Rumor has it, that it rained today in Philadelphia, New York City, and West Chester. The good news is that none of it made its way to Maine, and we enjoyed temperatures in the low eighties with sunny skies.
After breakfast, our eighth graders departed for Acadia National Park, the St. Croix River, and a golf excursion, all of which with return on Friday. Our 11-and-under lacrosse team was in a round robin tournament, and our youngest campers have packed their bags and are hiking to the Camp Takajo tree houses for their first sleep-over under the star-lit skies.
I started movie nights at my house and invited four bunks of nine-year-olds to an evening of relaxation and snacks in a place that feels like home. It’s often at this time of year when I see the benefit of a full-season camp. Our boys have hit their strides. They feel comfortable in their summer home. They have made connections with their new friends. It’s at this point in the summer when they develop friendships that will last a lifetime.
Memories are made when you share life experiences with those who are close to you. And, it’s hard to develop those types of relationships when you attend a shorter season camp. Very often, a camper who attends a shorter season camp moves on after a year or two, while we have large groups of boys that are here for seven, eight, and nine seasons. It was last year at this time that I was starting to prepare for my wife’s daughter’s wedding, which was taking place at the end of August to a wonderful guy, who went to Takajo and to whom I introduced her. All of the groomsmen in the wedding party were my son-in-law’s former bunk mates from camp. I think that says it all.
