Archive for December, 2009

Happy holidays to one and all! As of today, it’s officially winter. About time, huh? Up here that means cold, cold nights with bright shining stars which I’ve been appreciating at my sit spot. I’ve been having trouble finding the North Star recently, with all the summer constellations gone. Good thing it never moves!

I wanted to let you know about a couple of important upcoming events on the F&W calendar:

First, the application deadline for campership is January 15th! That means you’ve got to get your application in really soon if you need financial help for this coming summer. We don’t ever want to turn someone away for financial reasons, but we can’t help you if you don’t ask. If you haven’t asked in years past, you can still ask this year. The application is here. Of course, if you’re applying for campership, that must mean you’re applying for camp as well, and you can get your 2010 Camper Registration form off our website.

Second, Ice Cutting Weekend is coming up on February 12th-14th and I’d love to see you there. It’s a great time to show your support for Flying Cloud by harvesting all the ice we need to keep our food cold all summer, and it’s also just a blast! The event is open to everyone and always fills up fast so if you want to come, get your application in soon! Also, if you have friends who are interested in camp this is an easy way for them to join our community and will help them feel more at home when they come to camp with you this summer.

Finally, to send you on your way with some FC love, here’s one of my favorite photos from the summer.

Well the snow has finally come, and I’m glad to have it. Suddenly it means we can go tracking just about anywhere. There’s a little field mouse that lives near my sit spot in the stone wall. I haven’t seen it yet, but now I can watch its tracks as it hops around hunting for seeds. What sorts of great ways are you finding to get out in the snow?

In preparation for next summer, Forest Flame, Hawk Shadow and I, along with a few friends spent the weekend practicing our hide-tanning skills. We had a coyote, a raccoon and a few deer hides to work with. The process took more than two days, but in the end we created soft, supple leather, and a few beautiful, furry hides. Though it’s a lot of work, this might just be the sort of project we’ll complete this summer with a few dedicated campers up at FC. How cool would it be to have your own, totally homemade shirt, or pouch, or knife sheath?
Here’s a photo from early on, and another from near the end: