tim’s thought property

These are three of the eight campers that I helped with during the week. Zach C. (on the left), who had his tenth birthday at camp. There is Landon in the middle, who overcame his fears of the Zipline this week, and then Tim, from the aforementioned conversation.

This is me with two of my most enjoyable campers. Next to me is Andy, the girl who went on the Flying Squirrel, and was smiling about it the entire time. She has been to camp before and there is something so brightening about her smile. It’s great to see her smile. Beside her is Stacey, one of the most happy campers I’ve seen. Although she did not like the mosquitoes one bit, she had a great time swimming, helping to lead singing and she always had questions. More than once she wanted to help out in our skit acting, by giving me the thumbs up to begin acting or not.

This is Ben, on the right and myself, the Ropes Instructors. We were told once, how we looked like brothers, but I think that the campers only thought so because of the beards. Ben’s a swell guy, and boy did he ever get sunburned on the Zipline platform. He was as pink as a lobster….a Rock Lobster…
You guys can decide how similar we look. We both have beards, lead Ropes, and enjoy Rock Lobster by the B52’s. Let us know how brotherly we are…

As someone who has worked at camp for six years now, I have the privilege (or curse) of seeing various campers grow up, as they return to camp every summer. This year, there were a few different campers in different cabins that I had counselled in previous summers. Sometimes you can’t understand how they’ve changed (“They were so co-operative last year!”) or you forget some of their quirks (“Oh right, he was the one who kept asking questions.”), or you just plain forget you’ve counselled them (“What do you mean do I remember you? I’ve seen hundreds of kids every summer! You’re lucky I can remember my own name!”).

Now, over lunch one day, three of the kids in the cabin I was helping with, (as an activity instructor, I don’t counsel in a cabin, but I do help out each week) were sitting at the same table as I was. Two other staff, Rochelle and Lisa were sitting there, too, and a conversation between camper Timothy and Lisa ensues.

Cast of Characters:
Lisa (nature instructor, blond girl, good at math)
Camper Timothy (eight or nine years old, blond boy, very inquisitive)
I (me, as passive observer, brunette boy)

As Lisa is sitting next to Camper Timothy, for whatever reason, Camper Timothy has struck a very strange topic of conversation.

Camper Tim: Did you know beer is good for you?

Lisa: It is not! Who told you?

Camper Tim: (eyes go wide, looking confused) It is too! My dad has let me have some once and he drinks beer too! He gave me this much! (itty-bitty amount shown by his fingers, about a centimeter or so)

Lisa: Well, you shouldn’t be drinking beer! You’re a kid and it is bad for you.

Camper Tim: (eyes are wide and he is in a state of real shocked confusion) Nuh-uh! My dad drinks it all the time, it’s good for your body!

Lisa: Let me tell you the truth. Beer kills your liver. Are you thinking of Red Wine? That can be good for your heart, if you drink it appropriately.

Camper Tim: (thinks, silently for a while. Then with a start he concedes) Oh yeah. Then this is wine, too! (As he takes his red juice and swigs it down, then resumes his meal, leaving Lisa, Rochelle and I in amused silence.)

Kids say the darndest things!

After a week of campers, sunshine, mosquitoes, heat exhaustion, camp dramas, rain, deet and mud, part of me wants to shut down. This first week of camp was a little more than I had expected, yet it was quite rewarding. Through all the trials and hardships that could not be predicted, I would have to say that GOD brought me through quite well.

Leading the Ropes activity with Ben, we were faced with the advancement of the Assiniboine and the relentlessness of mosquitoes. You see, the river was slowly rising through the week, with the rain and runoff, and by Thursday, the course (shaped like a rectangle) was only half operational. Yet, remarkably, on Friday morning, the river had receded about fifteen to twenty feet from the night before.

With all the campers we had to come through the course and do the elements, we were lucky to have them all try out the elements. (An Element is a part of the course that is like an obstacle, be that the Clatter Bridge, Multi Vines or Vertical PlayPen.) On each final day for the activity group, we would use the Zipline, a ninety foot long cable that you slide down on, and the Flying Squirrel, an element in which we pull a participant up from the ground. As it so happened, we had a camper named Andrea, Andy for short, who has Cerebral Palsy. She couldn’t do the Zipline since she has limited motor capacity. So Ben and I, and Meagan her care worker harnessed her up and we pulled her up the Flying Squirrel. We raised her about fifteen feet in the air, and she was gently swinging and laughing, smiling the entire time. And even though she couldn’t talk, Andy conveyed her joy and excitement at being elevated into the air. It was a real rewarding moment, it was the reason why I returned to camp, the purest form: To see the light and joy in a camper’s eyes in accomplishing something new.

Have you ever had the pleasure of mowing the lawn for the first time of the season? You know when spring temperatures warm up enough to go outdoors without a sweater, and the rains hold of long enough to cut the grass, which by this time is tall enough to be considered a shrub? Well, I was the one in the house deemed lucky enough to be the first to mow, and have played the somewhat unofficial lawn caretaker ever since the middle of May.

Well, the first time I went to cut the lawn, everything was going smooth, until I got to the backyard. For a while, we had a small planter with some chives growing in it, every year. This year, I was surprised to see a horde of green grass shoots amidst my little onions. I stared at it for a while, scratched my head, then went on mowing the rest of the lawn. When I was finished, I returned with the weed-whacker, and stared some more at the newly unified plants. I then started triming the grass parts that I could, and was soon greeted by the scent of onions. Hmmm. This isn’t working. And these chives are making me desire an omelette right about now. As these thoughts passed through my head, I realized that I mowed down most of the chives anyway, so I walked away, smelling of grass clippings and garden salad.

Since that time, I’ve been faced with the crab apples from the neighbour’s tree, falling into the yard. These are just begininng to ripen, so I wager in a few weeks time, they will be ripe with rot, leaving a mushy and smelly surprise when the mower comes to greet them. If only one of the seven lazy ant colonies from the front yard would visit the back yard to remove these apples for me. Then I wouldn’t roll my eyes so much when I mow their anthills and they run out all in confusion. If they removed the apples for me, that would give them something constructive to do, instead of nest and destroy the lawn.

Observe.

As I was drifting around the various other blogs on the interweb, I came across a post from a girl, called ‘just a girl‘ that had to do with bubble wrap. The link took me to a page that allowed me to pop it. Yes, to Pop Bubble Wrap.

Now you may think that is mildly amusing, and yes, it is. But it is also largely entertaining. So much so, that I have been playing with it for a while. As I was popping various designs in the bubbles, I was reminded of that old toy, LightBrite. The grid pattern looked similar, and then I was reminded of the last time I had a LightBrite. It turns out it was a week ago.

I was visiting friends who live in the second floor of an old condo, and in their dumpster was a couple of old chairs. On the curb, however, there were two comfortable looking, if not a bit soggy couches. I mused with Amanda (one of my friends and a tenant of the house) that these couches, if not soggy, would be a wonderful addition to their rather seat less, upper floor. But as it was not feasible, my attention then turned to the LightBrite box adjacent to the dumpster, which had a bag of lights, the paper sheets and the light casing all in tact. The only lacking part was a light bulb.

Now, all of us there agreed that the LightBrite was a fun toy and rather amusing invention, so I decided to look for a light bulb for it. I went with Amanda and Carolyn (another friend, and another tenant of the house) to the mall, as they returned and exchanged merchandise. I half-heartedly looked for a bulb, but ended up carrying the casing all around the mall.

And that’s how my mind took one pattern, reminded myself of an anecdote and ended up recounting the story for all of my readers. All five of you. Thank you and goodnight.