Greetings from Hilltop. We are fully into the swing of things on Orcas Island. The First Session campers have settled in, and Camp feels like home.
Before I tell the story of the first week of Camp, I feel like I should take a moment to talk about Sundays at Camp. Due to the way the calendar falls differently every year, there’s a different span of time between the first day of Camp and the first Sunday at camp every session (or more accurately, there are seven different variations). Some of the variations present us with options, and if you ever wondered about the minutiae of Camp Directors’ lives, there is a running debate amongst our leadership team about the optimal amount of time before the first Camp Sunday. In any case, this session’s calendar did not present us with lots of options. Since arrival day was two Saturdays ago, and the first full day of Camp has to be Rotation Day, the first real Camp Sunday had to be today, day 9 of the Session.
Moving on from scheduling details, I should tell you what a Four Winds Sunday looks like. We sleep in for an hour, have a nice breakfast, and then head off to a special spot in Camp to have Sunday Assembly. Today, Crow’s Nest led us in a discussion of the reasons why Camp is important to each of us at Madrona Point, one of the loveliest spots in Camp. We don’t have a religious component to our program at Four Winds, and we welcome people of all faiths and none at all, but that doesn’t mean we can’t borrow an idea from religions all over the world to take a few moments every week to gather together and reflect on greater things. After Sunday Assembly, we head back to our cabins and tents and change into work clothes, in preparation for Sunday work projects. Each cabin and tent is assigned a job around Camp to help keep us in tip top shape. Actually, it’s about much more than getting the work done. If all we cared about was getting the work done, there would be much more efficient ways. What’s important about campers having jobs at camp is that we all give and receive from this community. Campers are not passively along for the ride at Four Winds, they are integral and important community members, and so having responsibilities is important. After work projects, we have lunch and an extra long rest hour. In the afternoon, we’ll have a fun all-camp Sunday afternoon activity. Today, it will be World Cup, where the campers will play a soccer tournament for countries they invent, along with flags and national anthems for those countries. This evening, we’ll have Evening Fire, our oldest and most closely held tradition, where we’ll gather in the Lodge to share music and poetry, and where our feelings of community are strongest. All in all, it’s a day to take things more slowly, reflect, and serve. I was reminded today why they are some of my favorite days of the summer. I sat with the Gollywobbler tent, our youngest boys, for breakfast this morning. I was describing how Sundays work to them, and one of them said, “It’s like a dream day.” I couldn’t agree more.
On to a recap of the week. In my last post, I told you all about the 24th and 25th, Arrival Day and Rotation Day. Monday started Camp proper. Campers began their classes, and we had Cabin Adventure for Evening Activity. On Tuesday, Jigger, Romany Winds, and Rocky Point left on their cabin trips, and we had Sports Night for Evening Activity. Also on Tuesday, Carlyn, our 61′ yawl, left on her three week adventure to Canada with 9 campers and 4 staff aboard (more on that in a minute). Wednesday brought an opportunity to changes any classes the campers had tried once but didn’t like, known as Gypsy Switch. The campers on trips could do this after they returned at Tripsy Switch (see what we did there?). Evening Activity was Folk Dance, in which we dress up in crazy costumes and dance to well loved line dances. It’s good old fashioned fun. Thursday, our three tripping cabins returned, and had Moonraker for Evening Activity, in which we have silly songs and skits on Moonraker Point. Friday, we played Capture the Chicken, which is exactly like Capture the Flag, but with a rubber chicken, and therefore much, much better. Last night, we had Age Group Night. The only important thing about today that I haven’t already written is that our second round of trips departed today. This time, it was Moonraker, Genoa, Jib, Hillside, Caravanserai, and Shining Mountain. They will all return on the 4th of July, in time for our traditional parade to Deer Harbor.
I promised a Carlyn update. They are doing well. They haven’t been able to give us a full blog post, but they will soon, and I will post it here. What we have gotten are their daily “All is well” updates from their satellite device, along with their location. They’ve made it to Lasqueti Island on their way to Princess Louisa Inlet. They’re already a good way into an adventure of a lifetime.
It’s been a fantastic first week of Camp. As Crow’s Nest was leading us today in a discussion of why Camp was important, I heard many good reasons: That this community is so open and accepting, that relationships feel genuine here, that kids can spread their wings and try new things here, that they can have setbacks and know that it’s okay. What really stuck with me, though, is not all reasons why Camp is important, just that it is important. It’s fun, sure, but so is Six Flags. The growth and rejuvenation that is already happening here, and will continue for the next three weeks, will serve these campers, as well as our staff, throughout their lives. Thank you for sharing your children with us. Until next week, be sure to follow our daily updates on Twitter.