Rainy River Romp

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.


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