“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is not yet here. We only have today; so let us begin”
In fact, we have a lot of days to come, but the sentiment remains the same: make the most of the day that you are in.
Hi folks. My name is Woody, and I hope to help you navigate your way through the summer with some thoughts and reflections on each day we have here at camp in this second session. It’s hard to believe that we are in the second session already, but here we are, ready to go again.
The busses rolled in around 2.18 this afternoon – almost exactly on time – but unlike in years past, we unloaded them in a slightly different manner. Because of the covid restrictions imposed upon us this summer, and the need to be careful and considerate to everyone, each bus had a different age group on them. We intend to keep each age division separate for the first five days or so of camp before we come together as one next weekend. This will be for the benefit of everyone – staff and campers alike – and will ensure that the summer can happen as near normal as possible after the first five days. And that will be the last mention of covid from me.
The first couple of hours involved some admin tasks – health checks, sign up for activities, letter writing – before we headed for the mess hall for our opening day dinner. We are eating outside at picnic tables this year, and it’s working out really well. The weather has allowed us to do this as it has rarely rained when it is time to eat. We are hoping that same will prevail for the next week.
After dinner came the first event of second session: Capture the Flag. Ordinarily we would play this as a whole group, but the three age groups – Junior, Intermediate and Senior – went their separate ways to play their own version of this popular opener. With 65 acres and a golf course at our disposal, we are not in need of space in which to play.
We had a shower rotation around 8pm, which worked out perfectly for us to be able to gather around the flag, as a group, but with distance between us all, a little before 9. Then it was down to Sand Lake for a gather round the bonfire for some songs and jokes and introductory words. And what a beautiful evening it was for such a gathering. The North Woods and the shores of Sand Lake – as the many thousands before us will attest – is the perfect setting to sit and think and sing and share. And so it was tonight.
We blew Taps at 9.50, and as I write this, I should imagine that 80% of the camp is now asleep. And that’s what I want to do after a long, but entertaining day. We feel incredibly lucky to be able to do this, so let me assure you that all is well this Sunday evening, so safely rest.
Goodnight everybody.
As ever…WOODY!
