The Surprise of Silence
Girls LOVE pets.
At Greystone, we have known this for generations. Look at the old photos of camp in the 1920s and you will come across candid shots of girls with kittens, dogs, horses, ducks, and rabbits. This is in a time that did not “waste” film on candid shots… my theory is that the moment was just too cute to skips for someone “telling the story of camp”. This is why we took so many pictures of Farm Barn yesterday, the photographers just loved seeing the girls with the animals and the girls wanted to get a picture to have when they go home.
Good photographers are storytellers. That is what Jared Wickerham told me on July the first, the morning after he arrived the prior evening. He had only been in camp for a couple of hours that first night and had uploaded his work for our feedback. We were blown away. He was SO VERY GOOD. His pictures made me laugh and made me tear up. He had captured the moments that we had just enjoyed and the impact was pure delight. THIS is art. THIS is why we take photographs.
Jared loved camp from the minute he arrived and that appreciation showed in the pictures he took. Our counselors are very good photographers but when a professional dedicates him/herself to telling the story of a day at camp, the resulting photos are so good you want to keep them for the rest of your life.
This is why we spend SO MUCH MONEY on wedding photos (at least we used to). I would advise any of you future fathers-of-the-bride to open the wallet wide for the photographer of your daughter’s wedding. Get a professional who is capable of telling a story with photographs. Who composes the frame with careful attention, has the focus and depth of field exactly as he/she wants, is technically perfect, and artistically gifted. The resulting photos should be printed by the best labs on the best paper for the purpose. It will cost an arm and a leg… and the story of that moment will be captured.
TLDR alert… this blog is not about photography. You will be able to see Jared’s photos at the end of Main Camp (we will post them on closing day or perhaps the day afterward in an attempt to keep them “fresh” for updating the website and our brochure in the fall). Pays to be a fanatic…
This blog is actually about quiet reflection.
All week I have suggested ways of that parts of this camp experience relate to the “real world”. It is our hope that some of you will incorporate Quality Time, Weather, Fun, and Four-Fold Growth into your lives at home. I do this not to “preach” but to say that at camp we have found that these things add up to good living. They make your days zestier and might even encourage you to smile more than normal.
These ruminations also are helpful to me as I try to make sense of what is going on at camp. Greystone is very successful but frankly, we don’t know exactly why. It is too complex. A combination of things that happen every summer, many of which are moments experienced when great people get together in a great place. Perhaps it is no more complex than that… are we overthinking it?
We survey the campers, counselors, and parents in an attempt to “crack the code”, but at the end of the day it is still guesswork. These blogs help me process this glorious experience while it is happening… perhaps one day I will understand. Perhaps one day I will be able to explain to a visitor the specific reasons why girls love Greystone with such a passion. It difficult subject to understand (our Head Staff team has over 200 years of camp experience and we debate the subject without end and without resolution) so don’t expect an answer; just thoughts.
My thought today is the benefits of quiet reflection in a well-rounded life. This year we are working quiet reflection into our Morning Assembly. Every Friday, rather than hearing a devotion, we gather on the pagent court with pen and paper and reflect on whatever comes to mind. Some girls doodle, some write letters, some read, and some write pages and pages. ALL are quiet. The time is precious for it is so unusual for us to be in that place at that time and not hear anything but soft music playing in the background. Our minds welcome the break and go to important places.
SO… consider adding Quiet Time to your list of things that you can do at home and your family appreciate. It is counterintuitive, but it is true. Quiet is an underappreciated experience that we have grown to love this summer.
Tonight will be a quiet EP, Council Fire. The girls are primed to embrace the moment. It will be lovely.
- Breakfast: Breakfast Casserole
- Lunch: Roast Beef Sandwiches
- Dinner: Nice Italian Meal (Stromboli, Ravioli, Salad, Canolli)
- Weather: Warm (85), a chance of afternoon showers (as always).