June 26, 2023
“You are my friend.”
Some boys were treading water as part of the swimming proficiency demonstration—aka “swim test” and, as they were older campers, I knew them all. “Hi Matthew,” I hollered to one fellow I had not greeted yet. “You remember me?” he yelled back. “Of course, you are my friend,” I shot back.
Actually, I have that exchange on my I-phone as a video. But, as of this writing, I have no idea how to render the scene to Vimeo and send you the link. One of my goals for this, my 39th summer at Kingswood, is to offer a few “Interviews with Mr. Wiff,” so long as I can find a way to do it easily, with minimal editing. Stay tuned.
I was teasing Matthew and the other treaders who could have avoided taking the swim test anew had they participated in the Lake Swim event in a previous summer. Once a guy shows us he can swim across Lake Tarleton and back, he no longer has to do a few laps in the inner crib part of the docks. “But, we like doing this,” was the majority sentiment I heard, so I was soon off to teasing some other boys who were fishing off the dock.
“Are there any fish in this lake?” and “There aren’t any fish in this lake” were my lead taunts to this crowd, who silenced me anon by producing the goods. One lad had brought along a fish net and simply plucked a few small critters out of the water. All of this happened yesterday afternoon under mostly sunny skies and temps in the refreshing mid-80’s. It was even warmer in the direct sunlight so it dawned on me to ask boys if they might prefer
“Camp Inferno” in Texas to the mixed weather we are promised here in New Hampshire.
Indeed, it is a bit of a damp forecast for the next several days and Mike Wiff, the program guy, reminded the campers at the outset that we might have to pivot (Camp Pivot – great nickname for Kingswood) if conditions call for making some fast alterations to the plan. With all the amazing experience Kingswood has on staff, we are pretty good at adaptions on the fly, so don’t fret if you check the weather radar and see rain at camp.
I see that my daughter Sara posted over 100 photos from yesterday on Companion and I urge you to figure out the best way for you to be a fly on the wall and keep abreast of all camp happenings. Remember: Your NOT being here is the best part of the experience for your son and if he scrapes a knee, literally or metaphorically, that is no big deal. The big deal is that we are determined that not one boy will slip through the cracks and receive less than the optimum in attention and concern.
Talk to you tomorrow.