August 31, 2011
Another camp summer in the books. Camp Nonesuch's 32nd and my 19th! I want to thank all the campers for their enthusiastic participation this summer! We really did have a great time didn't we? I also want to thank the staff. What a spectacular group of people they are! Creative, fun, and a little crazy - well, sometimes a lot crazy - but all because we want to have fun, to learn, to teach and provide our campers with a spectacular experience!
This was one of the first times I really wasn't sad to see camp end! Not because I wanted it to end, no, I wish we could go on for as long as possible. Instead because I've come to realize that the months between the camp season are just an opportunity for us to reflect and remember the wonderful times that we had at Camp Nonesuch! Without the break, there'd be no anticipation for another season. No excitement to see what new activities are going to be offered! No surprise to see how much everyone was grown and learned during the school year! Some types of anticipation can be stressful, but not the anticipation for the start of a new camp season at Nonesuch! It's therapeutic! It keeps up young, or at least for some of us, young at heart!
July 1, 2011
I used to run quite a lot! Back in the day, just after they invented the automobile, running was really a part of who I was - in fact it still is because during the school year I coach Girls Cross Country and Boys and Girls Track and Field at The Rivers School!
I have to say, I never really enjoyed the faster races. Not because I wasn't fast enough, but because they went by so quickly! The 100 yard (yes, it was before we went metric), the 220 yard, the 440 yard sprints never provided enough satisfaction to apply strategy, to wait for that precise moment to make a surge and move ahead of my opponents! The longer races, the mile, the 2 mile, the 3 mile and 6 mile (10,000 m) for me were much more satisfying. Sure they took longer to run, but there was so much more to do during those races!
The start of camp this summer has been a bit of a sprint! We had a number of facilities projects that were started and completed in the month before camp opened on the 27th! Tree work, three roofs done, work in the kitchen, electrical work in the main lodge, and some major work done in the lower level of our office! It seemed like we were sprinting along and for me that was a bit uncomfortable, not having the chance to look around, assess what was happening and maybe making calculated adjustments along the way! Everything was done correctly and I'm glad we did the work - it was just that sprinting to the start of the season that made me a bit uneasy.
August 20, 2010
Traditions...
Sadly another camp season has come to an end! Every summer seems to pass so quickly, but all I have to do to slow things down is to think about all the wonderful projects, stories, adventures and new friendships that have happened during these past eight weeks.
We have many traditions here at Camp Nonesuch. One of these is the ringing in of the camp season at morning flagpole on the first day of the first session. There is great joy in the air as the bell peals it's welcome and it's challenge, ringing out - "Have a great time!" I ring it again at afternoon flagpole of the final day of the fourth session. The sound is clear and strong, just as it was in June, but this time it's singing, "We had a great time, didn't we? Don't forget Camp Nonesuch!" Each summer as I ring in and ring out the season, I think of our little tradition like it's a chain- linking the start and finish of one season, but also pealing out the hope and anticipation of another season nine months from now! Returning campers from this summer and welcoming new children to the Camp Nonesuch community. It's not a sad bell, but one that calls out and celebrates the return of summer (only 9 months away) and opportunities to make new friends and learn new activities!
August 3, 2010
The other evening I was doing the camp laundry! A few years of unmarked lost and found from 3 or 4 years ago – about 13 loads – just part of the glamour of being a camp director! Always the optimist, each summer I hoped it would be claimed but instead it moved further into a corner. Since it had been taking up some valuable space, I wanted to get it cleaned and donated. As I was watching the clothes suds then tumble dry I thought about those three words, “lost and found.”
As children grow up they often become lost. I don’t mean lost in the physical sense, we hope that never happens, but instead they become misdirected, unsure of which way to go, befuddled by choices, overwhelmed by the scale of what is presented to them. Maybe it’s better to say they lose their way! It is by no means fun, but these missteps are part of what help children grow and mature. In many situations, children can make the choice themselves to get back on the familiar track. But occasionally the path is unfamiliar, the choices too overwhelming. That’s when a parent, older sibling, grandparent or teacher can step in and help – not to make the choice for the child, but to help direct them to make the correct choice. As a result children learn the patterns and strategies necessary to make wise choices when they feel “lost!” In the process, they’ve been “found!” Unfortunately there are many children who, for whatever reasons, don’t have the good fortune to have those perceptive adults in their lives to “find” them when they lose their way. That’s something that we, as adults, need to work towards: finding effective means to provide all children with someone in their lives who can “find” them when they become lost.
July 18, 2010
Another great week has passed and what a week it was! Crazy hat day was, well... crazy! Take a look at the pictures at "This week at Camp Nonesuch" There are also pictures of Nonesuch Day, a celebration of 31 years of summer camp1
July 8th 2010
Another camp summer is underway and despite the heat isn’t it great to see the sun (remember last summer’s first session, 8 days of rain!)! Each session I try to write one or two editions of “From the Director…” my take on kids, camp and other topics that I think might be of interest. Here is the first edition for 2010!
A good friend of mine passed away this last spring. He and I taught together for a number of years at Rivers. We were an interesting pair. I had many more years of teaching experience under my belt when we crossed paths our first year at Rivers. He came to teaching as a second career after he retired from a successful research position. Ron had quite a stellar academic life. Few of his students knew it, but he left high school after his junior year and enrolled at Harvard as chemistry major. He eventually earned his Ph.D. in physics from M.I.T. then went on to do significant research for the Air Force after which he began his teaching/writing career!
Following his 2nd retirement (from Rivers), he and I would make it a point to meet for lunch every couple of months. At our last lunch together, he mentioned that he regretted not returning for his senior year in high school! Almost 70 years had passed and here he was telling me that he thought he would have been better off had he returned for that final year. It wasn’t that he regretted any part of the work he’d done, the papers he’d written, the classes he’d taught or the family he was so proud of. Only that he felt he would have enjoyed that time in his life a little more had he spent his final year of high school with his friends and classmates.
