stephenwinbaum
Communications Coordinator
/ Moderator
Oct 18, 2006, 2:03 PM
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Summer Camp Connections
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Earlier this month I participated in my summer camp’s reunion. The cliché that camp is the best time of one’s life turned out to be true — for me — upon my return to my summer haven.
I attended summer camp awhile back. Do the math. I was a 17-year-old counselor when Woodstock burst out in August 1969. (Summer Camp Nation)
A lot of my camp friends who couldn’t attend the reunion asked me to fill them in on the details. The standard question was; did the camp site look the same? I responded that I could barely make it out. I was journeying on an inner terrain, to the teenager who soaked up every minute of sun, towards the man I am now.
The teenager is father to the man.
There was an evolution that drove me down the path of self-discovery. Who was I? The teenager who celebrated the dawning of a new age, or the adult who, somehow, never experienced it?
The landscape of my summer camp seemed unrecognizable. Only the sunshine filtering though leaves of the coniferous trees recaptured my youth, like a kaleidoscope, shifting shapes, and altering colors.
Some camp friends and I discovered a secluded beach. After taking off our shoes, and rolling up our pants, we lazily walked into the camp’s cold lake. The chill felt familiar. Was it the water that called back rather than the land? I had to find out.
I ran back to the camp office to search for my bathing gear in my backpack. After slipping into my bright green suit, I headed to the main beach, stepped in the water, and — Wow! Autumn! It was cold! I shivered but took the plunge like the fish that I am. ‘Keep moving,’ I told myself, ‘keep moving.’ Within minutes I had adjusted to the chilly temperature. I felt great!
Fifteen minutes later, I stepped back on the beach, hoisted up my back pack, and began the long walk to the change rooms behind the dining hall. Up the steep paths I chugged, my gear over my right shoulder. I felt strong, vigorous, like the 17-year-old counselor when Woodstock flashed by in 1969.
For a moment, the man shifted into the teenager and returned to the best years of his life.
Shine on summer camp connections!
Stephen Winbaum is the Communications Coordinator of MySummerCamps.com
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(This post was edited by stephenwinbaum on Oct 23, 2006, 6:55 PM)
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