Camp Takajo woke up this morning to a grey, gloomy, misty day. The forecast was for rain with no glimmer of sunshine in sight. I had a flashback to our last visiting day in 2019 when the forecast was in the high nineties with incredible humidity throughout the day. I quickly flipped from one weather report to another on the television, only to find out that the forecast was not going to change. My wife, Joan, told me, “you’re not going to find what you’re looking for, just put on your big boy pants and go to work.”
I decided not to check the other local stations this morning, grabbed my rain jacket, and made my way to the office. However, this time, the forecast was wrong. Granted, we’ve had our share of grey, gloomy days and at this rate, we’re likely to send back many cans of sunscreen that will be unused. But we don’t need bright sunny skies to be outdoors playing. Miraculously, we got the whole day in, outdoors. Candidly, I don’t think the boys care. If they can be outside playing sports and running around with their friends, then they’re happy.
I spent the morning down by the waterfront, watching our Warrior campers playing in the sand and building sandcastles during their free swim period. The lake was calm and still, which made perfect conditions for our skiers. Our Junior and Senior campers are completing their first cycle of league sports and are competing in the semi-finals in their age divisions. The games are incredibly competitive, but we never lose sight of the fact that it’s just a game.
Mike Turtle continues to offer soccer clinics for boys of all ages and ability levels. These clinics have been very popular and well-attended. In the evenings after some organized free-play, when our campers have the opportunity to concentrate on the activity of their choice. We’ve given our boys the opportunity to watch the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby, All-Star Game, and NBA basketball finals. These professional sporting events have been a great way for our older boys to wind down at the end of a long day.
Thank you to all of the Takajo parents who have provided such wonderful feedback about our no package policy for our upcoming, virtual visiting day. It is such a gift for your boys to have this opportunity, and it is unnecessary to create unhealthy competition among parents who would feel the need to send up an excessive amount of toys, candy, and sweets.
We’ve created a poll in camp asking the boys to list their favorite candies so that we could include them in their gift bags next weekend. This is by far the fastest week of camp. The pace is increasing, the days fly by, and your boys have really hit their stride. Tomorrow’s forecast is for bright sunshine in the mid-eighties. While it sounds delightful, we plan on having a great day, rain or shine.
