Yesterday afternoon the camp went to a place called Trout Pond for a landmark day of swimming, lying on the beach, and a big cookout. Camp has been going back to Trout Pond for as long as I can remember – I spent a couple of memorable days there as a counselor, getting buried in the sand by my campers, playing volleyball, etc. This time, I decided to stay back and run some errands in Winchester (including picking up more needles for Knitties), and when I got back, I had the whole camp to myself. I started to think about Cropsy, the camp monster.
The full moon was just rising and I was sitting on the porch writing and trying not to think about Cropsy when the buses came rolling into camp. The campers were all singing really loudly and they came pouring out of the buses. The tent girls had their radio playing and started dancing around in a circle with counselors Sami and Miranda the younger kids headed straight for their cabins for bed. Everyone seemed so relaxed and wound up at the same time; some of the people from the two separate buses were hugging each other as if they hadn’t just spent the whole day together, and the counselors I asked said it had been a really great day. And then it was striking how quickly everyone went from jumping around and socializing to suddenly moving off to their tents. Most everyone must have conked out, because within about twenty minutes the camp was mostly silent and most lights were out and I was standing on the porch without anything to do. I talked Kim, who looks after Riley and Mason, into a game of Pass the Pigs, and then reluctantly went off to bed.
Prompted by the temporary emptiness of the camp, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the camp TT critters. There is Sushi, the tiny dog, and Gabby, the big dog. There are robins who come out and roll in the dirt of the baseball diamond when there are no kids around. There is a skunk who lives under the shed at the top of the hill but has yet to show himself. There are deer. Last night, before the campers got back, I came across a doe and her baby grazing in the field above the pool – the mama stamped her foot at me and then they ran away. Counselor Nicole said she, too, woke up to see a couple of deer by her tent last night. I have a big exotic bug in my cabin who crawled up onto my nightstand this morning and just sat and looked at me while I was cleaning my room, though generally my cabin has been bug free! Of course, there are the tons of fireflies that come out at dusk and float everywhere.
I don’t have a lot of announcements except that there is a new kind of announcement in which the girls follow everything their counselors announce with the word “Ladies” and the guys, in response, say the word “Men.” It was announced that Evan Cook knows an awesome game called “the pen game” and is willing to give lessons. Counselor brothers Jason and Adam Gershowitz pulled their pants up high for their announcements but I did not understand what they said .
There is talk bubbling of this Saturday’s activity – Presidential Election Day. I wonder if you find this as mysterious as I do. We are wondering what activities such a day might include, but the organizers are keeping it under wraps. If you’d like to throw out any theories, let me know.
J