Archive for August, 2009

…as long as it lives in our memories. Thank you so much to all the parents who came to the final silent meeting, who came to Fair to celebrate with us, and most of all every single one of you reading this that helped make this summer possible in your own little way.

Our final candlelight ceremony of appreciation for Timberlake was something to behold. All those points of light moving in silence down the path from the upper fields to in front of the Catamount Bell was beautiful in a simple way. In a world where positive experiences for kids are usually defined (and sold) by how loud, fast or extreme they are, a bit of quite closing to a summer is a special gift. Thank you for helping give it.

The reason is the Season… the time for Fair and ending camp!   This has meant we have had our collective noses to the ground, and lots of trips have been coming back, all of them with reports of good hiking and program and of course lots of hiking gear to clear up and store.

Yesterday we had an all-camp harvest day, with over 500 lbs of food brought in from three different gardens.    Our Barn and Garden head Shawn’s greatest compliment for this organizational triumph was  “You made that look pretty easy”.    Last night was our final Council Fire, with over an hour of camper-led renditions that ranged from the sublime acoustic guitar pieces to accapella versions of Metal songs, complete with air guitars.     Deep feelings and healthy laughter.

Today we are packing bags and becoming re-acquainted with our possessions that have been living under the bunk or in some other part of camp.

Tonight will be our Banquet.   Since I don’t think any of you can spill the beans, I can let you in on the secret that the theme is “Alice In Wonderland”!  We’re going to have an all camp game leading into the banquet with gigantic croquet courts,  quizzical questions from a Cheshire Cat and various different paths that lead to the lodge.   Inside the lodge, they will be confronted with the Queen on her throne, Alice, the Caterpiller and other characters inside a completely transformed upper lodge.    The menu includes cocktail sandwitches, Waldorf salad, Brazilian-style beef (or Seitan),  glazed carrots and roasted pototaos.    There will be rainbow sorbet to cleanse the palette between each course and we’ll finish with a decorate-your-own cupcake bar.

Tomorrow is Fair with our TL-powered rides and displays of some of the work we have been doing at camp.  When that is all done, we look forward to retracting back into our Timberlake world and having our final outdoor meal of chickens and potatoes raised and harvested at Farm and Wilderness.    We look forward to seeing all of you Sunday morning for singing and silent meeting.     Singing will start at 9:00 am, followed by Silent Meeting at 10:00 am.   After that will have one counselor down at the cabin and another at the Trading Post helping everyone find their way.

We will be tired, yet happy to have worked so hard to make this a great experience for all.

See you soon.

Last night we spent the night together as a sleepover in Ken’s Lodge. There are only 23 campers at Timberlake, all First or Big Lodger except one Senior Lodger. This morning we took our small community down to the office to sing a few songs. Although all our song leading staff were on trips, two of our twelve year old campers and their guitars led us through “Brown Eyed Girl”, “Country Roads” and the TL original “Quest for Spinach”. Today is meant to be warm so we’ll find the time for a nice swim amidst some finishing up work around camp. Sometimes it’s nice to be small.

This morning I thought about the difference between lumber yard cut wood and timber that’s been split by an axe or wedge. Although it’s been split and separated, a log that’s been split by hand wedge comes apart on it’s own terms, and you can see that in the shape and grain of the wood

As all the camp is out on trips, and we have a week left in camp, it’s my hope that when we leave each other after that week,  it will be in such a way that stays true to our grain, perhaps even revealing something about ourselves we didn’t know before.

When I first saw Chris Lord had a song card for Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” I thought to myself “How is that going to work?”. This morning, with half the camp gone and a few campers to take the helm, we managed a FOUR song morning and the final one was “Unwritten” which has a great message and was sung with MUCHO GUSTO. I couldn’t help dancing, because I do love a bit of pop music now and then. Cheers everyone for making my morning.

I was reminded how important perspective is this morning. A young A1 camper, here at Timberlake for the first time, spoke briefly about how he usually looked at the rocks or his feet, but when he looked up to the treetops everything was different. I encourage all of you who are reading this and cannot be with us here to take a moment, let silence wash over the busy thoughts in your head and then shift your focus for a moment, if possible to some part of nature.

Other campers who are leaving tomorrow spoke about how they were nervous about coming but have felt so accepted and part of things they now felt a bit nervous about going home!

Hello again, we are gearing up for the next stage. A1 campers leave on Friday and we have a special meal and Council Fire on Thursday evening. Starting tomorrow we have five trips going out, and by Saturday we’ll have seven more. Lots of campers are out there working hard in the different activity areas, as they know that when they come back from their trips we will be working on harvesting food from our garden, preparing for our themed banquet evening and of course for fair as well. The hive is buzzing.

This traditional evening all camp game was played Sunday evening. Four spies made it through all-camp patrols and into the upper lodge. While many others were caught, some of them had such clever hiding places for their messages that the Searchers couldn’t find them. Hot Chocolate was enjoyed by all during this late evening. This morning we slept in a bit later and started the day with a breakfast of home-made raspberry crisp (with raspberries from our garden) scrambled eggs, granola, yogurt, grapefruit, Cabot milk and bananas.

Today is all about exploring the area and we have trips to:

- Woodstock’s Mt. Tom
- Warren Falls
- Pico/Killington/Shrewsbury (all 3 peaks in a day!)
- Quechee Gorge
- Berry picking at Saltash Mountain
- Hike to Plymouth Cheese Factory
- Rainbow rocks and Sodder’s rocks
- Okemo Mountain

And we also are offering Survivor Skills, Fire Building, KYBO Building, Canoeing and Sauna experiences.

I can’t count the number of times I wanted to get to a computer and tell you about what’s happening at camp these last few days.. and then something else started happening.

GARDENING IN THE RAIN
Of course the weather has kept us on our toes, but we only let it slow us down, not get us down. Yesterday was scheduled a “work and play morning” with a beautifully orchestrated all-camp garden morning followed by a dip at the waterfront. Despite the wettest morning yet this session, Shawn, our fearless Barn and Gardens leader refused to be intimidated and in true Timberlake style we focused on how to stay dry, then went ahead and did it. We had a very productive and memorable morning with some boxer-shorts & poncho weeding sessions!

SILENT OPEN MIC LUNCH
I think I was proudest of this session of  campers over Thursday’s lunch, when we all took a page out of Saltash Mountain camp’s book and had a meal with everyone silent except the people performing songs or readings. I knew it worked great a SAM camp, but how would a lodge full of more than triple the size, with younger kids and all boys respond? The answer is respectfully and joyfully. We had original compositions by campers and staff received in silence and appreciation by everyone. I’d like to share the whimsical lyrics to a song about life composed by two campers from Jerico Vermont.

The Little Things…

The dandelion looks nice
It’s yellow and it’s bright
With funny little blow off seeds
You’d never think that it’s actually a weed

Chorus:
But it’s kinda like life, if you think about it
It looks nice, but is it evil? Well I doubt it
The little things remind us of the big things
Every day in many ways, you know it’s true

The water in the ocean is fun to play in, it’s true
It provides a thirst quencher for me and you
75% of it, it’s all around
But now and then, people drown

Chorus:
But it’s kinda like life, if you think about it
It looks nice, but is it evil? Well I doubt it
The little things remind us of the big things
Every day in many ways, you know it’s true

This was written by a young teenager, on the threshold of discovering a whole new perspective on life, it’s wonderful to see both the acceptance that both good and bad, joyful and tragic things happen in life, yet the secrets are often in the details and in a positive outlook.  Their other song was a parody to the tune of “Free Fallin” called “Free Samples”, so please imagine everyone waving their hands and singing along in harmony to “Free samples, yea they’re, free samples…”

CABIN OVERNIGHTS
That afternoon first lodge went out on cabin overnights which were a success despite the less than helpful weather. I’m often impressed how first lodgers enjoy that experience so much and roll right over experiences that might discourage older campers.  A! campers are coming back this morning and we look forward to hearing about their time camping, hiking and visiting other Farm and Wilderness Camps.

COUNSELOR AUCTION
Thursday evening provided another TL tradition: Counselor Auctions.  A pair or group of staff will offer up an activity with an enticing name, campers get to ask a few questions and then the bidding beginnings, culminating with the announcement of what specifically they have really won. Example of “prizes” included going to the sister camp of Indian Brook…. and alphabetizing their library!   Another was a surprise wake up at dawn and a hike to Rainbow Rocks to watch the dawn and eat Rainbow Sherbet.

TRIPS NIGHT
Last night was trips night, with each group of trips leaders presenting their skit and promoting their trips, followed by a color-coded request sheet for each lodge. Spirits were high and we’re all ready now to tally those request up and get everyone on camp onto a great trip.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE
This morning we have more of our regular activity area work, followed by an all camp game with lots of little red devils and cherubic little angels. This evening is our first Council Fire, where there will be more songs and laughter and where staff and campers get the chance to give a special bead to each other as a symbol of appreciation.

Thanks so much for letting you son be part of all these special moments.