I know the four-week parents have heard this a bit, but I love the mornings here at High Rocks! The cool air in the 60s (63 to be exact) each morning is what does it the most. I must be honest the calm and quiet that is the morning might be a little why I like it too. In the past, most days I would make a cup of coffee and take a brief moment with my dog, Barley, on the deck. We would enjoy the peace while I tried not to busy my mind with too much about camp, but rather the moment. Biscuit changed that a couple of years ago. She is doing better than the first couple of summers, but she still doesn’t really appreciate the calm. Anyhow, I do still love the moments, but it is just a little different than it has been.
Once I do get her fed, I usually hit a few emails and then get ready for my morning meeting. We have an early morning meeting with a small team most mornings around 7:30 am up in a corner of the dining hall. Once I get up there, I like to stop in to see the kitchen crew to check out if there may be anything lovely that might be ready. Today was scratch-made biscuits. I love a warm biscuit with my coffee. If I can find the strawberry jam, even better! I typically meet back up with Zoob at this point. I head off to the coffee pot for just a touch more and then settle in for a quick overview of the day. We talk about campers, staff, daily events, office tasks, and plans on the horizon ( like July 4th this morning). We do it all for those wonderful young men who are not even awake yet.
Suddenly, the bell rings mid-meeting, and a few campers and staff that were leaving early on a paddling trip run over to the bell and help scream out “Good Morning High Rocks” to the awake masses. Calmness then turns into excitement, and even a little chaos as a new day begins at High Rocks, and boy is it going to be amazing!
It really was a great day! The Waikiki shirts spread their little bit of joy across camp as the boys were super excited about their activities. The sun was out all day, the breeze even made the hottest part of the day delightful.
Along with our first paddling trip of the session, the first group of boys headed over to the High Ropes course for the morning. Each cabin will get to do this one full morning during the session. I met up with the Pinnacle boys as they were prepping for the event. Several of them mentioned it would be their last High Ropes at High Rocks. You see, these boys are the oldest boys in camp. Most of them have been here for seven years. Now in their last camper as part of the Summit Leadership Program, these boys talked about all their previous High Ropes moments. It was a bittersweet reality for these guys, many of whom have done it every year.
Age Group 1 (Hillside and Connestee): Hillside out on their cabin overnight. Connestee at the tennis courts.
Age Group II (Foxhollow and Lakeside): Lakside out on their cabin overnights, Foxhollow on the Soccer Field.
Age Group III (Chalet and Windswept): Both cabins out on their cabin overnights.
Age Group IV (Flattop and Overlook): Games on the activity field.
Age Group V (Outpost and Sprucepine): Dodgeball in the gym.
Age Group VI (Pinnacle, Lookout, and Halfway): Canoe Fill-Ups.
And to think it is only the third day of camp… I am so excited about tomorrow!
Don
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