Inspired by prompt number five over at Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop: “What summer means to your family.”  I do have to say, I consider myself very lucy because I have a job where I get the summers off, so I can actually do things in the summer.

If you actually follow my blog you probably can see that I spend a lot of time (especially lately) talking about summer camp.  Camp is what I do for the summer and what I have done for the summer since 1994 (overnight camp that is).  I missed three summers at camp due to college and work, but other than that I have been a camper or staff regularly.  I also did day-camp pre ’94, but I seem to not usually count that in my camp experience, though it was a fun time and I do remember bits and pieces of it.

When I talk about camp, I really do think of the camp community as family.  In fact, there were a couple times when I almost used the words “camp family” in the first paragraph of this post.  Thankfully, my real family saw the wonderful things that camp had to offer and decided to send me to camp.  I suppose I should also be thankful that I also enjoyed being at camp.  There are very few things that I would rather be doing during the summer than being at camp.

I have been to three different overnight camps, one as a camper from 1994-2001 and two as staff.  The camp that I currently work for is actually two camps, a boys and a girls camp called Indian and Forest Acres (respectively).  Since the first day that I set foot on the campus at IA and FA I have felt welcome and at home.  The people here really are like my extended family or my summer family.  It is so amazing how that happens, to walk in to a new place and to feel accepted and welcomed in like family is just unbelievable, and that is one of the most special things about these camps.  There are people here who I know that I could call on when I need something at any time of the year.  These are people who I see for only two months out of the year but they mean a great deal to me.

So, when I think about what summer means to my family, it is really a twofold question.  To my biological family it is usually a time to relax, take some time off from work, watch the dogs play, and spend time together.  We spend time at our home in New Hampshire and go hiking and such and we also often spend time at my uncle’s home on Martha’s Vineyard.  It is a time to go to baseball games with my grandparents who have been taking us grandkids since we were old enough to walk.  Going to the Red Sox games is always an experience with my grandparents and it is a lot of fun.  It is something I look forward to every summer.

To my camp family, summer is life.  We like to say that we spend ten months of the year looking forward to the two that we live together.  As soon as you step foot back on camp you feel like you never left, and even the campers who are new get welcomed with hugs and open arms.  The summer for this family is a time of learning, growing, bonding, and fun.  Amazing lifetime friendships are kindled and every summer, without fail, every camper and staff member discovers something new about himself/herself and his/her friends.  In some ways I feel like camp is really the time and place that you can really be who you are and who you want to be.  Staff and campers here do things that they would never do in front of or with their friends at home.

Summer is a time to be free, to run around and play.  It is a great time of year to explore both the world around us and ourselves, and I hope that it will always be something that I can really take advantage of!

Well, I caught my first moose tonight.  By “caught” I mean captured with my camera.  I think that I have seen this guy before.  I think that he (I am not actually sure it is a he) kind of hangs out in this particular area; maybe just to pose for the people driving down the road.  It is almost inevitable though, that when you see a whole bunch of cars stopped on the road that there is a moose to bee seen!

A moose just off the road on Rt. 302 in NH between the Mount Washington Hotel and Crawford Notch

This moose was not our first wildlife sighting of the day though.  Being that it was our staff-week day off, I took Ruth over to Franconia to see our house there, meet my sister, and just have a relaxing day.  We did a little bit of laundry as well, but that was not the goal of the day.  After a relaxing day and dinner at home we loaded up the truck to head back to camp and that is when the fun began.  Our first sighting was wild turkey just hanging out on the road.  This is not too uncommon, but it is still pretty cool.

As we were driving out Rt. 114 towards Rt. 3 I was telling Ruth that we used to have a bear that like to hang around there and sometimes visit the area around the house.  As if on cue, we came around a corner and there was the bear, almost in the middle of the road.  It was pretty impressive timing.  Our approach probably scared him a little as I wasn’t really expecting to see him so I had to slow down pretty quickly.  At that point we didn’t have any cameras ready so we didn’t get a picture.  Some animals I will chase to grab a photo, but I don’t think that going after the bear as he headed off to the woods would be a good idea.

As I mentioned earlier, our next sighting was on Rt. 302 right around milepost 42.  This is between the Mount Washington Hotel and the AMC building at the top of Crawford Notch.  We saw people pulled over and pulling off the road, so I was pretty sure that there was a moose there, and of course, there was.  I managed to get a couple good shots of this guy before there were tons of people stopping which was cool.  Moose are really cool, hopefully I will catch a few more before the summer is out!

After we dropped through Crawford Notch, Ruth caught the last sighting of the day.  She spotted a bear with cubs off the road.  I didn’t get to see them because I was driving, and, as I mentioned, I am not one to be chasing down bears, especially ones with cubs!  So, I would say we are off to a pretty good start in terms of animal spotting.

Other than that, we are getting close to opening camp.  We start having kids show up tomorrow and the big arrival day is Thursday.  On Thursday I am doing a tour of New England to pick up kids, and adventure that will be starting at 5AM and going until all the kids get safely to camp.  That should be a real adventure.  That will be when all the fun begins though, I am looking forward to it.  Camp will be a lot of fun when the kids get here.

For now it is time to rack up some extra sleep before the driving and the craziness that always ensues on arrival day.

Why is it that sometimes you think that you have a great idea, a thought for a post that couldn’t be better, but when you sit down to try to put the words on the page, it just doesn’t feel the same?  I know that everyone feels that sometimes.  I wouldn’t so much call it writer’s block as much as it is just the possible lack of flesh on the original concept.  I don’t even actually remember what it was that I had thought was such a good idea to write about, but as soon as I opened the page to start writing it just didn’t seem as worthwhile anymore.

Sometimes there are ideas that really just flow from the brain through the fingers and onto the page.  Other times they seem to need a little coaxing.  Every now and then they don’t really want to come at all.  It is strange though, that many of the times that words just flow is when you least intend for that to happen.  It is like getting in the zone, you have to see where things take you.

Inspiration can certainly come in many forms and at any time.  I am sure that when I take the time to actually put pen to paper this summer and write some real letters to people, words will come.  I do think though, that there is something magical about real mail that you don’t get from email, IM’s or blogs.  I also think that there is something about the physicality of actually writing (which I think is becoming a dying art) that makes it very conducive for creative juices to get going.

I suppose the other thing that I could take into account is the fact that I am up way past my bedtime and the past days have been very long.  The days will only get longer though as the summer progresses.  It seems that all the good ideas come lat at night though.  Not the best combination of events when you spend a summer at camp.  Could be a lot worse though.  When you think about it, how many people do you know who will write something about not writing something and actually make it a post you can ponder?

In the end, what does it boil down to?  Could be a post on nothing….

Summer in Maine (or anywhere in northern New England really).  This is the time to look out for moose.  Every summer at camp we have one intrepid staff member who comes to camp with the exclusive mission of seeing as many moose as possible in the eight weeks that we are at camp.  With the number of moose around where the camp is, one would think that this is not a hard thing to do.  In reality, it can be quite the challenge.

Last night was our first night off since staff week began (not that the powers that be really care what I am doing after dinner) so it was the first time that Mike could head out and go moosing.  I am not really sure if “moosing” is actually a real word, my spell-check doesn’t like it, but that seems to be the term that everyone uses when looking for moose.  Mike is also very particular about his moosing trips and goes out almost every night of camp, sometimes with campers and sometimes just with his family or a couple friends.  If other people see moose but not him, that is about the worst.  Las year I had about four or five sightings before he had his first….

One of the favorite spots for moosing is about ten minutes up the road from camp on one of the little Maine back-roads.  The road runs between some marsh-y land and and a river.  Right around dusk and just after dawn are the times to really get out to find some animals so we often leave on moosing excursions after dinner.  Up at this location there is even a little place to sit and look out over the fields than can keep you pretty well hidden.  It is usually an active spot, many people hang around there or show up there looking for moose.

So last night Mike took off with his family and left me back at camp.  I of course got on the phone and managed to swing a pickup to get out on the first night of moosing.  We drove around out there for over an hour without any sightings, and right around sunset I decided to make some art and shoot some barn and sunset photos.  After a couple more loops around the area, his family was starting to get hungry so we gave up and headed off to town so they could eat (I had eaten at camp).

As we headed towards North Conway we passed the Asst. Director of the camp who was out moosing with some other staff people.  Seconds after passing we got a phone call from him, wanted to know if we had seen any moose.  Well, you already know the answer to that question.  However, by the time we got to the restaurant we got another phone call and they informed us that they had seen three moose right where we were.  One right in the middle of the road where I had been shooting sunsets!  Twenty minutes!  I guess you can’t win ‘em all.

With that, the game is now on for the most moose sightings this summer and the best moose photos!

Really I had thought that I would be writing this last night (which was really this morning) but when I actually got to the point where I could pull out my computer I was ready to pass out.  Yesterday was one of the longest days (or at least longest feeling) and it was kind of a doomed day from the beginning.

The night before I had been asked to be our liaison to drive to Boston and meet the international staff who were arriving.  This was not so bad, I don’t mind driving and I like going to Boston.  I actually had been planning to stay overnight in Boston as we also had flights to meet today, needless to say, that didn’t end up happening.

It all started after breakfast.  A group of five of us headed out to the Portland Airport to pick up the 12-passenger vans that we rent for the summer.  This is when the shit really hit the fan.  Being on pointe for the operation I was talking to the agent who told us that they didn’t have the vans for us.  According to him (who happened to be a manager) they had not been able to reach via phone us to confirm the rental.  When I asked what phone number they were using, I couldn’t get a straight answer let alone a number.  I just find it very odd that they would have such an issue as the camp rents vans from them every summer at the same time.  It is not small change to rent four vans for nine weeks.

The manager told us that the vans were on their way up from Boston and that they would be there in an hour-and-a-half.  Well, I had to get to boston to pick up people who had never been to Boston or the USA before, so I was not going to have any of that.  It turned out that they DID have two vans that we could take, so I took one and headed off to Boston, we took the other, and one person waited for the vans that were being repositioned.  The manager was nice enough to offer to buy breakfast for the person who stayed to wait.  All things considered, it could have been worse, but we managed to get everyone on the road.

Before we hit the road to Boston I plugged all the flight info into the tracking app on my phone and we discovered that our last flight of the was already delayed.  As we got close to the airport the plane had been delayed even longer and in fact had not even left London yet.  By the time that flight got off the ground, it was 2:30 late, and I think that we had actually made our first pickup of the day.  Once we had collected the first 15 staff members I sent them off with the other liaison on the bus we had.  At this point I did have time to head home for dinner and then go back to the airport to make the last pickup from the delayed flight.

Since the flight had been delayed and we sent the bus ahead, I now had to make the return trip to camp with the last three staff members.  In leaving the airport after 9PM and having to stop to feed the weary travelers, we didn’t make it back to camp until after midnight.  Of course, that was not the end of the night since I had to help these guys get in to their cabins.  I think it was around 1:30AM by the time I got back to my cabin.  I briefly considered blogging then, but I couldn’t stay awake.  The drive, while uneventful was very taxing as it was raining for probably the last half.  I was probably out before my head hit the pillow, and thankfully the assistant director told me that I should just sleep in, skip breakfast, and go out and grab something whenever I woke up.

As long as day as it was, I didn’t really mind spending all that time in the airport.  It is very fun to go people watching, especially at the international arrivals door.  This week (and next) is also a fun time to go because there are lots of camps who are picking up staff and campers.  I probably talked to people from at least five or six other camps while we were all waiting for flights to arrive.  I may have had the wimpiest sign though (they forgot to give me a nice one when I left camp).

I probably should have taken my little camera with me so that I could have discretely taken people photos.  It is always so interesting to see how people react when they meet friends and family.  I think international arrivals are much more interesting than domestic on account of the fact that people have usually been away for longer.  I saw many great family reunions, lots of little children running to meet parents or grandparents.  Possibly the most exciting reunion was one girl who must have met family and she literally dropped all her bags all over the walkway letting out an excited shriek and giving lots of hugs.  People are so interesting.

I also realized that I went into full on counselor mode yesterday.  As soon as people started showing up I was checking off names on my list and constantly counting everyone.  I know that all these people that I picked up were adults, but I was supposed to be responsible for them and make sure that they all actually made it to camp.  It would have been really bad if I had left someone stranded in the airport!  Every time we moved I was counting heads, I think people even were asking me if they could go to the restrooms.  It was kind of funny, but I did get everyone to camp safely and in the most timely fashion possible.

It feels like the summer has actually begun now.  The staff is all in camp and the energy is back in the place.  I have good feelings for the summer!