The day started quietly for me . The sounds of a light breeze and cows lowing filled the camp. This area is just begging for you to take a nap in the sun. I had gotten to the camp a couple days early to help setup. The realization that around 100 campers would fill the field and cabins by the end of the day set in.
Then alas the cars and buses started flooding in later that day. The crowd mingled and was filled with plenty of “oh my gosh it’s been too long!” and “so good to see you!” This was my first time at camp and I didn’t know anyone. I was undoubtedly unsettled by that but I found comfort in that many campers were in the same situation as me. I sat off on the sidelines and watched the crowd do their thing. I don’t know that I’ve ever been around this many homeschoolers and unschoolers. The possibilities of what might occur in these next to weeks with all these diverse and interesting people filled my mind. In time a group circle was called and everyone was gathered in one place at last. The first and most pressing issue we all had to address was, of course: to try and get ourselves into order by height? Definitely a fun and hilarious icebreaker to get started.
After some simple things had all been gone over we split off into our advisory groups. A much more personal and intimate group of around 10 people. This was great for me because I could get introductions underway and meet my first few people from the camp. But after everyone’s long day of travel we all had one thing on our minds: Food. And the food here has been great so far. Never bland and basic. Always something interesting. We had food in our advisor groups. Very nice to share a meal with these new people.
As twilight grew closer all the campers shuffled together for the opening ceremony. We were all silent as we walked through the woods to an location previously unknown to me. We all gathered around a lovely fire pit in the woods complete with cozy sheets to lay on and benches surrounding them. The ceremony was the time for me that I truly felt welcomed into camp. We heard stories from both new campers and seasoned ones. After that I felt way more comfortable going up to anyone and striking up a conversation. Then with the ceremony done we shuffled back to the lodge and ping pong was played and banana bread was eaten. I went to bed shortly after excited and enthusiastic about the two weeks to come.
