A Note from Oscar

Salutations!  My name is Oscar the Otter, the beloved pet of Crow cabin.  I get an interesting view of what the Crows do throughout a week from my perch on the table in the cabin, a backpack, an armpit (when they so affectionately decide to include me in everything they do, oh joy!), or the center of the dining hall table.  That crazy counselor may think she knows what happens in a week at camp, but let me tell you the real story.

So, turns out that the Crows are somewhat responsible people.  They keep the cabin clean and that's actually why I abide with them.  I used to ride around on Pauly's cart...oh, Pauly!  Ha, guess you probably don't know who that is.  He's this pretty amazing guy who drives around a golf cart all day and wipes down every doorknob on site in every building on site.  In addition to that BIG job he finds time to sanitize the surfaces of the bathrooms of 49 cabins on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Folks, I've seen what he does and he works hard!  The reason he decided to leave me with the Crows is because we've both noticed that they are the cleanest cabin on camp and have been for weeks!  When I showed up the Crows could hardly contain their excitement; they love Pauly and he loves me.  It's just part of that camp love, I guess.

Now that I've gushed over that, let me inform you there are some, well, maybe strange would be a good descriptor of things that happen in Crow.  Just the other day that crazy counselor went into a toilet stall and lo and behold! There was a pair of folded socks in the bottom of the toilet!  When she asked around just who they might belong to not a single soul owned up to that soggy pair of socks (don't blame 'em!).  Not a week later a stray sock showed up on the porch with no owner once again.  It has been decided that one of Crow Cabin's talents is sock growing. 

And duct-tape stealing.  It's week 8 and that crazy counselor uses that excuse for all those dumb things she does, but it's beyond her (and me) what happened to her roll of duct-tape.  It was there one moment and gone the next!

I'm not sure how I feel about living in a cabin that grows socks and swallows duct-tape but other than those vices it's clean, it's happy, it's where friendship bracelets are made by the dozens.  I suppose it's a good home.

When I'm not at home I'm usually in those other places I mentioned. Let's start with the dining hall table.  It's where the Crows eat their meals and it's also a happy place but not so clean.  Sometimes I'm afraid I might get spaghetti in my fur or drown in a puddle of spilled water but they watch out for me pretty well.  At breakfast on Monday morning I get to listen in as the girls hear what horses they'll be assigned to for the week.  I also watch them down cinnamon roll after cinnamon roll and wish they'd share maybe just a crumb?

They do include me in a lot so I shouldn't complain.  Oh, for example, last Friday night they used me! a lowly otter as a special guest in their song at flagpole before the theme dinner.  The theme last week was 'Christmas In July' and that crazy counselor picked up some big red noses on a trip to Hobby Lobby (surprise, surprise!) and they stuck one on me!  Then they sang a song about Oscar the red-nosed otter to the tune of a familiar Christmas song known as 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer'.  I must say that it felt pretty great to be the star of the show for that one minute.  And about being stuck in their armpits...well, that might sounds strange but really it's just one of the ways they carry me from place to place.  Those equestrians do a lot of walking every day and sometimes I get to ride in a backpack, other times they embrace me with TLC, and other times like those mentioned aforehand I'm sort of just hanging there.

Hopefully that crazy counselor will inform you of her favorite memories of camp after it's all history in less than two fast weeks!  For now, you can rest assured that the Crows are surviving and having a grand old time. 

Much love,
Oscar

***So, the story of how Oscar came to Crow is true and we light up every time we see Pauly because he is so kind!  Oscar has cheered up our days and we're glad to have him and Mocha the snail as cabin pets.  Can't forget Steve the dead lunar moth that is now resting peacefully in our bird's nest on the porch.  As a side note I can't believe how fast the summer has gone and am enjoying these last few weeks.  Likely there will be no posts until I do a recap at the end, but I hope to somehow put together a summary of my experiences at camp!  That's it for tonight...

Brief Update of Camp

Perhaps my silence is the best indicator of what I've been doing the past few weeks.  Anything and everything that keeps me too busy to blog.

Sleeping out in hammocks, picking hooves, dressing up like a security guard, rolling sleeping bags, singing or rather screaming at the top of my lungs every day all day on top of rocks and barrels and tables in some instances, planning devious tricks in the barn that may or may not involve a harmless clear liquid, winning Golden Toilet Seat award for clean cabin several days (oh yah!), crossing the suspension bridge multiple times a day, forms forms and more forms, splashing at the lake and pool, telling campers for the umpteenth time that they need to just 'wait and see' what the schedule holds, planning lessons for my riding class, jumping in mud puddles just because we can, shooting arrows at the archery range, gathering around the ambiance of candlelight for cabin devotions, throwing ice cream bars in the trading post...the list is endless.

Camp is busy.  I'm exhausted.

We're almost to the half way mark and it's really hard to believe because as one of my campers put it well: the days are long but the week flies!  A new day begins and we hit the ground running, filling it with activity and adventure.  When the weekend rolls around I wonder where the week went.  It's already time to write parent letters, do laundry, catch up with the family, run errands, go to church, and maybe get a bit more sleep so I can start all over in...24 hours.

Why am I doing this? you may wonder.  At times I do.  But then there are those moments--and you know what I'm talking about--that remind me of why I'm at camp.

How about all the amazing, comforting songs I've learned in chapel, the times I see a child go out of his or her comfort zone and accomplish something great, the moments that I hug tearful campers farewell who are much more than teenagers staying in a cabin but rather friends that have cheered me up and made me laugh, the faith that is grown there, the love that is expressed there, the memories made there, the astronomical number of high-fives and I-love-you's shared there.

Yes, camp is exhausting.  Yes, there have been children that have pressed my buttons and times in my weariness I've wanted to just leave it all behind.  But then there's God and He always provides in such incredible ways, giving me the strength to take it one step at a time.  This is no sprint, it's a marathon.

Week five has been particularly interesting so far as my co-counselor Lizzie and I have moved not only to a different cabin but to a different village.  The equestrian campers are heavy on the young end this week so instead of being in Lake Village with the older kids like we usually are, we switched cabins with two lovely ladies from River Village and are working in a different unit with younger kids.  I love our campers and it's great to experience a new unit and village but good to know I'll be returning to my 'home' in Lake Village next week.

Since we have a wonderful media team at Camp Tecumseh that captures a lot of the activities for us, I'm going to use some pictures off the website to give you a glimpse into camp life.

Starting the day with crazy songs at flagpole.

After breakfast we gather for chapel.  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are separate between the villages and this one is in Lake Village.

All-camp chapel on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hundreds and hundreds of us!

The zipline across the lake!

One of the Crows ready to zipline in the woods.

 

 

Fun times during classroom session at the Equestrian Center!

 

 

Hopefully one of these days I'll maybe get around to posting more pictures and give a low down of what a day at camp might look like. For now, I'm going to somehow muster up the energy to get off the couch and head back to camp for the night cause we are having a sleepout!!!

 

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-HHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! 

 

Good night ya'll.  Stay safe. Enjoy summer :)



Banana Split

I'm eating a banana split right now.  Just thought you'd like to know how I celebrate my evenings off.  Whew, baby.  Do I appreciate an evening off.

Camp is so fun and so wonderful but soooo exhausting and that explains my silence.  Since my spare moments are few I'm going to keep this post short but I thought I'd give a little description of my past week.

The first campers came last Sunday around 2:30 and from that moment on my energy level declined drastically.  I'm wondering if it will ever be refueled...

But, it's quite amazing because the a.m. sermon in Wolcott that first Sunday was on trust and this past week I have thought so many times at how much I just need to let go and trust God.  Trust God that I can get my horse lessons planned appropriately and trust God that the campers I just sent to the bathroom will return safely and trust God that I'm where I'm supposed to be--Crow cabin, Camp Tecumseh.

A few phrases I've said many times this past week: 'step it up, Crows!' and 'you'll see'.  The girls finally caught on by the end of the week that what we're doing in a few hours isn't relevant to the current activity and if they want to know the plans for the week they need to hurry their hinds and walk up by Lizzie, my wonderful co-counselor, and I while we discuss our activities as we walk from place to place.  Ha.  We're so sneaky.  *Smirk*

The past week some things our campers got to do was jump around on the floating trampolines at the lakes a.k.a. blobs, go on a mud hike, zipline, set up hammocks and get rained out (glad we made it back to the cabin first!), jump off the high dives, and just be together and laugh.  It's tiring, yes, but they have so much fun.  And some of them have even become not just my campers but my friends which means I need to get better at making friendship bracelets.

I'm terrible at making friendship bracelets and the fact that the first app I've bought is a friendship bracelet app might explain how much camp has taken over my life.  If you want to talk to me in the next few months, don't expect me to know much about the outside world except for what I see on Instagram or hear from the girls in the cabin.  Oh, did you hear that Zayn from One Direction dyed his hair green?  I know, life changing.

And talking about life changing...most of you probably heard that there's been a life change in our family.  Saturday morning David surrendered his life to Christ and we are so thankful and blessed.  Beyond blessed.

And on that note, I'll sign off so I can go decorate a birthday cookie for our birthday camper!
Have a wonderful summer everybody!  And don't take air conditioning for granted.

Staff Training

I thought horsemanship was a lot but the past few days have been intense. Camp Tecumseh has a very high reputation nationally and I'm beginning to see why. They have adopted the 'swing the lamp' or 'go the extra mile' philosophy and it makes camp both an incredible but also very exhausting experience. The past few days have been fun and exciting as nothing around here is done in the typical manner but I have also been overwhelmed. All those things that set Camp T apart from other camps are the things that take effort and training. We've had clinics on creative counseling, how to write personal parent letters about each child that passes through, whole child development, check-in scenarios, health, nature connection, and I think you get the point. Sometimes they'd bring something up that I never would've thought about but sure enough, it can happen at camp and we need to be prepared. What I love is that they take the time to set aside a week just to prepare us for the best experience this summer. And mixed in with all that is the fact that their motto is 'I am third' and the mornings include chapel, the evenings involve cabin devotions.

So while there's a lot to learn and much to remember, it's been such a fun learning process. Today instead of simply telling us places we can go for weekly camp-outs, we tromped all over the camp and practiced setting up hammocks by the river and a tent in the meadow. We built fires in a wet forest (oh yah it rained ALOT) and learned how to use the telescope. I can't describe how amazing it was to have a day romping around in God's glorious creation but I do have a few pictures. Enjoy :)

Oh and quick apology for the fact that I'm doing this on my phone so autocorrect may do some silly things and formatting might be odd. 

Each group was given a bird name and we were team Robin. Our leader (in the blue) gave us all mud marks at our first stop so of course he was marked too.

One of my favorite co-counsellors. She's from Brazil and that automatically gains her five points :)  We got to visit the mini farm and play with chickens. 

The fire Eduardo and I built.  Will it burn?

Maybe...

Yes!!!

Moving on from the forest we trekked through the woods to the river. I hope to camp here sometime. Quite relaxing. 

After setting up hammocks we moved on to the south pasture which is on the edge of the woods. There we enjoyed a hobo dinner which is something we will do with campers. It marks the first time I tried a veggie patty and it was delicious! Mix it with some carrots, apple, onion, potatoes, garlic, some spices and a little ketchup and you've got a class one hobo meal. 

We've had photographers tracking us all during training so with the setting sun we played around jumping and spelling out TECUMSEH with silhouettes. 

Right now I'm chilling in a library with just a few other people while most of the other folks mingle in the fellowship room. After a day of being immersed with people it's nice to have some quiet time :)

Oh, and if you ever need to know how toake a towel chicken give me a holler. I've got you covered. 

Have a great week everybody!

Hello From Camp

I've been silent for a while because life has been really busy. And it's good.

Last week I met some of the barn staff and rode 24 horses in two days. Good thing I had a break two days to go visit my nephew because it made me quite sore!  We also cleaned out one of the mini farms and loaded chickens, two stubborn pigs and several other little friends into a trailer. You don't want to know how many girls it took to catch the pigs :/

This week the horsemanship training began at camp Sunday afternoon and has kept all of us trainees busy from morning til evening. Then in the evening we get to write lesson plans so really there's not much of a break but I love it.

Sometimes meeting new people is really intimidating to me which may seem contrary to how you view a very social person. However even tho I like being around people I do not like the initial introduction. It's so awkward and I'm awkward so it's all just really awkward. This whole camp experience has given me many opportunities to practice and I've found that it's definitely fun to make new friends BUT personal time is so very important.

The past two nights I've sat out by myself on the platform of a slide (quick escape if I were to be pursued by night critters) by myself and those moments in creation with stars, God, the Bible, and my journal have made these past few days worth every moment. And there have been many other things I enjoy.

Some countries represented by counsellors are Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, England, and Ireland. Lots of great accents :) The foreigners are some of my favorite people and having five brazilians in horsemanship training has been so much fun.

About horsemanship training: we start around 9 after a breakfast at the dining hall (mmm gotta love camp food!!!) and do activities from playing games to teach our campers to riding horses and even teaching lessons to each other. There are about sixteen in the group give or take a few and six of us are equine counsellors. The others are regular counsellors who will be certified in horsemanship so even tho they won't be spending as much time in the barn they still will use the skills. Some of them had never been on a horse before but have so bravely risen to the challenge and it's been a fun mix of skill levels. We're always learning no matter how much we know and this week has been a perfect example of that.

Right now I'm chilling in the fellowship room of one of the lodges with some fellow counsellors. It's where we get wifi and comfy couches. Right now I'm soaking up the calm before the storm. Campers arrive June 8th which means that all next week will be spent on all-staff training.  Never before has training been so fun so it's been quite an adventure.

I better sign off for now read up on my manual and all the packets I've been given to be an effective equine staff!!!

Oh, and by the way, today marks my twentieth year on this planet so I have officially lived my last day as a teenager. Yikes! Any advice for the twenties?

Just Horsin' Around

For the first time in a very long time, when people ask what I am doing, I feel like I have a decent reply: I'm working at Camp Tecumseh.  Don't get me wrong, living in California and nannying Calvin were good ways to spend my days.  It's just that whether or not you realize it, there's this expectation out there that we need to have a good answer that the world can understand.  I've struggled with this since I quit college two and a half years ago and quite honestly I don't know when I'll finally feel like I have a good reply.  Maybe when I'm a multimillionaire with three houses and a  boat.  Then people will see I've done something worthwhile.

Just kidding.  I hope I never have three houses and a boat.   Or three houses.  Or a boat.  Unless it's a canoe or kayak. 

Lately I've come to better grips with that feeling of 'I'm not going to give them the reply they're looking for' so it's more a thing of the past.  But then there are days like today when I get off work early and have a free afternoon that I remember most nineteen-year-olds out there have real jobs or go to college.  Good for them.  Someday that might be me.  For now, I'm going to make the most of these days and cherish each and every one of them like dark chocolate 'cause oooohhh, that's my favorite! 

It is a true story that I'm working at Camp Tecumseh.  Although when you have a lot of fun at your job is that considered work???  I quite literally spend my days horsing around. 

At the start it wasn't the most, eh, thrilling job out there.  My first day was spent in a tack room polishing the leather on 32 saddles!  Thankfully some of them were mostly synthetic so I didn't have much polishing to do on those but it was still veeeerrrryyyy monotonous.  The next day I polished more leather.  Then one day I scrubbed dirty, hairy horse blankets and another day I raked sticks from around the arena.  Okay, you get the picture.  There are certain jobs that take some imagination to fit in the fun department. 

But then there are those jobs that really are just plain enjoyable.  I get to chase around horses (in the mud!) and wave my arms like a maniac then follow them in the barn and pet their silky faces.  Sometimes when we're not watching them close enough they partner up and let each other out of their stalls which makes for an interesting welcome when I walk in the barn.  Oh, just a horse wandering around like no big deal.  In addition to time in the barn I've gotten acquainted with the animals at the mini farm which includes: a sheep, a goat, an alpaca, a donkey, a calf, rabbits, a duck, and chickens.  And today I got to dirty up my hands while we planted the garden.

See, isn't that exciting???  I happen to enjoy {most} of it.

Now, before I make it sound like I work my tail off (yah, like you were thinking that), let me assure you that it's been a very relaxed schedule which I'm enjoying, like chocolate, remember?  My boss has children that she likes to welcome home from school so the latest I've worked til is four and there have been a number of days, like today, that she has an appointment or errand to run so I just work half  a day.  This week I've been cleaning FBi for a few hours each evening so that helps me feel a little more...responsible.  Then there are days that I sacrifice self and pocket book to go to Michigan to babysit my nephew--like next Wednesday!  I'm definitely looking forward to getting my hands on that little stinker!

I know it's just a phase and before I blink I just want to breathe it in and savor it like you know what.  And someday, someday when life is crazy busy and I wonder what really matters anyway I'll wish I could just go horse around.

Have a good weekend, everybody!

Ixtlan 2015

Almost a week later I'm finally getting around to posting about my trip to Mexico.  I'd been rolling it around in my head, making a trip that is, for a little while.  Seeing as Grant and Hannah move back in a week, I knew that if I wanted to visit while they were down there it would have to be soon. Then I went to Haiti so I figured that would be my mission trip for the year.  Well, turns out that one evening back in early March while I was Skyping the Herrmanns we got talking about me making a visit which turned into finding cheap plane tickets which turned into me buying cheap plane tickets.  It being so spur of the moment I managed to plan a trip out of the country over my dentist and doctor appointments as well as the symphony Leah had so kindly bought tickets to for my birthday.  The first two were easily changed but I missed the symphony and hope to make it up to Leah someday!  Other than all that, it was a perfect week to go.

Overall, it was a really good trip.  There were definitely some emotional swings through the week.  Some of those fears that seized me the last time began rising up again and one particularly difficult day as I was wrestling with my selfishness and doubting God's good plan for my life I remembered why being there was so difficult.  But below are many reasons it was good to go back along with a few of the few pictures I took.

Spending time with the people down there was a blessing.  I am especially thankful for all the Herrmanns did for me a year ago and again during this week.  If I had a picture of Grant and Hannah it would likely be around the Settler's board where Hannah and I solved all of life's problems and occasionally remembered before Grant reminded us that it was our turn to play.  But I have no picture to show so you'll just have to take my word for it.  Ivory and I spent a lot of time together those ten weeks of 2014 and although I knew she wouldn't remember that, it was heartwarming that she warmed up so fast.  We read books, made cookies, colored, and went on walks.

 

Walks.  That's another thing I love about Ixtlan.  People walk everywhere.  Sometimes when Ivory and Titus needed to get out of the house we'd buckle them up in the double jogger and stroll around Ixtlan while they munched on crackers and banana.

 

 

The sights of Ixtlan haven't changed much but that's okay.  I take great delight in seeing scraggly trees growing by brightly colored houses, clothes drying on a barbed wire fence, or a group of older men sitting in the plaza wearing cowboy hats. 

 

 

 

 

The fresh produce is another wonderful thing about Ixtlan.  When you can run twenty yards up the street for tomatoes, sugar, or whatever's missing, life is simpler.  Some of the produce is in the market down the hill a little ways but within easy walking distance.  Just looking at the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables is fun not to mention the cheap cost.

 

 

 

And speaking of cheap, Hannah had a garage sale on Friday and Saturday.  It was fun to see her in her element, bartering with the Mexicans and getting rid of the things she didn't want to move to the States.  I made sugar cookies to sell because the school children really enjoy frosted sugar cookies and some of them walk right by the Herrmanns on their way home from school.  Turns out they were not the hot item--curtains are surprisingly in demand in Ixtlan.  Hannah had a woman ask if she was going to sell her living room curtains which were still hanging in the living room windows.  I'm not sure if the woman ever understood that the things outside of the house were for sale, not the things inside.  Oh well, it made for some interesting conversations!

 

It was good to be back at Jovenes, women's Bible study, and singing in Spanish.  On Sunday after the singing in the evening, Matt and Ruth went to visit a sister in a nearby town so Caleb and Abby stayed back at the church.  A group of us decided to walk down to the plaza for some garbanzos and corn.  Mmm, mmm.  Gotta love the street food!

 

There were other special moments throughout the week, but I won't bore you with all the details.  Overall, it was just good in a hard way to go back to the place that challenged me to grow and to reflect on God's faithfulness.