Camp: Second Saturday
Perhaps I'm glad I wasn't at camp today; it was 90F at 1 PM, around when we'd be leaving. By then I'd have been running around the dorms, making sure the lockers were opened and the windows were closed, and it gets VERY stuffy in there very quickly. Add in heat and it likely would be near unbearable. And it just gets hotter on the highway. But I'd still miss it.
What else would I miss from Saturday...
(--Okay, not gonna miss being groggy, because I'm already exhausted by Saturday, and couple that with only getting a few hours of sleep Friday night, if I'm lucky, and it is not the best beginning to the day)
--Loading my car up as early as possible so I don't have to worry about it later
--One last walk down the hill for breakfast
--Seeing what on earth is being served for breakfast. In the early years, they'd go out and get doughnuts; more recently, anything goes. That means whatever leftovers are available (hot dogs and watermelon from Friday night, for example), cereal, toast, Rice Krispie treats, whatever--and it gets eaten
(I also just had a flashback to the year we poured way too much orange juice and got one of my former students to drink nearly all of it...and I've forgotten my having orange juice at every breakfast, one, to make sure some of it gets consumed, and two, to keep myself hydrated... no repeats of 2010)
--Passing out shirts to the campers, if we haven't already
--In recent years, I'd reminded the directors to leave the eating area of the caf alone; they'd always wanted to pack it up on Friday after lunch since Friday's dinner is down by the beach, but hello, we still have Saturday's breakfast...and eventually they realized, yeah, it's much easier to have breakfast at tables, not just chairs. So, if it's still set up, taking down the eating area of the caf, which the last few years meant resetting the chairs for the audience
--Helping with parking, and the last few years having a nice conversation with one of my longest-serving counselors
--Keeping an eye on A Band during the concert
--The concert itself, a nice culmination of all our hard work throughout the week
--The chaos of packing up all our equipment; lots of hands on deck, and so many parents willing to help
--Seeing the people who popped by the concert, especially any former camp-type people
--Cleaning up camp after the campers and their families have left, and making sure we left it better than we found it (I basically was the white glove tester...and you'd better pass!)
--Leaving camp, where I'd usually look back and wonder if I'd ever see it again. I feel like I left in a rush last year because I know I didn't do that...and look who hasn't been back as of yet
--Sometimes seeing familiar cars on the ride back to Munster (but usually no...they're all speed demons compared to me, and I was usually the last to leave)
--Now do we go to St. Tom's or Mr. M's first? Heh (Mr. M's, for the record)
--One last chain of people down the truck ramp to unload stands at Mr. M's, then chairs and tables at St. Tom's
--The final goodbyes of the week...yeah, it's over
--Occasionally going out to eat--for years, up until 2010 (when Mr. C was unable to go, and then I got sick), the directors would take us to Schoop's for burgers after; the last couple years, Mr. M still took me out; the intervening years, I just went straight home (generally the best option since I still had energy)
--Pulling into my driveway, my adventure officially over, and seeing how the flowers have grown
--Going on like a motormouth to my parents about what all happened, and hearing what happened around here while I was gone (and, up until 2014, getting greeted by Kirby...and today is her sad anniversary)
--Crashing somewhere around 6 or 7 PM, and taking a good week to recover
And with that...camp is over.
What else would I miss from Saturday...
(--Okay, not gonna miss being groggy, because I'm already exhausted by Saturday, and couple that with only getting a few hours of sleep Friday night, if I'm lucky, and it is not the best beginning to the day)
--Loading my car up as early as possible so I don't have to worry about it later
--One last walk down the hill for breakfast
--Seeing what on earth is being served for breakfast. In the early years, they'd go out and get doughnuts; more recently, anything goes. That means whatever leftovers are available (hot dogs and watermelon from Friday night, for example), cereal, toast, Rice Krispie treats, whatever--and it gets eaten
(I also just had a flashback to the year we poured way too much orange juice and got one of my former students to drink nearly all of it...and I've forgotten my having orange juice at every breakfast, one, to make sure some of it gets consumed, and two, to keep myself hydrated... no repeats of 2010)
--Passing out shirts to the campers, if we haven't already
--In recent years, I'd reminded the directors to leave the eating area of the caf alone; they'd always wanted to pack it up on Friday after lunch since Friday's dinner is down by the beach, but hello, we still have Saturday's breakfast...and eventually they realized, yeah, it's much easier to have breakfast at tables, not just chairs. So, if it's still set up, taking down the eating area of the caf, which the last few years meant resetting the chairs for the audience
--Helping with parking, and the last few years having a nice conversation with one of my longest-serving counselors
--Keeping an eye on A Band during the concert
--The concert itself, a nice culmination of all our hard work throughout the week
--The chaos of packing up all our equipment; lots of hands on deck, and so many parents willing to help
--Seeing the people who popped by the concert, especially any former camp-type people
--Cleaning up camp after the campers and their families have left, and making sure we left it better than we found it (I basically was the white glove tester...and you'd better pass!)
--Leaving camp, where I'd usually look back and wonder if I'd ever see it again. I feel like I left in a rush last year because I know I didn't do that...and look who hasn't been back as of yet
--Sometimes seeing familiar cars on the ride back to Munster (but usually no...they're all speed demons compared to me, and I was usually the last to leave)
--Now do we go to St. Tom's or Mr. M's first? Heh (Mr. M's, for the record)
--One last chain of people down the truck ramp to unload stands at Mr. M's, then chairs and tables at St. Tom's
--The final goodbyes of the week...yeah, it's over
--Occasionally going out to eat--for years, up until 2010 (when Mr. C was unable to go, and then I got sick), the directors would take us to Schoop's for burgers after; the last couple years, Mr. M still took me out; the intervening years, I just went straight home (generally the best option since I still had energy)
--Pulling into my driveway, my adventure officially over, and seeing how the flowers have grown
--Going on like a motormouth to my parents about what all happened, and hearing what happened around here while I was gone (and, up until 2014, getting greeted by Kirby...and today is her sad anniversary)
--Crashing somewhere around 6 or 7 PM, and taking a good week to recover
And with that...camp is over.