Tornado Warning

I am supposed to be asleep in a tent right now. Instead, I am cuddled on the couch in my living room.

Tonight was the staff overnight camping trip. Our oldest campers go on an overnight adventure, so it is necessary to take the staff out to the site, practice setting up tents, cooking over the fire and experiencing what they will do with the kids. Many were excited, a few were nervous, one had never been in a tent, and I was mostly dreading it. I don't mind camping- in fact, when the weather is right, it's really fun. But sleeping on the ground, sharing a tent with two dogs and ending a busy, exhausting week with a night of mediocre sleep was just not at the top of my list of desirable ways to spend the night.

However, once we got packed, loaded into the vans, arrived at the site, made the mile hike in and everyone (including the two dogs) was settled in, I was really enjoying myself. The weather was warm, but also really windy, which was great for keeping the bugs away. I was comfortable in shorts and a tee shirt. We got tents set up, a fire started and a big pile of firewood collected in record time. Dinner was great and everyone was enjoying themselves.

And then it got dark. Not because it was the night and the sun went down, it was only 7pm ish when the clouds came. With the darkness came rumbling thunder. I was trying to have a positive attitude- "it's not going to rain! Don't worry!"

It was pretty clearly going to rain, but I was trying to be tough, outdoorsy, camp director-ish. I didn't want to tell everyone to pack up and leave because of a few raindrops. And so we continued to ignore the thunder and clouds and pretend the weather was perfect.

At 8pm, I got a text message from my boyfriend, followed by a phone call from my mother- both letting me know the entire state was under a tornado warning. As I stood off in the distance, talking on the phone, I was watching my staff. They have been following me and doing everything I have said without hesitation or question all week. "Tip your canoe into freezing water" check. "Act silly and ridiculous in front of everyone" check. "Head out into the woods despite storm predictions" check. "Sing songs, hang out and ignore obvious signs of severe weather" check.

I don't think of myself as powerful and 90% of the time I am doing my job, it all comes naturally, staff and kids do what they are supposed to and there's no thinking involved. But every now and then, the enormity of just how much responsibility I have hits and it terrifies me. And so as I looked over at my staff, a group of people who have put their trust in me that I will lead them wisely, I knew that packing up and leaving the camping trip early wasn't about me not wanting to get wet or sleep on the ground, but because there was potential danger ahead. We've been talking all week about how safety comes first, so it was time to put that into practice.

I got off the phone and told them that they didn't need to panic, but there was a tornado warning and we needed to pack up and leave quickly. The weather didn't bring an actual tornado, but the whirlwind of tearing down and packing up tents and gear was quite a sight to see! 5 minutes- that is not an exaggeration and everything was packed and we were on our way out of the woods. I think everyone agreed that if we weren't staying to tough it out against the rain, then we wanted to avoid getting wet altogether- which meant we had to work fast to beat the approaching clouds.

Just as we threw the last pack in the van, the rain began and continued as we drove back to camp. I was happy to be warm and dry inside a van. Persevering in tough situations is honorable, but there is no reason to end the exhausting week and head into an even more intense week ahead with a wet, tired, crabby group.

Tonight will not just be peaceful because I am in a bed, out of the elements, but also because I made the right decision for my group.