Twilight Play and More!
Dear Parents & Friends,
It’s Twilight Play tonight here at camp. There are quite a few cabins on cookouts and campouts tonight so a good many people didn’t make it to the dining room. They will do their dining around the campfire. It’s a good night to campout because we had a shower during signups that cooled things off for the evening. Twilight Play is an extended after supper activity period. It’s a great time to take part in some activities that you maybe haven’t participated in or want to spend a bit more time in. There was soccer on A-field, a lot of Arts & Crafts going on, Lacrosse on the Green, Archery, Pottery, Mountain Biking (they just rode by my window), Kayaking, Climbing at the Wall, looking for the Tajar, a Creek Hike and several others that were listed. On this evening we really don’t have a campfire and campers just spend a bit more time in their cabin before bedtime. It’s good cabin bonding time for the new campers as well as the ones who are returners.
Mountainside had a day off from their routine today and spent some time doing Main Camp activities on their own. They will be going out again tomorrow and Friday on mini-adventures and should go into the weekend with an idea of what activity among the four that they want to focus on. They participated in a number of activities today, one of which is called slack lining. It’s when you tie a piece of tubular webbing between two trees and get it tight enough to walk across. It’s only a couple of feet off the ground but is very good for balance and the fine art of slack lining. Many climbers use the skill as a way to improve their balance that transfers to the rock. There are so many athletic endeavors that rise up from the outdoor skills that we rarely come in contact with in our traditional sports world. As one who has seen the middle age years, I know how important it is to maintain your balance as you get older. Riverside is still out in Linville Gorge dodging raindrops but getting some good climbing in. If you’ve never been to Linville Gorge it’s spectacular and is a beautiful place to boot. The climbing is perfect for our group and that combined with the ruggedness and beauty makes for a super trip. They will all be returning on Friday.
Did you see the pictures of mask making? They are coming along very nicely. It’s a better use for plaster paris here at camp. You also notice a group of young Huck Finners who made a raft with Levi and Taylor. Making a raft is not that easy and it takes some intricate tying to get it so it’s water worthy. Then you have to be sure you have enough buoyancy to keep it afloat. They did well on the construction but it didn’t quite float in the water as high as they wanted it to. It went from building a raft to building a submarine. In any event the task overall was fun especially when they christened it and set sail (well almost). Just getting a chance to build something like that is what being a young boy is all about. We hope to have some girls working on future rafts as well. Gwynn Valley is an equal opportunity builder. Stay tuned for more projects!