upbeat and positive attitude about life. He shared this little bit of wisdom as he recounted the events of a year which included the need for twice a week dialysis due to kidney failure. He accepted this new hardship with a grace and good humor that inspired all who knew him… the basis of his attitude was an enthusiastic acceptance of life, no matter what the circumstances.

Circumstances change (sometimes drastically) constantly. We either accept the changes gratefully or we complain. Those who adapt to change with a smile are considered resilient: equipped to positively engage in society and live with contentment… this is what we teach at camp. This is one of the best places ANYWHERE to build resilience. It is a foundation of any good camp experience.

I bring it up because of the dreaded homesick letters that some of you (perhaps many of you) will get in the next few days. If you want to check out my take on the homesick theme, read this blog on Resilience from last year. It fleshes out what homesickness looks like at camp and explains how we determine what course of action to follow when we see it. The blog is pretty good and I am tempted to just copy it into this update, but I have other things to say and many of you would find such an update redundant. So I move on let you know about our day!

The half moon last night was spectacular and the girls enjoyed it in great numbers after our Cabin Lip Synch EP. They ran around the pagent court catching fireflies, played on the see saws, rolling down the hill with squeels of delight, playing tether ball, playing Jimball, playing Skee ball, and sitting on the canoe docks to watch the stars come out. Many went straight back to their cabins to enjoy cabin Dance Parties or start getting ready for bed early so that they could have more time for cabin devotions. Bottom line… it was beautiful and showed a well adjusted camp community. I couldn’t be more pleased.

Breakfast Club for the past two days focused on Social Growth. We encouraged the girls to smile a lot (a smile by itself is a wonderful way of making friends… it leads to good things) and to be unselfish (talk about the other person… what they are enjoying, where they are from, where they are going). In this way we make new friends at unexpected moments throughout the day… we will do this every day of camp… a simple thing but a great way to develop a happy community! The joke today was “A grazing Mace how sweet the Hound that saved a Wrench for me” (a joke David Vining used to tell, ask your girls later… I bet they remember it!).

The Food Today:

BREAKFAST: scrambled eggs,sausage, and all the normal stuff (cereal, oatmaal, fruit bar, Berries, Greek yogurt, smoothies, homemade granola).

LUNCH: BLT’s, french fries, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and Salad Bar (which is amazing… featuring humus, teriyaki tofu, babaganoush, chopped fresh veggies, kale, spinach, lettuce).

DINNER: Poppyseed Chicken (one of our famous dishes) and the big salad bar.

EP is our Bungalow and Cabin Lip Synch… so much fun.

Thank you for checking in. We are grateful!