Thriving
Margaret and I have a daughter who really loves animals and her love translated into a new class at camp several years ago: Farm and Garden. It is a class that celebrates organic gardening, free range chickens, and pet pigs. What a great idea! The class meets at our house (a huge benefit if it happens to be raining) and this time of the year is the perfect time to “reap the benefits” of a garden. The tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and okra plants are an inspiration to girls who often have never seen where food comes from. The chickens are delightful, each one with a personality all their own… they love being picked up and will cuddle in your lap. The “teacup” pigs are spunky, smart, and LOVE to eat (no surprise). But best of all are the blueberries!
We have an entire hillside that is nothing but blueberry bushes… and each one is full of blueberries! Girls gather in the blueberry patch and wander about eating fistfulls of fruit. Their hands and lips get stained from the juice and the experience can be quite memorable. We saw two girls sitting on a bench chatting and tossing blueberries into eachother’s mouth as they laughed. A picture of childhood bliss if I ever saw it.
Camp is a place in which girls thrive. It promotes growth in every aspect of life, not least of which is physical. Good food (everything, even the bread, made from scratch), constant activity (girls “doing” active things all day long), good sleep (we are in bed at 8:30… and loving it!), and no screen time make an environment that is profoundly good for living. We are gradually adjusting to the new circumstances and with each day we reap more benefits. It is a wonderful thing to see.
The rain continues (off and on… looks like we will not have any rain this morning but a lot this afternoon). The girls enjoy playing in the rain and their enthusiasm has not yet been impacted. Most are wearing bathing suits so that if it starts to rain they can quickly put their dry clothes in their backpack and get wet without concern. After today, the pattern breaks and we should have much nicer weather for the weekend.
With the weather in mind it is likely we will have our Counselor Talent Show this evening. This was originally scheduled for Friday but it looks like Friday will be a better day for the “wild” Team Fires (which takes place outside). These adjustments are welcomed by the staff, who seem to do best when put under pressure! Their acts will be quickly honed this afternoon and the campers will love every silly minute of it.
Of note:
- Breakfast: Pancakes, Sausage Links
- Lunch: Cheeseburgers, French Fries
- Dinner: Poppy Seed Chicken, Rice, Garlic Roasted Broccoli
Thanks for reading the blog. I am a bit surprised at how many of you check in every day. It is a great encouragement! We are very happy with the way the session is going and are so glad to be with your girls. They are delightful in every way!
