The One Spontaneous Thing I Did This Summer

The one thing I regret about camp from this summer is that I wasn’t very spontaneous. Not until towards the end anyway.

The last week of camp, Buttercup and I were on a night hike with my 10 little Pony Tail girls (literally my favorite group of campers all summer!). I was leading the group, and she was picking up the rear. I overheard two girls talking.

Girl one: “Did you ask her yet?”

Girl two: “Not yet!”

Me:”What do you have to ask me?”

Girls: “Nothing!”

Buttercup: “Are we asking Chatter questions?! Chatter, will you marry me?!”

Me: “No! Not unless you give me a proper proposal!”

Buttercup then proceeded to sprint to the front of the line (breaking the camp’s no running rule). She got down on one knee, held out the archery key ring (we had also done archery that night) and said, “Chitter Chatter Cheddar Cheese Sassafrass Neow Box will you be my bride?”

I laughed for a long while before finally saying “YES!”

All my girls cheered! They were insistent that they were going to throw us a wedding! Buttercup only meant it to be a joke! By the next morning it was determined that the camp director, Colonel, was going to be singing. Buttons, the Irish international, was going to be our priest, and Bam was going to walk me down the aisle. Oh, and it was taking place that night and the whole camp was invited!

During their Me Time, my girls made invitations, flowers, decorations, wrote us vows, and came up with a color scheme. Behind the scenes, Rev, the health supervisor, was conspiring with the cooks to have a wedding cake decorated and he made a reception playlist.

When it came time for the actual event, it had to be moved inside due to weather. The benches were lined up to form an aisle and the walls were nicely decorated with drawings of hearts. I was not allowed to see the place until it was my turn to walk down the aisle. As my flower girl, bridesmaid, and best maid (they didn’t like the maid of honor thing) proceeded to walk down the aisle, I had never been happier. Then it was my and Bam’s turn to walk down the aisle. The other staff members that were not in the wedding (especially Bacon, who was filming the whole thing) encouraged all the campers to stand. I couldn’t believe all this was actually happening. Camp sure makes people do wacky things!

B was standing at the end of the aisle laughing so hard. After a hug from Bam, I joined B awkwardly laughing as we said “I do”. It was with great enthusiasm that we exchanged rings made from pipe-cleaners, beads, and water-balloons. We then secured our friendship with a hug and an epic high five.

After a lovely ceremony where we even had some objections (from Bam and Dandy), we opened gifts from our gift table (lots of pictures and a paper mache eggplant!) and then we had our first dance to “Love Story” by Taylor Swift. It was an interpretative dance that transitioned to everyone fist pumping! Then the reception started! The typical line dance songs were played like “The Cha Cha Slide” and “Cupid Shuffle”  intermixed with Disney music and other random hits. About halfway through the reception we had cake! It was wonderfully decorated and we even fed each other a bite, which I was weird about since I don’t like people touching my food- but I did it anyway in the spirit of camp (after we flipped it over since I don’t like frosting!)! See the video to see the cake part! Balloons were thrown everywhere and a good time was held by most.

It meant a lot to my girls to be able to plan such an event! I told them they should all go in business together and plan weddings for a living, but they all looked at me like “never again”, my girls were exhausted! But, it is things like this that make camp so memorable for the campers. My girls will always remember the time they planned a wedding for two counselors.

Our Wedding Photo!

Next summer I’m going to make it my goal to do more spontaneous things like this, although probably not to this extent! I am going to jump in the mud pit, swim with my clothes on, and not hold back when it comes to anything! I want to see my girls have huge smiles all the time because their counselor is always awesome, not just sometimes.

The Duh Shovel

So my camp has this tradition of awarding a duh shovel to the staff member with the best duh moment that week (there is also a shovel for the staff member that had the toughest week). The staff member then has to carry around the shovel for the entire following week and if they don’t have it, and someone finds it, they have to sing to get it back. My last year as a CIT all the other CITs predicted I would be carrying the duh shovel around all summer. Well, they were wrong! But, only partially. Of the five weeks it was awarded, I won twice. Yup, I’m impressed too .I was very possessive of my shovel because the CITs will steal it, hide it, and make you sing if you aren’t careful! I slept with it under my pillow, tied it to my backpack and/or to by belt depending on the day. I made sure I NEVER had to sing for it!

The first time it was awarded was after week one of campers. I won it then because I radioed admin to tell them about a possible stranger driving through camp…it turned out to be our ranger! Woops! However, I was actually pressured into radioing that because I had the radio, otherwise I wouldn’t have!

The second week Dandy and Rafiki got it because while setting up program stuff they were on the golf cart. Dandy kept hearing a dive-bombing bird that was following them around camp. She managed to convince Rafiki of this bird too. Turns out it was just the sound the wind makes through the golf cart!

The third week Sprout won the duh shovel because she called a CIT her real name instead of her camp name about 6 times and still didn’t realize it.

The fourth week the shovel was split yet again. Rosie had it first because during Me and My Gal weekend’s opening campfire she introduced herself using her real name and then went “oh crap! I meant Rosie!” And then Buttons had it because she managed to get a glow stick stuck on the pool house roof during our glow swim.

The fifth week I was awarded it again. Not for one specific purpose though. Buttercup had kept a list of everything I had done the previous week and goodness was it long! 1) I managed to smack myself in the jaw with my water bottle (which really hurt!). 2) I was sitting on top of the picnic table and when I went to get off, I fell. When asked how I managed that, I went to give a demonstration but this time I was going to catch myself. I didn’t catch myself…3) I got into a fight with a wall…and lost. 4) I was losing my voice but still needed to be loud while lifeguarding so I said, “Hey B! I blow, you scream.” and finally 5) We were doing a pack-out breakfast and making eggs. To scramble the eggs, I found a device that looked like it could be useful and when I asked B if I could use it for the eggs, she looked at me and said, “Chatter, that’s an eggbeater!” So of course I could use it! I just didn’t know it was an eggbeater…

Me being very protective of my duh shovel! Everyone who is awarded the shovel signs it. There are years worth of names written on it!

The best part of having the duh shovel though is at the end of the week when you get to hand it off to the next victim. Next summer’s goal? Not being awarded the duh shovel!

The Little Things (Part Two)

So, part two of this post is going to focus more on the staff aspect of minor details that I took for granted and now I severely miss.

• Sully (an international counselor from Britain) had never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before (I know, it’s totally unbelievable!), and so I was the first person to make her a PB&J. It was cool to see her reaction to a food we, Americans, consider so commonplace.
• Aretha (a day-camp counselor that commuted) used to leave me little notes in my mailbox about once a week because I never really had a chance to talk with her since I always worked res camp. They said sweet, little, uplifting things that filled my heart with joy.
• Because I tended to injure my head one way or another at least everyday, Cheerio (the arts and crafts director) made me a helmet…made out of a milk jug. It was decorated with fabric and puffy paint- very in style! Although I don’t miss hitting my head, I miss having people that care enough to do something like that for me!
• The countless stories we would tell campers about our lives. My favorite was Bacon’s Big Move Love Story. It took place when she was in preschool and was VERY dramatic. Something I definitely miss hearing once a week.
• The banana phone calls between Bacon and Rafiki during lunch. They always told the stupidest jokes that I sort of just rolled my eyes at. Now I roll my eyes because lunch is boring without them.
• Singing “Taps” while taking down the flag every night. I love that song even if everybody is way off-key.
• The nightly congregation of whatever counselors were staying in that unit plus Bam BAM and Rev after the campers were in bed. I miss just discussing how everyone’s days went and sometimes laughing so hard we woke up campers. Whoops!
• Naps on the picnic tables during Me Time. I never wanted to nap in my cabin in case the campers needed me, so I would lay on the picnic tables. Doesn’t sound all that comfortable, but it totally was! See! (More on why I have a shovel later)

• The penguin skit. With Bacon driving, Buttons as a cop, Dandy and at least one other penguin, that skit was the best and it changed weekly. The punchline was always the same, but somehow that group managed to tweak it and make it better every week.
• Pack out dinners. While completely stressful and chaotic (and for those reasons I tended to schedule my break during them), nothing tastes better than food cooked over a campfire! Even the meals I don’t like I miss so much. Plus, puppy chow! I miss making weekly batches of puppy chow in garbage bags since we don’t have pots big enough!
• On the topic of puppy chow, the amount of puppy chow we ate a week was probably in no way healthy. But, Me Time snack or late night chow, it was always there. It was almost like the glue that brought us all together. It was something we could all bond over before delving into deeper conversations.

I’m sure there are countless more little everyday things that I regret not cherishing more that I unfortunately just can’t think of at this time. But, I know next summer I’m going to appreciate everything ten times more.

Top Ten Reasons I LOVE Camp

Picking only 10 reasons I LOVE camp is rather difficult, but I think I’ve managed…

10. The beds. For some reason, camp beds are the most comfortable beds to sleep on EVER. Some of the most solid sleep of my entire life has occurred at camp.

9. Hugs. Even if you’re not a touchy feely person, you will be by the end of camp! But really, fellow staff members give the BEST hugs and know just when you need them most!

8. If you’re doing it right, then you’re literally getting paid to do what you love. You get to spend all summer with your newly found best friends in the outdoors inspiring the younger generation and teaching them how to be confident, creative, and charming young citizens.

7. Nothing seems scary at camp. The dark woods? Nope. That freakishly close lightning strike? Nah. That disgustingly large bug? Negative. Camp is a safe place and plus, you can’t be scared in front of the campers. You put on your big girl pants and suddenly all of your fears from home no longer occur at camp.

6. The spontaneity. There is a schedule for everyday, but in all reality something that day isn’t going to work out due to weather, or something will run shorter or longer than planned and you just have to deal with it and go with the flow. Everyday brings a new adventure!

5. Creek Stomping- What could be more fun than walking around in a creek trying to catch crayfish and tadpoles while simultaneously getting chewed by mosquitoes?!

4. You can be yourself. No judgments. You want to rock rain boots and plannel? You do you. You like to wear a milk jug on your head as a helmet? More power to you! You want your whole face painted to look like an animal? Go for it! Style is whatever you feel comfortable in and feel like wearing that day. There is never pressure to conform to a certain look.

3. The kids. After all, camp is for the camper. Sure, sometimes you get that one kid that is literally the spawn of Satan, but in general most of the kids are lovely human beings that adore and worship the ground you walk on, which is a pretty nice feeling. And, they say the cutest things!

2. Friends! Friends everywhere! Almost everyone at camp will be your friend, or at the very least they will support you and let you rant about devil children, other staff members, or the amount of mosquito bites you have.

1. SO MUCH FUN! Literally everything is FUN! Even cleaning the latrines!….Well at least when youhave your official BFFE- Best Friend For Ever- with you and you’re  jamming to music.