Long John Slider, Hobbits and Snow Pirates
Months ago, I decided that I wasn’t going to Skeeter. I went to Mardi Gras for a night, I skipped RoVent entirely, and I told myself that Skeeter wasn’t an option because of work. (By the way, that was the same excuse I used on myself for RoVent.) Why ISN’T it an option though? Its far enough away that I can book time off, a few days off work won’t kill me financially, and there’s a pretty good chance that I can find a group to latch onto for the weekend. I used to love camps; however, now I’m struggling to make excuses to myself and to my friends about why I’m unable to attend. Ever since last Skeeter, I’ve been pushing myself away from Guiding (and Scouting, simply because that’s how it works). I have awesome memories of so many camps, but overall, Skeeter 2004 was a disappointment. I spent most of the weekend feeling very out of place. As Mike would say, Noah’s Ark syndrome took over everyone. For that weekend, I felt like I lost my friends. I tried Mardi Gras in the fall, which was once my favourite camp, but it just seems to have lost its appeal. I’m yearning for the camps of a few years ago... I miss those times. Long John Slider, Hobbits and Snow Pirates. I’m not the person I was two years ago, or even six months ago. Have I “outgrown” these things? That doesn’t seem accurate... I don’t know what it is, but I need to figure it out. I’m aching to go to Skeeter, and to have it feel the way camps used to feel. I’m scared that I’ll go, and I’ll feel out of place again. Guiding and Scouting members have felt like family to me for so long, that its heartbreaking to feel like a stranger.