‘If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.’ Einstein.

And of course fish cannot climb trees, but if we expect them to do something that they cannot, then we will think less of them. So why can’t we applaud them for things that they can do well, like swimming perhaps; or staying submerged under water for a long time. Those are things they can do well, so those are the things that we should applaud them for. Fish are not – necessarily – stupid: they are, however, just different from us. Doesn’t the same apply to human beings too? Perhaps we should play to our strengths and not try and do things to which we are ill-suited. Or, if we do try new things, if we do try and climb trees, then we should not be thought of as stupid if we do and we fail. That will not happen at this camp!

Hi folks. My name is Woody and I will be writing The Word this summer. The Word is the camp blog that aims to keep you up to date with what goes on here everyday. I will not mention names, but I will try and bring to life, through my words, the experiences that your boys are having this summer during the second session of camp.

Camp is the collection of people that are here this summer. Camp is not really the buildings or the courts and fields: camp is not really Jason, but camp is all of us, the staff and the boys. And what a great group we have this summer. The first session was good, but this session looks set to be even better. It all started at around 2.40 this afternoon when the buses rolled in from the north shore of Chicago. We already had a large group left here from parents’ weekend, and plenty more boys were about to join the fray. Wasserman Hall was packed as we welcomed everyone and read out the cabins and took the official photos. I haven’t seen the old place as packed as that in a long time.

For dinner we had to get extra tables in the mess hall to accommodate everyone! But we got everyone in, and while dinner might have taken a little longer to complete, it was worth the extra time just to see so many people enjoying the ‘best mess hall in the North woods’.

We got the boys out playing after dinner with some traditional Capture the Flag in the gully, officiated and run by our huge group of CITs this summer. Counsellors in training, or campers in transition? You decide.

The evening finished as the first session did with a fire down at Sand Lake. I don’t know if there could have a been a more perfect setting for the fire. A beautiful, still evening, with no cloud cover and the temperatures cooling off just nicely to make for perfect sleeping conditions.

As I look around me at both the great group of boys we have and the beautiful surroundings that make up Camp Menominee, I know that I am one of the luckiest people alive tonight. Is there a better way to spend the summer? I am amongst friends, both young and old; I am amongst family; I get to enjoy the great outdoors and I know that I am not going to be judged by my ability to climb trees or not.

This means that all is well on our first night, so safely rest.

Goodnight everybody.

As ever…WOODY!

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