“It ain’t no big thing.”

August 9, 2024

The Bows are a bit disappointed for having come in second in Bow & Arrow.  There was a certain sadness on their side for at least ten minutes last night after the Songfest, the last event of the competition.

I did my best to soften the impact. “It ain’t no big thing,” I told them while the judges were off voting on the performances. I got that phrase from my father, and at camp, where he adjudged just about every camp happening in those terms.

Dad’s silly phrase fits in well with the Kingswood mantra, “The fun is in the doing.”  Both teams had just performed an Alma Mater and a Fight Song before the Halloween-like costumed, but nonetheless solemn group of neutral judges.

One of my favorite moments in any summer occurs when the boys walk into the Dining Room in single file and take their seats in three rows of benches, Bows on one side of the room and Arrows on the other. As they pass the judges, maybe thirty of us, the looks on their faces are worth millions.  Some avert their gaze, some stare us down, and still others pretend not to see the throng of hilariously clad folks.

But, for me, I was immensely proud of the boys, who once again put on a magnificent show. “How did you learn all those lines in three days?” was my comment to them, along with “I could not possibly vote for one over the other,” which was an honest admission on my part.  “You all are winners.”

When Alice informed me that she had voted for the losing acts, I reported on my “It ain’t no big thing” rant during the judging time.  We both got a chuckle out of that. “Maybe it was all worth the while for both teams,” she concluded, most correctly as I saw it.

This is a good place to end this last blog of the summer.  Today is a very busy day with many of you planning to be here this afternoon.  It looks like a gray, misty day but with those heavy rains not arriving until later.

“We’re on it,” son Mike just remarked. “Good to know, and if it comes to pass, it ain’t no big thing,” replied his father.