Greetings from Hilltop. We’re in full swing up here on Orcas Island, and the kids are having a fantastic time. I was sitting today at Sunday Assembly, listening to the kids talk, and thinking how great it is that Four Winds is a four week camp. We have Sunday Assembly every Sunday. While we don’t have any religious component to our program at Four Winds, we’re certainly not above borrowing the good idea from religious traditions all over the world to have one day a week that has a slower pace and more opportunity for reflection and community. At Sunday Assembly each week, we sing some songs, and a cabin or tent leads us in a discussion of a topic relevant to the camp experience. Today, Crow’s Nest led us in a discussion of courage. Each girl shared her thoughts to the whole of Camp on what the topic meant to her, and then all campers had an opportunity to get up and share their own thoughts. Camper after camper stood up and shared about a time they overcame their fears, or about the thing that requires particular courage for them. After just one week here, kids where standing up and speaking publicly to a group of 250 people about a topic than can be quite vulnerable, knowing that they wouldn’t be teased later about having done it. This being my 14th summer at Four Winds, I’ve seen similar things many times, but it always strikes me as remarkable.
At a one week camp, the more typical experience that kids get, they would have gone home on Friday. Even at a two week camp, we’d have one eye towards winding down. Here, they’ve had a week to get settled, figure things out, and form relationships with staff and other campers. They’re just past the early stages of newness, and now we have nearly three weeks with them for real magic to happen.
I know that the four week sessions are a sacrifice for families in time, money, and psychological energy. Please be reassured that those sacrifices have real benefits, and thank you for being willing to make them.
Those of you who have been reading my Sunday blog posts for years know that I have a tendency to get up on my soapbox a little bit and extoll what’s good about this place, so thank you for being willing to read this far. I know you also care about the news of the week, what your kids have been up to, so I’ll dive right in that. As I indicated on my first night’s blog post, last Sunday we had Rotation Day. Rotation Day is so named because the campers rotate in groups through different stations, but it’s probably best understood as an Orientation Day. We wake up and have breakfast as normal, but we spend the first hour or two of the morning learning about the classes that are offered at Camp in our five activity areas (The Dock, The Barn, Land Sports, The Garden, and The Craft Courts), and then filling out forms to select the second half of the campers’ activity schedules, the first half being created from the forms you filled out in the spring. When that’s done, Danielle and I head up to the office with the activity areas heads to complete schedules for all the campers, and everyone else begins the second rotation of the day, completing orientation tasks like taking the swim test, visiting the nurse, exchanging uniforms that didn’t fit, having cabin photos made, and visiting Mariah in the office to learn about mail, packages, and the like. In between those tasks, there are games, activities, learning songs, and getting a tour of camp. That takes the rest of the day, and then for Evening Activity we had Biffer Medic, an elaborate game in which campers attempt to match fun facts about the staff to the staff members who are sitting around the Sports Field, while being pursued by Biffers (counselors armed with a sock with some flour in it) and being rescued by Medics (counselors dressed in crazy costumes who can unfreeze campers by giving them silly tasks). It’s a great way to end the first full day, and we ended as we end every evening at Four Winds, with singing, ending with our good night songs. On Monday, we began classes, and had Cabin Adventure for Evening Activity, in which each cabin or tent has their own unique activity. Tuesday brought Sports Night, with options for kickball, dodgeball, and ultimate frisbee. Wednesday was a camp favorite, Folk Dance, in which we dress up in crazy costumes and dance to well loved line dances. Thursday was Moonraker, where we have silly songs and skits on Moonraker Point. Friday was Capture the Chicken, which is exactly like Capture the Flag, but with a rubber chicken, also a huge camp favorite. Last night was Age Group Night, which is sort of like Cabin Adventure but with larger groups. Tonight will be Evening Fire, probably our oldest and most venerable tradition. We’ll gather in the Lodge, share music, poetry, and boons (thankful notes to each other that are read aloud to the whole group). Evening Fire is often the time when we have our greatest feelings of community, and I can’t wait.
It’s been a wonderful first week, and there is so much more to come. Thank you for sharing your children with us. Until next week, be sure to follow our daily updates on Twitter.