Please excuse the delay in posting; I've been home for just over a week now and completely forgot to update about the final days of camp.
Camp ended on a bitter sweet note, as most things of this nature seem to do. I was so glad to get home, only be held responsible for myself, live by my schedule. I was sad to leave my girls, however, and all of the wonderful counselors with whom I worked for the summer. Summer camp is one of those crucibles that deepens and expedites life experiences, despite the short amount of time, and the friendships I formed are no exception.
On the last few evenings of camp, we had a banquet where all the summer's achievements were recognized and a few of the oldest leaders gave speeches about the importance of their time at camp. The theme was Winnie the Pooh, and the decorations were so cute!
These were the light decorations on the table.
A close up of my place tag.
The large banner for the banquet.
There was also a good-bye camp fire on the night before I left. It was very ceremonial, with a few of the campers and staff speaking briefly before we sang songs together. Everyone was also given a piece of birch bark onto which they wrote a wish; this bark was then thrown into the camp fire as everyone left the fire. That evening was tough for the kids. They all signed each others' Pinescripts - the camp's yearbook - and chatted for a while. Around 10:30, they settled down and I tried to sleep as well. The next morning, I was up at 4:45 to shower and finish packing my bags before I left at 6. After a long drive to Boston, I escorted two campers through the airport to their gate. Once the plane took off at 11:30, I left the terminal, got my own luggage, and reentered to wait until my 5:30 flight took off.
Since arriving home, I've been getting lots of R&R. I caught up on (some of) the sleep I missed at camp, saw some of my friends, and - after putting it off for a few days - cleaned out my suitcases. At the moment, I'm enjoying the break and preparing myself to go to London in September. Till then, my updates will be few so check back periodically until I make it abroad.
The lake swim has been cancelled due to the chance of thunderstorms this morning...which in Maine is good call to make. The weather always seems to do something unpleasant when there is a chance of rain. As this is the case, we'll be swimming tomorrow instead. I'm back to bed now to catch up on my lost beauty sleep.
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I can't write to long tonight, since tomorrow morning I'm going to swim 3 miles in the local lake! Yep, you heard me. I will be up at 5:30 to swim at 6 from my camp to Harrison, the town on the other end of the lake, and back. I am special - and slightly crazy - in planning to swim both ways. The lake is only 1.25 miles, but accounting for all the weaving around the lake I'll do it's safer to call it 1.5 miles. I plan on swimming free style to Harrison, hoping to beat 45 minutes (my .5 mile time is 15:30), and to relax on my way back. I'll let you know how I do tomorrow afternoon/evening!
The past few days have gone by so quickly. On Sunday, my last full day off, I went to Kennebunkport, a town just south of Portland. It's basically the perfect coastal town that you would see on a postcard - quaint; nice, old homes; well kept; little beach with a few picturesque rocks sticking out of the surf. I got a few pictures of the Bush Compound (the H. W. Bush summer home), explored the beach, and took a two hour sunset cruise. It was a great way to spend the day.
The campers in my bunk have completely given up on bunk ordering in the past few days. They seem to think that since Ten Day Calendar (aka TDC from now on) started this morning, and since we are counting down the final days of camp, that cleaning the bunk doesn't matter this morning. Thankfully, it got so bad that one of the upper level directors had to make an announcement to the kids. Hopefully, they'll pick it up a little bit now, especially since Jess and I are making the girls clean during rest hour and 5:20 time if the campers' areas aren't clean enough.
The other big thing I've done recently was a bet I made with one of my campers. She bet me a WHOLE pack of the green trident layers (it's something like green apple and pineapple flavored - yum) that I couldn't go a whole day without saying the word "legit." It's not necessarily a good habit to say the word, as it lowers my vocabulary, but I use it nonetheless when I'm excited and want to get my point across quickly. It bothers the stuffing out of some of the girls in my bunk, though, which is why we made the bet. Thankfully, I won...it cost me all my wits to keep from saying the word, but somehow I prevailed! Haha.
As I said, TDC has started and there are new and special things going on every day. I'll keep you posted as we go along! (I can't believe it's only eight more days till I'm back in Illinois!!)
These were the light decorations on the table.
The large banner for the banquet.