Tonight is a laid back night.
It is fishing night.
The typical camp day is packed with action and activity. We love to celebrate our community and often do so in high energy ways. [Note: we have a video team here working on a video for our 50th summer. The owner of the company has visited hundreds of camps. He and his team attended our torchlight ceremony last night. Afterwards, he approached me with wide eyed and a wide grin, “I have never seen anything like that at any camp! The energy is infectious. Wow!” That made my day!
But we also realize that every day needs its quiet and simple moments. After dinner, I watched 20 girls playing “Little Sally Walker” (a simple skipping-and-singing game). Other campers were lazily tossing a frisbee. Others simply sat on the grass and chatted.
They then went to the lake to fish. The breeze is lovely and coming over the lake. The campers sit on the dock with a line in the water and chat. Typically, we catch around 50 fish, but that is not the goal. The key to fishing night is simply being together without any place to be or thing to do. This placid scene is punctuated with the occasional squeal of a camper pulling up a perch or bass.
When we live in a culture that is incredibly wired and time-focused, it is a true joy to simply be together away from the electronic umbilical cord.
A camp friend sent me this article from two days ago: http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2016/06/07/phone-sick-at-camp/
I was horrified by the story of the college student texting her mom to ask if she liked ranch dressing. Happily, because of camp, your children will not be like that when they go to college.
I hope you are allowing yourself some simple and unplugged moments. You deserve them too!
Steve Sir
