Home again, home again, jiggedy jog. My fourteenth year to accompany fourth-graders on a spring trip to camp ended today. What a joyful but bittersweet time. Someone has said that no man does anything for the last time without a twinge of regret. I will miss these annual trips. It is wonderful to watch these children gain confidence, develop friendships, learn teamwork, and overcome fears and insecurities in canoes and skits and zip lines and darks caverns and hikes and stream stomps and...
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A fence lizard. From Wikipedia:
The eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) is a medium-sized species of lizard found along forest edges, rock piles, and rotting logs or stumps in the eastern United States. It is sometimes referred to as the prairie lizard, fence swift, gray lizard, or pine lizard. |
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| Before embarking in their canoes, the campers get a training session on the concrete at the river's edge. (West Fork of the Little River atop Lookout Mountain.) |
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| Learning to canoe. (West Fork of the Little River atop Lookout Mountain.) |
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| The rhododendron is just beginning to bloom. |
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| The zipline has been a highlight of camp for a dozen years. |
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| I have watched kids exercise amazing courage in facing a thirty foot climb up a tree and the plunge down the zipline from that tiny platform perch. |
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| More rhododendron. |
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| This was our eighth consecutive year at this camp. Before that we visited Lookout Mountain Camp (3 years), Misty Mountain Camp (2 years) and Camp Adahi (1 year). |
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| Adam Hammond, a wildlife biologist with the DNR, and a volunteer guide on our Nature Trail the last two years, attended with his son and set the current record for most frequent parent chaperone. He has chaperoned the trip for each of his four children. |
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| Jason Coffman, fourth reading teacher and certified nut celebrates living through the plunge. |
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| Children gather on the deck before each meal. (From the dining hall window.) |
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| Skit night is a big hit every year. The same old skits I enjoyed as a camperat Camp Glisson in the fifties and sixties still get big laughs. My partner for the Echo Skit this year excelled. Way to go Alyssa! Your sentimental reporter managed pretty well. My T-Shirt Reveal resulted in a little bit of eye mist, but that was the only tiny choke up during an emotional three days. |
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| On Thursday evening after the Underground Railroad simulation I stopped by the cabin to find I'd been visited by my serious-minded fellow professionals. I immediately named the lead culprit... as Jefferson pointed out, some truths are self evident. |
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| I'll get you Stacy. (And Andrea. And Dennise. And Peggy. And Jason.) |
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| As usual Foursquare was a big free-time obsession with campers and chaperones. |
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| The meetings on the deck gave campers an opportunity to show off their learning as they awaited their turns to hit the lunch line. |
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| Neal. the new camp chef, had big shoes to fill as Johnny's replacement, but he managed it -- the best camp food on the mountain. |
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Listen to the Little River:
Go with the flow.
Keep things in balance.
No boulder can stop you.
Not all who wander are lost. Joy in the journey.
Immerse yourself in nature.
An active mind, like swift water, stays fresh. |
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| The Fire Circle surrounded by the girls' cabins. |
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| By Friday the dads were warring on the Foursquare court. |
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| A great game, foursquare. The smallest kid and the biggest dad, everyone can enjoy playing. |
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The Mountain Laurel is late this year, but there were a few blooms.
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| Sweet Shrub. |
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Anyone know this one?
Jaki Day
Yellow Jasmine?
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I love the Bigleaf Magnolia. And it was in bloom!
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| I have discovered something new at camp each year. This year it was "The Hook". This trail has some great stones and caverns. |
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| Maple-leafed Viburnum |
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| Solomon's Plume |
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