Long Summer Days
July 12, 2018 by Don Gentle
Life at camp started pretty early this morning. A group of climbers was heading out for a two-day adventure at about 7 am today. As I made my way to the dining hall for our daily “meeting of the minds” there was a flurry of excitement. Several trips were getting a jump on the day to head out and get to it. I love that summer offers us such long days. Our climbers will be back tomorrow night, but we welcomed back our three-day hikers and a two-day that returned this afternoon. Our paddlers came back from a wonderful trip on the Green River. There are some great shots from that trip today. We also had another mountain biking trip head over to DuPont again today.
If you have not seen your son in pictures he may be on a lot of trips. While we do try to get cameras out on trips, it is not always the easiest. The paddlers are probably the best. One thing you can do is to encourage your son to get in front of the camera. Our photographer works hard, but she can’t be everywhere at once. ON a side note, please be sure to keep writing letters to the boys. It is so cool to watch them eagerly checking the mailbox for letters. They really like it.
Tomorrow is the already last day for our Mini I boys. What a fantastic group of campers! Tomorrow afternoon we will start the transition process for them. They will still enjoy a lot of time with the rest of camp, but we will set out on our own final campfire for them tomorrow night.
Our evening program varied by age group once again. The youngest age group headed out for “chill night.” The remaining boys cooled off on the lake with the water slide and rope swing, played some dodgeball in the gym, or some group games on the field. We wrapped up the day with a little snack on the lawn as the sun started to move behind the trees.
As they headed back to their cabin, I enjoyed hearing the different conversations. Some were meaningful, others were just the plain old “joke and poke” as many boys do when they move from place to place in a group. Surprisingly, I find that to be my barometer of how they are doing. That simple gesture of pointless jokes, laughter, and sparing; it typically means they are doing well. They’re a funny bunch.
Don Gentle