Senior Boys
“What did you do, yesterday?”
“Oh, I watched a tank transform into a fire-breathing dinosaur and eat a car.”
“…what?”
That was an excerpt from a conversation I had with a friend in Oregon the night Color War broke out this year. This summer was my first at Camp Lindenmere; breaking in as a DL gave me an interesting perspective on camp. I met Mitch, Charles and Odie first – one of the last things I did before the arrival of counselors was sit at the door of every bunk and try to memorize the names of all the boys according to where they were to sleep in the bunk. I was nervous about meeting all the boys, how the bunk dynamics would go, how well we would all take to each other, I was trying to play the entire summer out in my mind based about what I had been told happened previous summers.
When counselor assignments were announced and I learned who I would be working with, the stress of anticipation plummeted. Every single one of them was excited to help, excited to meet the campers; excited about life and what they could offer the people around them. When the boys got there all I could do was laugh at myself. Each of them was so different than I had imagined when I had been staring at their names in an empty bunk and the bunk had reanimated itself with such life. Each and every one of them was incredible in his own way. One of the quieter campers from first session stood up at the talent show and sung in front of the whole camp. The boys from rock shop would come back vibrating with excitement about the song they were learning or someone conquered something at outdoor adventure. We were able to learn these small things about each other in different increments throughout the day. We learned about each other in steady increments all summer.
I didn’t know what everyone meant by color war, sing, or burning of the year. I mean, they had been explained to me, I understood the logistics of what would happen, but at the beginning of the summer I didn’t yet know how or why. As they were happening it dawned on me why it was so hard not to be emotionally affected. You spend every day with these people – you form a bond unfettered by social pressures experienced the rest of the year, a bond based solely on the acceptance of who you are, who they are, who the group is as a whole. There’s a solidarity and love there that I do not know how to describe. The conversation I mentioned that I had with a friend at the beginning of color war was just an example. Lindenmere has a language I don’t think many people have experienced and it’s hard to translate because the summer becomes the context for every story… and summers before that, and summers before that. There is nothing like camp!
Love,
Tyler
Junior Boys
Dear Friends,
I can’t believe that once again Camp is over and I am sitting in cold, wet London writing this to say hello to everybody. It seems like only yesterday that I flew into Newark airport ready to prepare for what would be the most fantastic summer of my life. Why is it that the 6 weeks of camp go by the fastest out of any other weeks in the year? This year seemed to go particularly fast due to the fantastic weather and action packed schedule that saw dinosaurs eat cars and a rather attractive silver alien battle it out in what can only have been the best color war breakout since prehistoric times. Now you are all back at school and dreaming of next summers’ adventures and I know I will get by remembering all the fun junior boys had this summer whilst singing along to ‘California Gurls’ and ‘We No Speak Americano’ – genuine summer hits!
Once again I came back to England full of camp stories that seem to fall on deaf ears. How can I expect anyone to understand how fun B3’s kitchen raid with Mitch was, how fantastic B1’s were at telling jokes or how proud I was of B2 ALWAYS being the cleanest bunk on campus…on a side note, G16 will be happy to know I have now perfected my cookie recipe and I am causing less kitchen nightmares, so all is well. No one in London wants to come to my ‘Jokes and Jellybean’ minors, (or any other alliterative electives for that matter) and I am now left dressed as Lady Gaga/Edward Cullen/Spring/Cop on my own.
The best thing about being at home is realizing how good communication is. Not a day goes by when I don’t speak/facebook/tweet/call or text a friend from camp and it makes me feel so special to know just how big and how wonderful our extended camp family really is. Even though I am thousands of miles away, I know I can contact anyone whenever I want. Over the past three years I have met some of the most wonderful people and made ever lasting memories and friendships that help me get by the drudgery of the everyday. If ever I get sad I just think of how fun junior boys were this summer, their funny stories, their games, their jokes and their constant energy. We were such a wonderful team this summer and proved that junior boys ARE the best (and cutest) division on camp. I’d like to especially thank all of my wonderful counselors for doing an amazing job this summer and providing me with many laughs and good times – you guys are all amazing.
I am already counting down the days until next summer…Whoever that silver alien was, I wish he could have given me his time machine so I could set the clock forward to June 2011.
Love,
Dom
Middle Boys
As a teacher, I spend my year working with kids, teaching them to perform and appreciate music. I absolutely love my job and truly enjoy going to work every day. But I was sitting at my desk the other day and I found myself thinking about camp. I had the biggest smile on my face as I remembered the times I shared with the counselors and campers I met and re-united with this summer. I flashed back to a memory of sitting on the B6 porch listening to stories about campers asking girls to the dance. I reminisced about lying on the trapeze net with B4 and attempting to star gaze, but laughing so hard we never really did. I remembered walking to the art building at 3:30 every afternoon and playing “guess what’s for snack”.
Sitting there with a goofy grin on my face made me realize that as much as I love what I do during the year, if I had the chance to make camp a part of my everyday life, I would take it in a heartbeat.
This summer was one of the best summers I have ever had. I want to say a huge thank you to all of the middle boys and their counselors. From the very first moment I met with all the counselors in my division, I knew it was going to be an incredible summer. You guys brought with you such spirit, energy and intelligence that I knew the campers were going to have the summer of their lives. I really believe that together with the boys, we created memories that will stay with all of us forever.
Some might say that the middle boys division was a little crazy, but I like to think that we were just uniquely inspired! Whether it was nights with B8 playing the most intense games of mafia ever, or walking around the corner to see a group of middle boys working together to carry what some might call a boulder to the art building for dissection, I was always amazed at the creativity and sense of boldness that our division brought to camp.
Every time I turn around, something new is reminding me of an experience from camp. Sometimes my friends from home ask me: “Why do you spend your entire summer working at a camp?” I know that nothing I say can really express my thoughts about this question, because the answer is something intangible. But I know they can sense how much it means to me, and that is something truly special that we all share.
With Love,
Jeff
