It’s day .5 of camp. Staff training. The time where us on staff get to cry without the campers seeing. I see people and it’s like no time has passed, it almost feels silly trying to catch up because I swear I just saw them a few days ago (some of the staff I did literally see a few days ago at the Oregon camp session). My name is Aubrie, I’m an advisor this session, I’ve also this year become the staff liaison in the off-season, last session I was a cook. Now I’m also the blog point person! I’m quickly becoming a list of things. I’m looking forward to seeing how people choose to talk about their time here, what feels important to campers, and connecting with people through their writing. Lots of staff have been here for days. Vermont arrival feels different than Oregon. Slower, less balls to juggle. Coming from the West Coast it still mildly shocks me how green everything is. Everywhere you look – green. Everything feels a little lighter being surrounded by so many plants.
I will speak to my travel here – I had a harrowing arrival to Vermont. It was 9:30pm and I threw the last of my stuff in my bag and hugged my roommates and prayed I didn’t forget anything. I ended up turning around to get a headlamp because I didn’t see it in the obvious pocket and I knew I would go crazy without one. I bought a $30 sandwich at the airport. My first flight didn’t take off from the tarmak because the generator stopped working. The plane was a Boeing 737 which prompted me to read a long article about the timeline of recent messed up stuff going on at Boeing. Because I was so tired it was hard for my brain to go into doomsdaying about our flight going down. On my second flight the oxygen masks came down at landing. In total I slept probably about 3 hours. This trip made it onto the the not-good side of the spectrum of redeye flight trips, for sure. The bus to Rutland was nice – there were only a few people on the bus and the driver chatted with us and pointed out scenery.
Will (staffer) picked me up. We had a nice time chatting and looking at the scenery. Will told me about the book he’s writing, which I’m really looking forward to reading. I’m planning to read more in the coming year. I have a hard time finishing books. I think if it was my friend’s novel I’d be more likely to finish it. It was nice to talk with someone where we were both a little rusty in talking to each other but both genuinely excited to see each other.
This is a group of staff that has an easy time being comfortable around each other. I felt that in the air when I got here. The vibe is very “family reuinion.” Christian and Matt were playing ball with Oona (Talis and Louis’ kid) and Eloise (Matt’s kid). The junior staffers were swinging on the swing. Larkin was reading on a couch. Sydney yelled at me from the office window. The rest of the evening was a mix of formal catching up and casual hanging. We all got to bed early. I’ve been writing in my journal 3 things I liked about my day. I did that while I fell asleep.
<3,
Aubrie H, Advisor 2022-2024