IceWolf's Ramblings

Wait… What…

Alex — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:06:25 +0000

Well, it has been quite a while since I posted anything. Life got really exciting and hectic at the end of the summer. The end of camp is always a bigger deal than you ever remember it to be, and this summer was no exception. I had more things on my plate in the last week of camp than I anticipated, and I still have some unfinished ones that I really need to get around to, especially now that my hard drives are back in town.

Getting home from camp, I had the worst travel day that I have ever had. It started with bad omens in that we missed being able to go to the post office to mail home one last box of stuff. Why the post office closes early on Saturdays, who knows. However, from there, things only went downhill. On the drive down to the airport I managed to get in a car accident that basically totaled my parent’s truck. Thankfully everyone was OK, but it was not a good situation (not that any car accident is). It all started because i had to slam on the brakes as there was another accident that had occurred, and everyone was stopping. It is probably good that I hit the car in front of me as opposed to going around it as the embankment was very steep and the probability of rolling the truck would have been high.

So, I call my parents, who rush down to pick us up and get us to the airport. Amazingly, we get there with a little time to spare, which is a good thing. Why? Well, when going through security, I got stopped because something showed up when they put my carry-on through the X-ray. Turns out that I had one of Ruth’s bags in my carry-on and it had her pocket knife in it. Needless to say, the knife got tossed.

After getting on the first plane, things seemed to smooth out, and for the first time that I had done any major travel with Ruth, it was good. On our connecting flight from MDW to SLC we managed to snag our own row, with no third person, so we were very happy. However, upon our arrival back in SLC, there had to be one more thing that would go wrong. One of our bags decided to take an extended trip around the country, so it didn’t make it to SLC that night. In fact, when I walked into the baggage office and showed them the claim ticket, they already knew about it. The good news is that they knew where the bag was and they managed to get it to us the next day. For that we got a $50 travel voucher which is pretty nice.

That weekend did get better though because we had tickets to see The Lion King on Sunday night. The Lion King is quite possibly one of my most favorite musicals ever. The music is great, the costumes and head-pieces are spectacular, and it is just a fun show to see. If you have never seen it, you should. I had been lucky enough to have seen it on Broadway back when it was new, and I had always wanted to see it again and see how they would get it on tour. Well, even slightly scaled back to fit in trucks and in smaller theatres, it was a great show. I still have the music stuck in my head.

Come Monday it was back to work. Possibly the first thing that my boss said after “hello” was something to the effect of: “Can you push your schedule up a week and hang the show early so we can fly our scenery?” What was my response? Well, in traditional me style I just said: “Of course.” So now I had to round up a crew and get to work to be able to start a week earlier than I had planned. That is life at the theatre, always unexpected.

So, things are finally starting to settle down and get back to a normal rhythm. I have plans to go camping on Labor Day Weekend, and then I am helping to lead services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and then we are doing the show. I have to figure out my ski-pass situation and all the mundane things that come with being back in the swing of things. Now that things are normalizing, life is pretty good.

The other thing that happened that is a major time suck is Words With Friends. It is a iapp for iphone, ipod touch, etc. that is kinda like scrabble, and I love scrabble. So I am totally hooked. If you play or want to play, you can get if for free, and then look me up: Icewolf08!

On a side note, I did drop the ball on organizing Bloggerstock for August due to all that stuff I just mentioned. So, we have pushed the August topic to September for anyone who is interested. You can get the full scoop at the Bloggerstock Site.

Icewolf's Ramblings by Alexander Weisman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://icewolf08.com/contact-me/.

I want to linger

Alex — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:58:42 +0000

Mmmm I want to linger
Mmmm A little longer
Mmmm A little longer here with you
Mmmm It’s such a perfect night
Mmmm It doesn’t seem quite right
Mmmm This is goodnight and not goodbye

For all we know
We may never meet again
Before you go
Make this moment sweet again

We won’t say goodnight
Until the last minute
I’ll hold out my hand
And my heart will be in it

For all we know
This may only be a dream
We come and we go
Like the ripple on a stream

So love me, love me tonight
Tomorrow was meant for some
Tomorrow may never come
For all we know

Every camp probably has some version of this song or at least most camps. I am always intrigued by the people I find who I would never expect to know bits and pieces of it. The above is our camp’s version of the song, which I discovered is actually a conglomeration of two songs, but hey, it’s camp!

Last night was the final Friday night services at camp. Mind you we are not actually at a religious camp, it is a tradition from the past that has been kept alive and is now a time to reflect on the past week and the weeks or days to come. Over at the girls camp it is a special time that I think people really enjoy, though the final services generally tend to end in a sob-fest as the oldest girls pass the flame on to the youngest girls and reflect on their years here. it is sad that another summer is drawing to a close.

After services we went down to the field for the final campfire of the summer. Ironically, this is the time that the girls come out of the woodwork with skits and songs to do. It isn’t a bad thing, it is nice that they want to get involved, it just makes a campfire that started late on account of the slideshow at services run even longer. It was a beautiful night though, and hopefully there were plenty of kids who turned their eyes towards the skies to really appreciate how special it is to sit around the campfire together in such a wonderful place.

It was a perfectly clear night, and laying back with all the girls, listening to people perform and watching the sky was pretty magical. We saw a host of satellites fly by overhead and I caught two shooting stars. It is so fun to point them out to the girls and watch the wonder in their eyes as they look up at the sky.

After carrying a sleeping junior up the hill to her cabin I cam back down to get my guitar and the older girls were sitting around the remnants of the fire. It was the last campfire they would have together as campers. They asked me to sit and play a few songs with them so I did. Having such a connection to camp and the kids is so wonderful. That they think enough of me as part of their camp experience to have me sit with them on their last campfire night is pretty cool. It made a beautiful night even better.

Bloggerstock: Potential Postcards

Alex — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:38:38 +0000

It is that crazy time of the month again, when bloggers unite for a little blogging fun known as bloggerstock! This month I am happy to be hosting a good blogger friend and fellow founder of Bloggerstock, Shinxy. She never fails to speak her mind and she is always interesting to read. Hopefully you all enjoy her writing as much as I do!

As usual, Shinxy’s post is very blunt and some may see it as controversial. If you actually read her blog it will make more sense. I only post this warning because there are some of you out there who may be offended, but hey, we can’t please everyone all the time! Shinxy’s postcard is written to Adolph Hitler and she wanted the picture on the back to be the following:

So, without any further ado, I shall turn the floor over to Shinxy for the July Bloggerstock event: “Potential Postcards.”

Dear Adolf,

There is much debate as to whether the T4 program was euthanasia or murder; and whether it was the stepping stone to the Holocaust (Okay there isn’t. Every history book says it was murder, and it was a stepping stone to the Holocault. It’s just that I disagree). Any research I have done on the subject has ended in ’and six million Jews died in concentration camps’. I am one of the few who separates these events.

My boyfriends and I would have been terminated under your T4 program, but I do not connect the Holocaust and T4. Most people say you would have killed us because you thought us inferior or inhuman, as you saw the Jews. I prefer to think they were indeed mercy killings. In your last few hours, you had to make the decision to kill your beloved German Shepard, Blondi, before the Russians got to her and tortured her. You knew if you let her live, the rest of her life would be suffering. I like to think you thought of us like that. I haven’t spoken to one severely disabled person about the issue of suicide without them sharing a story of an attempt. There are many of us who can only look forward to a future of increased disability. If one commits suicide, one is seen as a coward. If one is euthanised, as you would have done to us, those who care about us can only feel the comfort that we are no longer suffering, not the anger. I would love this option. Part of me wishes I was terminated under the T4 program. I am sure that there are many deceased from that who would thank you if they could; certainly the ones who had descended into madness to the point where they no longer know what’s going on around them, as I will be one day.

For those of the 200,000 killed whose very being was torturous and unbearable, I thank you for giving them mercy.

Regards,

Shinxy

Hopefully you are enjoying this month’s Bloggerstock event! If you want to read my own post, you can find it over on Amanda’s blog: Amanda Abella. If you are want to learn more about Bloggerstock or want to sign up for future events, please check out our website!

Office Duty

Alex — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:08:37 +0000

It isn’t very often that I get to sit in the office while not much happens at camp. I do it when I need to, which isn’t such a regular occurrence, and in the long run, I don’t really mind doing it. In the wake of parent’s weekend there isn’t really a lot going on in the office anyway as kids don’t have phone times for a few days since they just saw their parents. So really all I am doing is answering the phone if it rings and playing the last couple bugle calls of the evening. It is really exciting!

Camp is pretty quiet now after parent’s weekend. We had a fairly significant decrease in the number of campers and we have a group of 11 out on a six day trip to Canada, so there aren’t too many people in camp. It is kind of a double edged sword in that it is easier to deal with fewer kids, but it is harder to get some activities really going. It is noticeable during the day that there are fewer kids, and today we had a bunch of kids out at a football game, so this week we are running a condensed schedule with fewer choices so that the activities that are open have enough kids. I think that it helps.

We have also been having some of the most beautiful weather over the past few days. This is the kind of Northern New England Summer that I really love. While we have had a few hot and humid days, for the most part it is been very nice. Last night was one of the most beautiful nights of the summer. We had a nice sunset over campfire and then the moon was just spectacular. I believe that tonight is the full moon, but last night the moon was so bright you could have pretty much done any outdoor activity.

When you live in a city you probably don’t really take the time to notice or it may not even be possible to notice how beautiful the world is under the glow of the full moon. Out here we send out overnight hikes on and around the full moon, just to do something different and exciting. Co-Ed Naked Full Moon Night Hikes – shoes and socks required…. Well, not really, but it sounds good (but hey, don’t you remember that t-shirt line?).

I am still sad to say that it seems like no one has taken me up on my postcards project idea. My mailbox here at camp has been particularly empty save for a few random bills that have been forwarded from home. I had hoped that I would be writing to a few of you and have some postcards to decorate the plain walls of my cabin, but alas, it seems that the art of handwritten mail is fading. At least I have had some people to write to who I knew about before. There are at least two people who hopefully received postcards from me (one may not have made it due to being a couple pennies short on postage).

So that is the extent of my thinking. I get distracted easily here at camp. As much as it seems like not much is going on, lots of things are really going on and the days are pretty darn full. It is nice to have time to think every now and then, but it doesn’t come all that often.

Time Flies When…

Alex — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:52:54 +0000

Time really just seems to fly and stand still all at the same time. We say it all the time at camp (and I probably say it here a bunch as well): “The days are really long, but the weeks go by fast!” Days like today (though most days at camp) just seem to go on and on and on. I suppose the fact that this morning started at least an hour earlier than normal was probably a contributing factor. I had to get up early to go down to the river and meet the riding staff and a bunch of kids to go swimming on horseback. They do this a few times every summer, and this week we are doing it twice. This morning started pretty grey, but it wasn’t bad, and it cleared pretty nicely.

It is hard to believe that we are halfway through the summer already. We have been at camp for twenty-some-odd days and there are only twenty-some-odd days left of camp. Next weekend is Parent’s Weekend. That is always the most exciting weekend of the summer (I say that in quite a facetious tone). Some of us look forward to the prospect of getting gifts from parents as tipping is not allowed. Some think that it is a great time to network with parents many of these parents are pretty prominent people.

No matter how you spin it though, Parent’s weekend is the biggest show that camp puts on. We start buttering up the kids a week in advance. This past Sunday it all started with a breakfast of waffles and ice cream. Oh, we also finally got a protein at breakfast that wasn’t eggs this week as well. I don’t know if it really works, maybe on some kids, but most I think are smarter than that. It is just interesting that we allow Parent’s Weekend to be as disruptive to the program as it is. We can’t really, in one week, make the summer any better than it is. I think we are pretty much in the groove.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a good summer. It seems like the kids are having a good time. The staff is having a better time than they should (or something like that). The oldest boys seem to be having a ball most nights, running around pulling pranks. I hope they come up with some creative stuff. They have managed to not be destructive which is good. That is what camp is about, so I hope that they continue to find creative things to do. I have some ideas that would take a little bit of work, but would be amusing. Gotta keep things exciting.

This is the point in the summer though where everything speeds up. It is like being in a car with no brakes and a stuck accelerator going downhill. We will be at the end and it will seem like we just started and yet it will seem like we have been here forever. It is like living in a timewarp, the best one there is.

Rainy River Romp

Alex — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:57:49 +0000

It is a rainy summer afternoon, no thunder and lighting, just rain. What would you rather do: sit in a hot sweaty gym and watch a movie, sit in your cabin reading or playing card games, or get out on the field and play an amazingly disorganized game of flag football? Even if you think you are an “indoor” kid, if you answered yes to either of the first two options, you should be ashamed of yourself. It doesn’t matter if you are 10 or 26 (or older), or if you are a buy or a girl. It is much more fun to get out and do something, don’t you think?

That was my afternoon today. Upon unloading my gear at the girls camp (FA) the heavens decided to open up and it started to rain. I was sitting in the office while they were trying to figure out what to do with the girls and I said that we should get them out to play in the rain, not just sit and watch movies. While at first the idea was met with some trepidation, when I got the athletic on board with the idea, it turned into a reality. We collected a good number of girls, most of whom didn’t really know how to play football at all, and ran around on the field in a crazy attempt to play. Needless to say, there was slipping and sliding and hyjinx and lots of fun to be had!

After an amazingly low scoring game of three “touchdowns” total between the two teams, someone decided that it would be a good time to go for a river swim. Over to the river we went, and in typical FA style the girls lined up on the docks and all jumped in together. I really had no intention of going in as I wasn’t dressed for the occasion. I wasn’t really dressed for muddy football either, but that was very spontaneous on account of the rain. In any event, I was thankful that I had the presence of mind to remove such items from my pockets as my cell phone, wallet, and video tapes before even playing football.

Why was I thankful? Well, once we got down on the docks, the girls decided that it would be a good idea to push me into the river. Keep in mind that I like to swim and I would have been the first one in if I had been wearing a bathing suit. The only real bummer about ending up in the river was that I didn’t even have a towel with me and I had to drive back to IA to go to my cabin to change. There are certainly worse things than that though!

For some reason, whenever I am in the water, kinds think that I am a human jungle-gym. Of course our intrepid athletic director was quite the instigator of this as she told the kids they could have chicken fights on our shoulders (since we were the only ones who could stand up in the middle of the river). Well, I had girls jumping and diving off my shoulders and we just had a general raucous time. These kids are crazy hyper, especially after an extended rest hour. Sometimes it seems like you just can’t tire them out!

This is the kind of thing that reminds me of why I am here and why I love this though. The spontaneity and general enjoyment of doing something out of the ordinary is what camp is all about. Running around and getting muddy and slipping and sliding around the field is just so much fun. I would choose that over a movie any day, it is just so much more exciting. Plus, as a staff member, seeing the kids get excited and have fun with an activity/afternoon like this is so rewarding. That is why we do this. That is why you have to have at least a touch of crazy in you to be a good camp counselor.

There are photos of this extravaganza, at least the river part, so when i get them I will post them.

The Evening After

Alex — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:28:13 +0000

Have you ever noticed that the sunset is usually significantly more exciting and colorful on an evening after a storm? I suppose I could just be making that up or dreaming it, but I think that it is true. When the clouds break up and the sun gets low in the sky the golden color really shows through. Summer evenings here in Maine are almost always pretty spectacular, but on a night like tonight, after two days of bad weather, it seems like there is nothing better.

Here at camp the light streams through over the mountains in the distance and the river, then through the tall pine trees that line the high bank, and across the field. I don’t think you could ask for a better backdrop and lighting when we walk out of dinner and then as it gets later in the evening and taps get played. The silence and stillness during those moments when everyone in camp stops to listen to the bugle is quite magical. If you have never had the opportunity to stop each evening, reflect on the day and listen to the floating melody of taps on the bugle (especially when played by a great camper) then you should. I suppose it is kind of an American thing, but I would imagine that anyone from anywhere would appreciate it.

The evening after a day or more of rain is also special because kinds want to be out and enjoy the remnants of the day. We take advantage of every moment of daylight that we can get, but the games and activities that get played are much more interesting than those during the course of a regular day. Little pickup games of anything as long as the equipment is out and available. It is a tim when everyone is actually in camp together and there are enough people around to get a decent game going.

Evenings are always a peaceful time. Sure, sometimes we get a little hyper, or we have a dance night, but for the most part, it is one of the best times of day. The world cools off (most of the time), people relax, and this is when the bonds of great friendships show. Everyone has a friend and everyone hangs out together. It is a beautiful time that hopefully everyone stops to appreciate sometimes. You don’t have to be in a special place like camp to stop and appreciate the summer evenings. It might have a slightly different effect if you live in a city, but I would imaging that if you stop and reflect, it is pretty similar.

Where did this week go?

Alex — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:10:13 +0000

All things considered, it is kind of hard to follow my last post. Needless to say, it has been quite along week. We have a saying at camp: “The days are very long but the weeks go by too fast!” It is so true. Sometimes I wonder if shows like 24 could really happen in the span of a single day, but when I look back at all the things that happened some of the days this week, it seems a little more plausible. We seem to really be able to pack a day full of things to do, especially when you wake up at 7AM and go to bed at 1AM. Which by the way, I am still not sure how I manages that most of the summer.

Last Monday seems so far away, heck, so does yesterday. I know that I went on the camping trip on Monday, but that seems like years ago. In the span of a week I have driven hundreds of miles, gone camping, scuba diving, played guitar at two campfires, wrote a tribute to a dear friend, got signed up to play camp-counselor 2-on-2 beach volley ball, and so much more. I was actually very happy that for the most part today, my services were only required for the setup of the big screen so that our Spanish “mafia” could watch the World Cup finals. It was actually a relaxing day and the heat wave has mostly broken it seems.

All these things have gone on, and while I was sitting at campfire, watching the embers drift in the thermals I was thinking that tonight would be a great night to write. Well, here I am getting back to my computer and I feel like I have just hit a block. I don’t really know why, other than the fact that I feel like I should be writing more than just the summation of the things that have happened over the past week. There is something so mesmerizing about watching the embers from the fire dance up into the sky. That is probably what made me think that it would be a good night to write. Watching that always reminds me of the scene in the movie The Right Stuff where the embers from the aboriginal fire seem to fly up into space.

Today was just one of those days, all the best intentions, none of the motivation. I have a list of things that should get done, and I probably could have checked a bunch of them off today, but I didn’t. In truth, I didn’t really do much of anything besides play guitar and eat today. It seems like all we do on Sundays is eat. Mostly because we have a late breakfast, but lunch is at a normal time. The sad thing is that we manage to have both one of the best meals and the worst meal of the week on Sunday. I am sorry, cold-cuts on rolls that are not big enough for a sandwich just does not a dinner make.

Unfortunately, while it sounds like many of the thoughts and ideas that I put down on last week’s comment card were applauded, odds are nothing will change. I missed most of the staff meeting this week because I was setting up for the World Cup. I heard through the grapevine that some of the admin liked my ideas for making the daily schedule better, but often times this is one of those organizations that won’t change because they think the way things are is tradition. Well, it could be better and I wish that we could get it there.

Life is good though. Camp is fun. Maybe if I play my cards right I will get to go on another trip. That would be a lot of fun. It is just nice to do something different as the day-to-day routine here can get old fast and when you have lots of kids out of camp on trips, hiking, at competitions and at the lake, it can be like a ghost town. In some ways, it makes the job easier, but it can also make it less fun, especially for the campers. It seems though that for the most part people are in good spirits, so that is good.

Life is like that sometimes

Alex — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 05:37:20 +0000

“Freedom! Heading home for a much needed day off.” ~Christine Macken (1985-2010)

I often have written about how life is short and we need to make the best of what we have. Sometimes the stark reality in that sentiment comes out and slaps you in the face. I have often looked around me at my friends, finding it so strange that they were getting married and some even having children, but when it comes to my contemporaries passing away, that is a completely different story. Death is an unfortunate phase of life when it snuffs out an amazing light so early. It is immutable though and as such all we can do is keep the memories alive in ourselves.

As I walked across the field to my cabin this evening I just watched the lights through the mist. In a way it was very surreal, walking and thinking about my friend who passed away last Monday, July 5. I knew what I was doing, I was trying to compose some kind of post in my head and while I thought all of these ideas that came to me were good, probably none of them will actually make it here. All of the thinking really just made me remember her and started to make me feel sad.

I remember the last time we were together. It wasn’t really that long ago. We met you at Squatters along with some of your other friends from the area. Your mother was there too. We had some food and a couple beers and caught up on old times. I am sure that neither of us thought that would be the last time that we would see eachother. At least it was a happy and fun time.

I met Macken at the University of Utah. She was a theatre student who did some work and internships with us at PTC. I don’t think that I ever actually realized that she was an EMT, but all things considered, it doesn’t surprise me. Macken was an amazing person and a great friend. She was a person who really did live life to the fullest all the time and I would imagine that it wasn’t easy given her medical history. I can’t remember a time that I didn’t see her happy. She was dedicated, hard-working, friendly, and kind. While we may not have been best friends, she was a great friend to have! I (and anyone else who did) was lucky to know her.

Life is like that sometimes. Sometimes the best of people get dealt the lousy hands. Sometimes you just have to look for the silver lining, the golden ticket. Hopefully the place beyond this harsh world we inhabit for our brief moment of life is actually a better place. Hopefully it is place where the things that plagued us in our Earthly life are set aside so that we can exist in some state of peace with the rest of the universe. I would certainly hope that if we move on to a non-corporeal existence that the physical “defects” of our bodies will cease to haunt us.

For Christine, a short poem that this sad time inspired:

Freedom comes in many forms
In days off,
nights off,
and passing storms

Those left behind can’t understand
you lie
in peace
on beach’s sand

A laugh, a smile, a memory
of time spent
living
frolicking, free

We are but travelers here on earth
we seek refuge
in passage
to death from birth

Life cannot be lived when you hide in fear
so dream
make friends
and keep them near

Life’s release to death will freedom give
yet in our hearts
and minds
you live

This post is of course dedicated to Christine Macken and the Macken family. I am so glad that I had the chance to get to know and work with Chrstine. She was a wonderful person and a great friend. May you find greener pastures wherever you are and I hope you know that you will be missed. If you want to read more about this amazing person, you can follow this link. Rest in peace Mack.

Diving, Singing, Days Off

Alex — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:59:08 +0000

That is yours truly in the chilly waters of Maine at "Two Lights" on Cape Elizabeth.

Yes friends, that is how I spent my day off today. After a week of hot and sweaty weather, Ruth an I jumped in the truck and headed for Cape Elizabeth for some scuba diving. This is certainly the way to beat the heat, with the water temperature dropping as low as 55˚F at our deepest depth of 32 feet. It is a little chilly at first, then you get used to it, and then later on you start to feel cold, but it sure was better than being out in the hot and muggy weather!

We had a very successful dive day today. We visited a different dive shop than where we went last week and they were much nicer and friendlier. We will probably visit them again for our future diving needs while we are here in Maine. The whole experience in their shop was better and I think that it set a much better tone for the rest of the day.

When we got to the dive site we saw another pair of divers who were just coming back in. One of them was dragging what appeared to be a pretty old boat anchor crusted in barnacles and such. It was actually pretty impressive that this guy had lugged it all the way back from wherever he found it. It could not have been easy since it looked pretty heavy! They told us the conditions were pretty good and we gave them a hand getting back up the beach to their car before we suited up to dive.

Everything about our dive day went really smoothly. We got in and acclimated to the water, swam out and really had no issues getting down, equalized and on our way. We saw a whole bunch of crabs of various varieties, a couple fish including what we thing was a flounder, but we didn’t see any lobster. We saw lobster traps, but no lobster. I suppose that leaves us something to look forward to on our next dive.

After returning the gear and returning to camp we pretty much did an about-face and headed off to dinner. This was the first time this season that I went to the 302 for dinner and it was good. We met up with some of the other staff there and then went to see Livingston Taylor in concert. That was a lot of fun, he is a great performer. I actually sang with him back in high-school at some concert in Newton. It was fun to see him again years later!

So, a pretty good day off, very fun and very successful!