July 15, 2026

The days are getting noticeably shorter. This fact never ceases to surprise me this time of year. It is like the Hemingway line from The Sun Also Rises when a character is asked, How did you go bankrupt? Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly. Such is the nature of life. It accumulates, and the impact is never felt more keenly than at camp. Five weeks is a long time, at least it feels like that at first. An endless succession of days and weeks lie ahead as we luxuriate in that feeling of having all the time in the world. This feeling changes gradually and then suddenly… a perfect description of how I felt this morning.

I awoke early but rather than watching a sunrise while I drank the first cup of coffee, I watched my reflection in the dark window. Suddenly it is dark when I expected dawn. I then looked at the calendar: Banquet is one week from today, and we close a week from tomorrow. This chapter of the Greystone book is drawing to a close, and I am sad for the first time. More on that feeling later, but I mention it today because many of the campers are experiencing the same feeling.

This last week of camp is a very special time. The past two weeks have been a succession of amazing camp moments, difficult to plan and complex to implement… the hardest two weeks of the summer for many of the staff, but not all. The next week will feature one big program area after another providing an iconic EP for the entire camp. The campers who are the stars of this show are anxious and excited for this moment to arrive. It is what they have been waiting for all summer long. The counselors are more anxious and excited than the campers. This is evident in the ubiquitous notebooks open beside them, as they make checklists when not teaching. They still laugh at the jokes and engage in the conversations around them, but their minds are preoccupied with problems we will never comprehend. They feel that time is insufficient for the task. How will we ever be ready?

You and I both know that life is like this. There might actually not be enough time, and in the end it is OK. Perhaps the performance is not as perfect as you wanted it to be… but it was REALLY GOOD (you reluctantly admit to yourself afterward). Perhaps the task was not up to the standards set for you and your path in life changed as a result of that failure… but it was REALLY GOOD in the end (you joyfully admit years later). The little mountains we climb as children recur as we grow into adulthood and again when we are finally “grown-ups”. In hindsight, these are often the best (or at least the most memorable) moments of our lives. We learn from them, and, as such, they shape who we are. Camp is like life. The lessons and growth are genuinely important.

Anyhow… that is what is on my heart this morning. I must get to work on writing a farewell for the Green and Gold (the little address book we give the girls at Banquet). This is a surprisingly hard thing to do sometimes… and this year feels that way to me. There is much I would like to say, but fewer words are important in such moments. Ironically, fewer words are much harder to write than many words. I must get started and see where it goes.

Breakfast Corned Beef, Grits, Scrambled Eggs
Breakfast Club Spiritual Growth; does it matter?
Joke “Jesus is Watching”
Weather Sunny, 86 degrees, no chance of rain
Lunch Pesto Pasta
Dinner Meatloaf
EP Senior Celebration (a talent show for the oldest girls and presentation of the Queen of Love and Beauty)