Friday

Sleep Late Friday… this beloved tradition took on added weight today, as we took the opportunity to run “The Great Day 5K” race at reveille. Twenty-eight girls from the cross country class met at the track for an official timed 5K race around camp. The course takes them from the track, behind the track, beside the lake, up the side of Apple Hill, by Jimboy’s house, through the cabin road, to the barn, around the river pasture, then back to the track. It is a pretty tough race but every girl ran the entire way. Anna Marian Block won the race (she is very fast… shockingly talented runner) with a time of 22 minutes 16 seconds. Amazing.

Today will be another regular day of classes but what will be most evident are the preparations for tonight’s Production Night. Every class that has a public production element of their activity will have their moment on the stage to show off what they have prepared for the night. It is an evening of song, dance, drama, and skits. About half of camp will be participating in one way or another, a constant stream of performers moving back and forth from the pit to the stage. Their practicing will be evident around camp throughout the day and when the night is over we will transition to the final stage of the camp experience.

Camp has a very obvious beginning stage that takes about a week to ten days, Challenge Day marks the end of this adjustment period of the summer. Next comes the middle… that glorious two wee period from Challenge Day to Watersports Day (which is tomorrow). Finally comes the big finish… an emotional time of deep conversations, frantic activity, and quality performances. The crowning moments as a group will be at the closing vespers on Tuesday and Banquet on Wednesday.

Everyone feels these transition points and we all respond in our own way. Older girls are writing “Plane Letters” to their friends and counselors. Younger girls have upped their energy level, we watch them carefully to avoid accidents as they run full tilt with exuberance that lead to bumps and bruises. The counselors are tired in a way that is deeply satisfying, relishing the vanishing moments of camp with a sense of nostalgia and anticipation.

We have been immersed in a community that is very different from the world. Obviously, the demographics of this community are not like other places (500 campers, 200 counselors, and a few old timers like me lead to an average age of about 16), and the lifestyle is not like other places (everyone wakes up at 7:30 and goes to bed by 10:00… eating every meal together and doing stuff together during every minute of the day). If that was all, it would be difficult to transition to the real world- but there is more to it than that. At camp we call it “The Bubble” and at this point in camp we are fully encased in it.

“The Bubble” forms gradually. We gradually become consumed with each other, delighting in face to face talks and silly things like rolling down the pagent court lawn. We play in the rain, we run in the sun, we nap, and we sit in rocking chairs. We stare into a thick canopy of tree branches as we rock gently back and forth in a hammock (often bumping into the camper in the next eno). We cheer when Laura announces “keep your plate for dessert” and we dance with abandon when “Cover to Cover” is played at morning assembly.

The Bubble gradually becomes the best part of camp. We love it and we wish it could last for a longer time but bubbles never last. By their very nature, they end abruptly leaving only a beautiful memory.

We hope that your girls are loving life in the bubble. We also hope that your girls have grown in ways that will make them happier, more confident, more effective, more grounded when they return to the real world. They are sad to leave, but also excited to get back to reality and shine. We hope each one of our campers will shine because of the growth they experienced at camp.

We devoured chocolate chip scones for breakfast, are anticipating parmesan chicken for lunch, and pizza for dinner. Joy.