Work Weekend

I have loved this camp for almost 9 years now. I have often compared it to a marriage- I’ve loved camp for better and for worse, the good times and bad. I love everything about camp, including all of it’s flaws- bugs, dirt, weather- it’s all part of camp’s charm. I love this place so much and I don’t even see the flaws.

And then I brought a baby to camp.

I read a description of a kid who got glasses for the first time, looking at a tree and being in awe of all the leaves. Before glasses, the kid could only see a blur and when he could see clearly, it was then that all of the detail was clear for the first time.

This weekend was work weekend and the first time I’ve been back to camp since I left in August. And the first time I brought Baby X to camp.

It was like I was seeing camp for the first time with glasses. I could see every spec of dirt. I felt like my eyesight was superhuman and I was able to see microscopically. And oh was it terrifying! Every surface needed to be scrubbed, every piece of furniture was covered in germs from a million sweaty, dirty people sitting down, every nook and cranny seemed to be filled with bacteria and mold and germs and dirt and every other terrible thing you shouldn’t be near.

I walked into the staff house and held onto my baby as tightly as I’ve ever held him, looking around at filth, thinking, “I will never be able to put him down”.

Eventually I calmed down a little bit. Work weekend was a huge success- great weather, hard working volunteers, lots of projects completed. X was happy to look around while strapped to my chest and I tried to take deep breaths and reach deep inside myself to find the love that has burned so passionately all of these years for the place that I consider my second home.

This should be a very interesting summer…