The Gravy Days are Here
August 9, 2023
“Gravy Days” is my term for that moment when every camper has successfully adapted to camp and now feels comfortable in his skin. I look for proof starting in the third week of the session as it always happens between the 14th and 21st day of a boy’s tenure.
I know the veracity of this theory exclusively for having witnessed it for summers on end. Kids eventually surrender to the fun of camp. Once we had a camper from Venezuela who knew very little English and was miserable for, well, 21 days. Then, he laughed at something and six years later was still coming back to Kingswood!
The program people were dodging left and right yesterday as heavy precipitation was forecast. Nothing new here in this, the summer of warm rain. I believe the evening sponsorships happened just after lunch, rest hour at 3 PM, an A/B Block combo in there somewhere, too, I think.
Then, when the monsoon was just a tad late in arriving, the counselors went ahead and scheduled more sponsorships after dinner. Atlatl, anyone? Our luck did not last and everyone was soon chased indoors, not that bad of a thing as it was announced that in the event of a washout, all campers and counselors should report to their cabins and plan for an early bedtime. Dandy! While completely adjusted, many folks are tired!
I had my Gravy Day “Ah Ha” enlightenment when I followed the crowd up to the stage for the Win a Tee-Shirt sponsorship. At issue was a garment from some band named Fortnite. I’m not sure if the supplicants had heard of such a group (not I, of course) but their pleas, to include comical begging and dubious dance moves had the crowd in stitches.
Sara says she counts over 50 photo albums posted in just the short number of days of this three-week session. Of course, the main purpose is to allow our parents to be flies on the wall but not get too close to your son’s escape from the nest.
You have four albums just from yesterday. See if you can find that “Gravy Day” look in your son’s eyes, or anyone’s, for that matter.
Today is a totally normal day at camp until dinnertime. There, we will celebrate the tenured campers and staff (five years and longer) with steak and other camp memorabilia. After that comes the Egg Drop which I will explain in more detail tomorrow. Every cabin gets an egg; none survive.