Life is Good

June 9, 2015 by Dan Noland

Today’s Pictures

While not the first full day of camp, today has still provided a host of initial experiences for this session, and they began early!

We had our first breakfast that included cinnamon toast. It’s amazing to see how fast a camper can get the piece of yumminess on his plate, weave through a bustling Dining Hall, plop himself down at his table, polish the whole thing off…and repeat, all the while carrying on several conversations.

Horseback riders were already trotting, some for the first time in their lives. To see the looks on the faces of guys who two days ago might have been apprehensive about the big animals, who yesterday realized that they can control them and then get up in two-point position and accelerate is almost as rewarding as it was for the horsemen.

The hikers stretched their legs on the extended version of The Lake Loop, and part of their hike was learning how to identify poison ivy (and not touch it). I talked with several guys at lunch who were quite animated in sharing their new-found knowledge.

The day stayed sunny and got warm, which meant that the lake was very popular. A refreshing wind arose in the afternoon, and we had our first sailboat capsize, which was a perfect opportunity to practice the sailing lesson for today: how to right a boat that has gone over. You couldn’t ask for better timing.

Just a bit later at the northeast end of the lake, the first large-mouth bass took the bait, was brought wriggling out the water by a beaming boy, and then got released, which is what we do with (almost) all of the fish in our lake.

Tonight we sent the first four cabin groups out of camp to shelters in our woods, where they will build fires, cook pita pizzas, eat s’mores (of course), get sticky and be able to sleep to the sounds of distant thunder, frogs and the occasional whippoorwill.

The first letters of the season are probably heading home.  These are always treasured moments.  At times some of the parents have shared their letters with us.  One of my favorites was a camp family who has attended for years and has almost never received a letter home.  Last summer she received a letter…it was blank.  I wish you better luck than her.  If you find you are not receiving mail.  Be sure to ask for a letter when you write to your son.  Remind him that there is plenty of time during rest hour to write :).

It feels so good to have camp back to its busy, noisy, funny, and fun self. Thank you for sharing your sons with us.

Good night.

Dan