Sunday, March 1, 2009

summer camp


oil on canvas and mixed media art by roy cicin


I just finished a book by Susan Wiggs called Summer at Willow Lake. The whole story took place nine years after a group of kids spent the summer together at camp, and that brought back a lot of memories for me! The excitement of meeting new kids, the communal meals, the archery lessons, the cabins, and the campfires.

I think summer camp is a little different today. The arts & crafts have been replaced by a zipline, there are more trampolines and fewer canoes, and kids are a little less naive than we were, but I think the premise is still valid today. We send Emily every single summer, if only to get a bit of time to ourselves!

My experience with summer camp comes courtesy of our public school system. Our family couldn't afford regular summer camps, but it didn't matter. Every year when June arrived we spent a week in the mountains, or at the nearby lake, doing all the things that regular kids did.

I loved the cabins! And I loved how the food was so different than what we ate at home. The only thing I didn't like, especially as we grew older, was the competition between the girls to garner all the attention from the boys of other schools. As a brunette, I just couldn't compete against the blonde girls, even though they were still flat chested. (You know, that feeling of being second followed me right into adulthood, which makes no sense to me now!)

Anyway, this coming summer, I'm hoping to spend some time at a camp. I think the whole family would enjoy it. The other vacations involving flights and hotels and renting cars are going to have to wait until I get a salaried position, but I'm sure no one will mind.

16 comments:

  1. Why do boys like blondes? I think brunettes are way cooler :P

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  2. Ah yes, summer camp, I can still smell...

    Wait, no, must have been another life, cuz I spent my summers on dirt bikes, skate boards, waves and bmx tracks.

    As far as girls went. I always had a crush on my BF's mom. Why mess with girls, when you can sit and gaze longingly at a real woman and those omg curves!

    I was the original MILF hunter! Oh yeah!

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  3. I was just going to make the same remark about girls with blonde hair being the ones to catch the eye first. It’s not that dark hair is unattractive, just that blonde hair is more attention-getting. I don’t know why: it just is. It’s one of the Basic Laws and cannot be changed. Sorry.

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  4. I never went to summer camp, so it was always somewhat of a rich kid thing to me.

    Have to disagree with the blonde statement...not all of us prefer them. Give me a brunette any day. My beautiful wife is a brunette (ahem, honey are you reading this?).

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  5. Try being a redhead. You seriously had competition from everyone. Fortunately I also had a brain, a sense of humour and was interested in what the boys had to say, rather than talk non-stop about myself, which is what most of the blondes did. I did pretty good in high school, but like you, it always seems you have to work a bit harder if you aren't blonde.

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  6. We had similar sorts of camps over here too. They were generally pretty good fun. I remember getting sent to Peel Island in Moreton bay for one of them. When we got off the boat they told us that it was an old Leper Colony. We were all waiting to see whose arm fell off!

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  7. I went to camp with my church groups and in Girl Scouts. They were awesome memories. We had so much fun. The campfires were my favorite part. And I still remember the food. It was always so yummy. Thanks for this entry, it brought back a lot of happy memories for me. I learned to dance at one camp! I'll never forget that either.

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  8. It was church camp for our family too and we went every summer with or without parents. Some were family camps, others camps just for kids. I felt like much of a dork for the most part but we did have fun. So many memories.

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  9. I only went to six grade camp for a week. It was a school thing and I dont think we had to pay but maybe we did. Anyway it was awesome, when I was a senior in highschool I went back as was a counsler it was really great!

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  10. Never went to camp or knew they existed except on TV, but I had lots of friends to hang out with when I was a lad.

    I generally dated only brunettes, but I don't know if that was happenstance, or if blondes and redheads didn't notice me.

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  11. i hear of that one before abt blonds have more fun.. but, nay.. i think brunnettes are so much cooler!

    hmm..sounds like fun, this camp thing. Can't wait for you to tell us abt it.hugs-enclosed

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  12. I never got to experience summer camp..I wonder if they have one for adults?

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  13. I went to camps ( youth camps) which I helped organise in my last two years of school. I really enjoyed it. You are never less than anyone else. Please let go of that idea; it has nothing to do with hair colour. maggs

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  14. BryM - I think there are!

    Thanks everyone! Hair colour has much less signifigance after a certain age, because I don't worry about it anymore (other than the gray, lol)000

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  15. gosh, I just realised I MISSED the past entries... how did that happen? shame on me!

    I went to camp with the Girl Scouts and yes, I still have fond memories... FUN, harmless memories (it was in 5th grade I believe).

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  16. I only went to summer camp a few times, and I loved it.

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