Just the Right Amount of Rain!
Dear Parents and Friends,
We have had a beautiful and action packed day here in the Valley! The weather was sunny and warm until late afternoon when it rained for about 30 minutes and it was cool light drizzle that fell like tiny air conditioners. Throughout this we had no thunder and lightening. I was out on the lake with Riverside helping them get ready for their river component starting on Monday. We stayed in our boats throughout the rain and at one point capsized to teach boat rescue. The water temperature was actually warmer than the air temp. Everyone was getting tired of drills and learning strokes so we paddled boats back in and put them up for a swim. Ask your Riversider about the “GV Plunge”. It’s a fun water thing I’ve done with campers for years.
Moving backwards, breakfast was homemade scones along with cereal and fruit. Our baker’s are incredible. We also had homemade bread for dinner tonight along with meatloaf, green beans, and salad. Dessert came later which is another story.
After breakfast, we began the last morning of A-Day Discoveries on Main Camp. For campers, this means a day of wrapping up projects and polishing skills in half of the discoveries they have chosen for the session. For some program areas, the lesson was totally wrapped up today. For example, weavers took their finished projects off the loom and tied them off, potters were working on glazing their wares and most craft projects were coming to fruition. B day will come tomorrow for the two other activities that campers have on alternate days. Those who are part of the Fine Arts production will share their hard work with the rest of camp next week. For those who are in outdoor adventure Discoveries such as biking, climbing, white water kayaks, and camping skills and nature, there will be off camp trip opportunities all next week.
I spent the morning working with a few campers on Mountainside in a primitive woodworking project. Each camper is making a stool to take home. The tops, which we cut today with a very large saw (human powered), will attach to 4 legs that are taking shape utilizing shave horses and drawknives to create the legs for the stool. The tops are white pine and the legs are red oak taken right from the property and split by hand to get to this point. The pieces are mostly made with hand tools except for the holes for the legs which are 1.5 inches and drilled out with an electric drill and spade bit. Even older campers would have trouble with a brace and bit keeping the angles right and drilling through the wood. Last sessions finished project turned out great and campers this session are doing an excellent job. Other Mountainsider’s had sign-ups today in a number of activities from sports to crafts and then spent time with their cabin in the afternoon.
After dinner tonight over half of our staff slowly left the dining room unnoticed and began to hide in various places around camp. One counselor from each cabin stayed back to be with the children and try to locate all the cabin counselors and activity leaders. It was a giant game of hide and seek and each staff member was worth points. The campers had to find everyone to get dessert that had been stolen by the Tajar. Of course they did find all involved and some weren’t easily found. The whole camp had oatmeal chocolate chip cookies out on the green. It was a cool pleasant time for everyone. By the time we ended the game it was getting close to dark and time for the young Hillsider’s to head out to dreamland.
It’s been another great day here at GV. I love the fact that our Mountainsider’s and Riversider’s get in there and play Hide and Seek with our youngest campers. It’s done in our outdoor world where nature is available to surprise and delight. Stated in a recent Patagonia catalogue, “The world often expects children to put aside childish ways in favor of preparing for the future.” Here at camp we know that play is an important element in preparing children for the future. We as adults should play more often as well. Hope you got some play in today. Tomorrow is another day of opportunity. Stay tuned!