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.

I have been talking about it for months, probably since the end of last summer, and now it is finally here.  ”What?” I hear you ask.  Camp.  I am back for my third summer at Indian and Forest Acres Camps in Fryeburg, Maine.  Indian Acres (IA) and Forest Acres (FA) are brother and sister camps separated by 2.2 miles and the Fryeburg Fairgrounds.  I blogged a little bit from camp last summer, so if you dig back through my archives you should be able to find a little bit.  Hopefully this summer, with my blog in a new (hopefully permanent) home I will have the time to blog more about the camp experience.

I have been a camp person all my life.  I started back in 1994 at Yavneh, a Jewish summer camp in New Hampshire.  I went there as a camper through 2000 and then in 2001 I went on their 6-week Israel program.  After that summer in Israel I headed off to work at Micah on the recommendation of my sister.  I spent three summers there and then took a 3-summer hiatus from camp.  After the Les Mis year at PTC I was able to return to camp, this time to IA/FA as they are owned by a friend of the family who asked me to come.  Needless to say, I love being back at camp, and I love being here.

We often talk about how the kids go home and spend nine months of the year waiting for the two that they spend here at camp.  This holds true not only for the kids but also for the real camp people like myself.  I love my real job, but there is nothing that compares to working at a summer camp.  I think that this is one of the most rewarding jobs that there is.  When you see kids get so excited about the things that they do at camp, the new activities they try or the friends they make and the fears that they master, there is no great feeling of pride than knowing that you helped get them there.  The real camp people are not in this for the money, we don’t really get much, it is the other rewards that make the job worthwhile.

When I arrive at camp I always feel like I haven’t left.  Almost everything seems to be exactly the way it was.  Unfortunately today, that meant the rain as well, but we are hoping that this summer will be a little drier than last.  The things that I left in my cabin are still there, other things that were left around camp are still around camp.  Some things probably shouldn’t have been left around camp but were…  Within minutes the old routines fall back into place, and life continues as if there hadn’t been a nine month break in the middle.

I think that summer camp, in some form, is something that every child should get to experience.  I know that camps like IA/FA and the camps that I attended are not always the most affordable summer solutions, but the benefits of camp on children is just amazing.  Seeing how much children grow and learn in eight weeks is amazing.  Then when you see those same kids come back year-after-year and you continue to watch them, it means even more.  There is so much that kids can take away from the experience.

So, I am here, gearing up for the summer.  I have some unpacking of my own stuff left to do and lots of other things to take care of around camp.  We have some time before the kids get here, but now that I am here, I know that the end will feel like it came so fast.  One day at a time and make the most of every day, that is the key to a great summer.

I don’t spend an exorbitant amount of time at home generally, but I spend enough.  Almost a year ago, Ruth and I moved into our current apartment and we have been very happy with it.  Around the time that we moved in, and within the next few months there was a fairly sizable turnover of residents in the complex (two, four unit, single floor buildings).  There were two empty units when we moved in, and I know that at least two others turned over.  The apartment next to us was vacated a couple months after we moved in and sat empty until right before Christmas.

Other than just saying “hi” in passing, I don’t really know our new next door neighbors.  I am pretty sure that they do some work for the landlord as I believe that they shovel the snow and do yard-work and such.  We had one run in with them when they hooked up their washer and dryer and proceeded to flood both of your apartments.  This was not their fault, but it sure was a bummer.  All the rest of what I know about them comes from what we hear through the walls, and boy let me tell you, sometimes it is a lot.

Either our walls are really thin or they are just really loud, or possibly a combination of both.  Sometimes I wonder how happily married this couple actually is because it seems like most mornings they are going at it.  I know that they have at least one young kid as well who gets yelled at a lot too.  It is nice that the shared wall is between our living rooms and not bedrooms!

I am not a parent, but I have to wonder when it seems like all these people are giving this kid is negative reinforcement.  The other day I heard what was probably a computer game or DVD and it seemed like the whole thing was “don’t do this” and “don’t do that.”  Is this really the way to teach kids?  I thought that just saying “No” was one of those things that is less effective.  I know from working at summer camp and for lifeguard training that you should not be completely negative if you want to get good results.  Sure, sometimes you have to lay down some rules with what is not allowed, but not all the time right?

In general I don’t think that the noisy neighbors bother me as much here at my current apartment as at the old apartment.  There I had people living above, below and on one side.  The person above me insisted on blasting loud music on sunday mornings.  It was odd, just one song, and generally they were not bad songs, it was just weird.  I don’t have have to put up with elephants upstairs now either.  I just really wonder about people who spend so much time in apparent competition with eachother.

I don’t think that anyone can really say it better than The Beatles: “There are places I remember, all my life.” For me, summer camp is one of those places. I started going to camp in the summer of 1994 at a Jewish summer camp, Camp Yavneh. From ‘94 to ’01 I spent the bulk of my summer at camp. I remember after the first few summers of only going to camp for a month, I told my parents that I wanted to go for the entire summer, and I did.

In 2002 I went to work as a counselor at Camp Micah. The biggest reason for the switch was my sister, who went there as a camper in 2001 (Micah’s founding summer) and told me that I had to go, it was great. At that point in time I was on the younger end of the staff, having just graduated high school, it was a very interesting transition going from camper to counselor.

I spent three summers at Micah, and they were probably some of the most educational summers I have had. I started as a cabin counselor, learned how to really work with kids. I ran my own activity, and helped out around camp. Since the camp was new, I even helped start what may become traditions.

After that third summer at Micah, my college professors really encouraged me to find some work in my field of study for the summer. So I took a 3 year hiatus from camp. It never really occurred to me how much I missed being at camp until I was sitting with the good friends of my family, the Waldmans. I never thought that while sitting around after a day of skiing at Deer Valley that I would sign myself up to go back to camp, but I did.

So, here I am at Indian and Forest Acres, two wonderful camps tucked away on the Saco River in Maine. There are not too many places on earth that compare to the wonder and beauty of the northern Appalachian Mountains and New England in general. Everyone should experience a summer here, especially at camp. There is something about being here, in this setting that is just relaxing and comforting, and shouts “HOME!”

From the first moment that I set foot in Indian Acres I knew that I was going to be in for a great summer. I arrived a few days before staff orientation, and even with a small number of people around, the air was still buzzing with the anticipation of the start of the season. The first few days were a dizzying blur, getting familiar with a new camp, meeting lots of new people, figuring out how things work, doing my job, and having a lot of fun.

Then the kids came, and before you knew it, we were almost at the end of the summer! I spent my days running around with the kids and cameras, documenting the summer. We also got into building model rockets for display on parents weekend. The summer really shaped up to be one of the best summers I had in a few years. I started to really remember, and get back into what camp is all about, and then here I am back again for my second summer.

I realized a lot of things that summer. First off, I was only 24 years old, and yet, I was older than probably about 80% of the staff. I forgot that most staff members are still in college. When you are a camper, your counselors seem so much older than you, and you look up to them. Once you are staff you realize that though the difference in years may not be that big, it is the difference in maturity and life experience that makes counselors so charismatic. I also found that many of the things that I had been taught over the years, both at camp and school started to actually have a meaning, go figure!

A couple weeks ago I was talking to my sister about coming back to camp. We both get very excited about it, and look forward to it all year. Unless you have been to camp, you don’t always understand how that works. In any event, one of the things that came up in our conversation was about how we as staff impact the campers. Leah said to me: “I hope that one day my ‘kids’ will look back on camp and realize that I taught them something that they do or use for the rest of their life.” I told her: “Chances are, we the staff, have more impact on these kids than even their own parents do!” I really believe that, and it is one of the biggest reasons that I return to camp year after year. If there is one kid that I teach at camp who takes away a life lesson, then I have done my job.

There are campers who I had in my cabin who I still keep in touch with. They ask for advice or sometimes just want to chat. It is great to know that even though I have not been their counselor for a few years now, that I still play a role in their lives.

Sometimes it takes a while for new staff, even first year ex-campers, to “get” what camp is about. You can tell that there are people who come for the socialization; ex-campers who think they can come and hang with their friends, and new staff who are in it for the time of with the girls or guys and the chance for summer romance and whatnot. Those are the people who generally don’t come back for seconds, and the ones that do have figured out why they are there. Usually there is something at camp that touches you, or changes you and it all clicks. Be it sitting at campfire looking out over the river, signing traditional melodies at Friendship Circle, or something that happened at your activities. Maybe it is that feeling that you get when you help a camper achieve something that he or she spent all summer trying to do. Whatever it is, it is like a switch goes off and everything about camp makes sense. Then, every time you set foot on the grounds, you feel like you never left, and you never want to have to leave again.

I suppose that maybe I should say something about what is special about Indian and Forest Acres. First of all, from the moment I arrived, I felt like I was accepted into the camp “family.” By the end of the sumer, I knew that there were people from camp who I could call up any time if I needed help or advice, or just someone to talk to for a while. How many places really offer that? Even though I was new to the IA/FA family, when I got to camp my first summer here, within a day I felt like I had been there forever, and I knew that it was a place that I could call home. I don’t think that it is possible for a boy to walk through the IA totem poles or a girl to walk through the gates of FA and not be accepted into the camp family. There is a place for everyone here at camp, no matter who you are or what you like to do.

As I have become a part of the Indian and Forest Acres family, so to have they become a part of me. This is a place that I love to be, and enjoy being a part of. That is what camp is about for me, and that is why I will keep coming back as long as I am able to do so.