Back Into Nature

July 14, 2024

Those first few photos of the sandcastle builders were taken yesterday but those same construction artists were at it a few moments ago when I first passed by.  Let it ride, I figured.

(Plus, I just now figured I had missed posting many of my “RIGHT NOW” pictures.  Go back and check RIGHT NOW, PART II — completely unedited!)

Today promises to be yet another scorcher by our standards (high-80’s) and already the program folk have conspired to produce a fix.

Ice cream will be served at 3PM at the heat of the day. Touch football games have been pushed back until after dinner, when 70 degrees or so will suit everyone’s taste just fine.

Sunday morning, as always, is time to regroup for the week– which means extra chores in the cabins and about the campus.  You observed this process last Sunday so I won’t bother with the details this time around.  I think the cabin meeting subject has to do with the patently obvious “feeling quite at home” attitude that currently pervades the grounds.

There is not much else to report at the moment, so take a minute to browse the photo albums for pictures of boys on their hikes, fishing trips, and overnight campouts.  There has been quite the surge of interest in getting out there into nature since Covid days.  Lots of these children were just coming into the realizations of life when suddenly they found themselves locked up due to the obvious ramifications of a pandemic.

No apologies for this.  Kingswood did not operate in 2020 and our protocol for 2021 and beyond was strict as it could be. But the kids noticed they were being deprived of something, even if they could not quite pin it down to precision.

Now they know and being out-of-doors trumps just about any other activity option.  Name the mountains – Moosilauke, Cardigan, Black Mountain or Cube.  We’ve hiked these and more than once.  Indian Pond for fishing – often!  Sunset Cliffs and Pirate’s Cove – favorite campsites – and ditto for their popularity.

Sunset paddle, that after-dinner sponsorship, has drawn every craft we own into play.  I watch them just about every evening and there is never any horseplay.  Boys just love to hang out in the middle of the lake.  I never ask what they talk about and don’t really care.  I just acknowledge some satisfaction in knowing that Kingswood has the wherewithal to provide for them some quintessential opportunities.