Finishing Well
Our fourth week in this beautiful place with these beautiful girls started in the same way it has every other Monday this summer (reveille, flag raising, new tables in Dining Hall, and regular class schedule). The campers were led in their morning assembly by the Honor Council girls and their Senior companions. The air feels muggy but still has a coolness during the morning hours when most of our classes take place (it will not approach the high temperature of 85 degrees until mid-afternoon). The air is hazy today due to the high-altitude smoke that has made it to North Carolina from our Canadian neighbors, but we expect that smoke to be gone by tomorrow. There is almost no chance of rain.
It is mid-July, and it feels like it. To one who has spent a lifetime in this work, it feels like the beginning of the end of the summer. I see a yellow leaf with tinges of brown around the edges fall from the Poplar tree on the pagent court, and my heart feels wistful. The campers will be leaving soon… enjoy camp while they are still around (when they go, camp is not nearly as special a place). This will be a week to celebrate the talents of our community, and I can’t wait!
This is happening in our classes (girls are passing levels and striving to meet goals with a passion this week… next week is far less “activity” focused). It is happening in the dining hall, which has assumed a new level of intensity (despite changing tables, the girls quickly make new friends and connected in ways that led to loud conversations during a meal that is usually much more quiet). Our EPs have entered a “no surprises” stage of the summer… all but one EP is known ahead of time (the only surprise EP will be tomorrow). Each one is special because of the people who are putting it on. Tonight’s Counselor Talent Show will be a boisterous celebration of silly skits and occasional skills that are delightful because of the personalities of those who are on stage. And this week will feature moments of spiritual poignancy that are deeply felt. It might be a special morning assembly talk, a favorite praise song, or quiet cabin devotion… at some point this week, it is likely we will be moved to tears.
The end approaches so we appreciate the present. It is a valuable life lesson learned at a young age. We hope every girl learns to celebrate the gift that is given to each of them… a gift that is given to them for their entire lives… the gift of another Great Day.
Rewards are now being enjoyed by those who won various contests earlier in the summer. Tentalow Upper 10 won the cake decorating contest, so they ate a special “cake breakfast” at the head table this morning (served by the head staff, and their every wish was granted instantly with a smile). Tentalow Lower 3 ate dinner at our local Waffle House yesterday evening, ordering ANYTHING they wanted from the menu! It was a wonderful prize given from a raffle at the Waffle House EP last week and was such a lot of fun for the girls (and so very reasonably priced for me!). All this week we will pay our debts for prizes rightfully won earlier in the summer. We do something every day, making every award a spotlight moment for those girls and a fun moment for the entire camp.
Thank you for checking in.
- Breakfast Truck Drivers Special (biscuits, gravy)
- Breakfast Club Body Image
- Joke “It’s A Puppy!”
- Weather Muggy 85 degrees, hazy, no chance of rain
- Lunch Chicken Filet Sandwiches, key lime pie
- Dinner Noodle Pie
- Moonphase New Moon (no moon visible tonight)
- EP Counselor Talent Show