Here are some of the things our camp photographers are seeing around Farm & Wilderness!
It rained through the first night, slowing to a light drizzle by the morning Three Bell. The mist lifted off Woodward Reservoir as the sun broke over the ridge. Timberlake held Silent Meeting in Ken’s lodge, listening to the rain dripping off the trees onto the skylights. Afterward, TL campers started “the hook,” a two-day rotation through eight different activity areas to help everyone figure out what interests them most this summer.
Tamarack Farm jumped straight into activities. One group met in the unfinished new Arts Barn, brainstorming how they want to decorate the building, then practiced measuring and cutting boards. Another group toured the kitchen and discussed chores.
A Red Spruce Grove camper reported that they had stayed “a bit dry” in the rain, due to a problem with their rain fly that they had since fixed. Elsewhere at IB, first lodge campers took swim tests while others listened to a nurse’s talk about staying healthy at camp. Before lunch, some IBers played One Move Ninja on the lawn while others swung on the Jungle Jill.
At SAM, everyone was busy planning and prepping equipment for the first cabin trips, which headed out on the trail this past Friday morning. Shrewsbury cabin studied a topo map to find their route to Tiny Pond and Buttermilk Falls. Pico cabin learned to light camping stoves and practiced setting up tents before their canoe to Spruce Point. One camper announced “now I’m an expert!” after getting his tent to stand up.
The Questers had spent their first night camped in the historic Tinney barn down the road from SAM. “The rain on the roof was so soothing,” one said. “It blocked out all other sounds.” After lunch, the LT Questers appeared, fully decked out in outfits from the costume closet. They proceeded to rehearse for a Canada theme party, learning the words to the Canadian national anthem. One Quester who had been a camper at IB and SAM explained what keeps bringing her back here: “Camp has a certain aura that is truly inclusive-I feel safe here because I can really be myself. You can ask my parents: I have to stop and become a different person when I leave.”
Meanwhile, the Farmers were launching into orbit. Three groups had to safely cross deep space with nothing more than a dozen squares of posterboard to stand on. Each team had to work together to coordinate their movements because aliens roving in the mist were ready to snatch any posterboard base left unattended.
BDC campers headed out for their adventures. Many groups headed to shelters scattered in the woods around F&W. They played games in the open shelters until the sun broke out then swam in the lake. They returned from their hikes muddy, happy and enjoyed ice-cream.
At Flying Cloud, it started to drizzle again and no one paid any attention. And in all this heat, FC has probably been the coolest place to be!