A Lesson In Flexibility

Week one of camp down and it was gone in a BLUR! Blink and you miss it. The kids arrived in a whirl of bags, screams, tears and laughter. Cabin groups were photographed and then ran to snag the best bunks. Counselors stayed awake until the early hours of the morning trying to convince excited teens that sleep is valuable.

And you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The first week of camp has been a roller coaster of excitement and energy. Constantly being busy and joining in all of the Blue and White Competitions, Evening Programs, activities and directing a full scale production of Annie in three weeks. The best part of all has been getting back into activities – which includes my camp favorite – riflery. It was a particular thrill to land a bulls eye on my first shot in 8 months.

But the real lesson that has been learned this week is one of flexibility. Camp is all about being flexible. To survive at camp you have to be ready to change plans at a minutes notice. You have to be ready to say yes, to lose sleep, to jump in, to dress up, to get turned into a human hot fudge sundae, to dance in front of 300 girls dressed in a table cloth and to just have plain old fun.

A prime example of this would be just the other day. I was happily helping my cabin during cabin clean up when I was called to the office. Little did I know that I was about to be given ten minutes to pack for a three day, two night camping and canoeing trip. But of course I said yes! Who would turn down that opportunity? It just meant being ready to reorganise my activities and being ready to change my schedule.

Again, I wouldn’t have it any other way. There is nothing better than a canoeing trip through the woods and lakes of Sylvania, Michigan with four girls who aren’t too afraid of bugs. Of course, I did manage to tip the canoe, two feet from shore and drench our trip leader and all the gear. There’s a first for everything, after all.

As we make our way towards week two and ever closer to the Fourth of July I know that the fun is just going to keep on getting bigger and better! I can’t wait for the parade and I can’t wait to see all of our girls dancing and singing in the streets of Minocqua.