I remember distinctly those days of summer camp.
Sweat. Laughter. Watermelon. Whipped Cream (inside joke).
Volleyball. Dance Clinic. Bowling.
I loved camp. Well, actually, I hated it at first.
I think my mood about it changed somewhat after I met Claira.
I had pretty many friends as a kid. And very few stand out to me. The ones that do, are probably
Paige, Mark, Natalie, Drew, Claira, Ashleigh, Patrick, Emily. That's all.
I was pretty alone that first day, slumped down in my chair, watching forlornly as the older "Junior Volunteers" put on a play.
Some dude hopped out from behind a box, and started waving a fake plastic light saber around madly, while everyone on stage acted scared.
"Oh, we are SO terrified" said the girl next to me.
I glanced over at her and she looked at me and gave me a huge grin. She was about my age, maybe a few inches taller, and had about the same colored blond/brown hair as I did, although it was hard to tell in the dark room.
We started talking, much to the annoyance of this boy sitting on the other side of me, whose name was Jamie, who I later became friends with.
It was awesome, and we were practically inseparable for most of the week.
Claira had a different way of looking at life. Her mom taught sign language, and she was very fluent in it. She tried to teach it to me, but all I could do is say her name. We found that we were both very flexible, and enjoyed doing things no one else could. Because of this, we did really well in Twister. During the movies we'd talk, so that made them less long.
She was someone I really clicked with. But after camp we fell away.
I still like to remember though.
What are your Camp memories? Or your summer memories for that matter?
I'm still in the mountains, post when I get back!
JJ
Well last year I went to this awesome camp where I felt like I grew in the Lord. It was a Christian camp but that didn't mean that we couldn't have any fun! It was one of the highlights of the summer (well I also visited Europe and went to a soccer school thing with a couple friends) and I loved being there! Of course I was sad when I left, isn't everybody? So anyways, it was by the beach so we could go swimming, knee boarding (yeah!), and any kinda of water thing; there were various sports fields: soccer, basket ball, volleyball (I love sports!); and there were day elective things that you could do. I chose rock climbing and hiking. Man, I loved it! Unfortunately that isn't an option this year :( So I think I'll take guitar and swimming instead. We always have devo at night as a group and then in our cabins. As a group we sang worship songs and learned lessons and talked about our experiences and things relating to the lesson earlier. And it was a whole week or two without mom and dad! I mean I missed them a little, but having that break from my parents and sisters was so much fun! There was a tuck shop and ice cream and a crafts corner (with a wood burning machine) and tons of other fun stuff and things to do! I can't wait to go there this year :) Jesus loves you!
ReplyDeleteWell, i don't really have camp memories. There is this one beach we go to. (Okay, so its sand by a lake, but we live in SW PA, so there's not much of an ocean around) Anyway, my mom was laying on a beach towell, and she went to the bathroom. My brother, sister and I decided to build a moat around her blanket and we thought she'd like it. She didn't, and she made us destroy it, which was hard because it was filled with water. Oh well. At the same beach, we built sand castles and sand turtles and sand dragons and what not. It was fun.
ReplyDeleteThis is the thing about Britain I don't really like. We don't have these camp things that last most of the summer and you make friends even though I do believe it helps shape your future because it helps you interact with children from a wide area... *sighs*... they used to do it when my parents were young because dad always tells us what a pain he was.
ReplyDeleteYour experiences sound fun minus the part of losing touch after camp.
That sounds like a blast Tuna.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I went to horse camp 2 summers, and I went to a pretty neat Christian camp once when I was younger, and then church camp the past couple years. Camp is always a blast, especially with your friends. I'm excited for camp this year and realizing how blessed I am to be able to do so many trips and camps. It's astounding all the things I've gotten to do over the years; they seem like so little all separated out. Thanks for the thought food Jillian!