Stirrings
July 17, 2023
Neither Sara nor I got very many good pics yesterday, so I hustled together my 4th or 5th “Right Now” album of the session just now. Here are some “points” about my album, which saves me from having to develop a new central theme for the day.
- The women at Kingswood this summer have been sensational. Best decision in a long time to hire female staff. Almost to a person, they have been terrific counselors. They stick to the job and are attentive and helpful throughout. Except this morning, when my lens caught some of them unawares or sleepy-eyed. “I’ve got a deadline,” I politely remarked to some and growled at others. They are used to me and we get along very well.
- .The scene on the front porch of the Dining Room is reminiscent of “Ground Hog Day” as Liam and Jack are always reading when I arrive on the scene. Kevin and Cora, the nursing husband/wife combo, get there early, too, to be in position to hand out the morning meds. Several of the porch pix show admin types, with a Wipfler grandchild nearly always in their midst, cranking out the plans for the day. Klaus has used the same handle-less coffee mug for years.
- I’ve told Isabel (with tray in hand at the kitchen warmer) that I dislike her day off as there are no menu postings that day. It’s pretty clear what we had for breakfast.
- CIT’s run the counter and do a bang-up job. It is not easy work but they seem to enjoy being at the center of both everyone’s attention and everyone’s needs. When CIT’s are off duty, the Guides, next in line, leap into the fray. Good camp.
- “Dining Room Managers,” DRM’s for short, run the salad bar set up, changed yesterday from two to three tables and turned 90 degrees. This truly is a “soup to nuts” assignment and you can see DRM Aaron doing everything from helping boys at this and that, collecting the slop we hand off to the local pig farmer, and sponging a salad bar table at meal’s conclusion.
- We are not “Camp Photoshop” here at Kingswood and I deliberately have shown some pictures that reveal puddles and muddy areas. I am telling you the 100% truth when I say that at this point in the session, no one cares a hoot about standing water, save the program guys, and even they are pretty much laughing it off.
- Those blocks with numbers on them – 8, 14 and 11 – are a camp savior. Originally designed to be in one’s possession when they go up to the salad bar –one block per table – that system works swell during the meal. But, in that time frame when some tables are still clearing and the program guys are summoning their nerve to announce what is next, those blocks sustain a lot of camper attention as the game goes back and forth across the table (usually,) the idea being to land the block across the edge without tipping off the table. Maybe you have to be there, but this game is universally hailed!
- Finally, once all the clearing is done and everyone has settled down, Mike and Rob stand up to lead the camp announcements of the moment. Today, there is a hike going off to the Franconia Range, a gorgeous spot, and the Intermediates have a road trip to Lake Sunapee, to our south where they will meet up with same-aged girls from Camp WaKlo, travelling northward to get there. Indeed, lots of stirrings going on here at camp this very minute.