Deerwander 2013

I got back from an amazing week of camp. My sophomore year wasn't what I expected it to be, not as good as I'd hoped it would be, but I know it all happened exactly the way it was supposed to. I met a very close friend at camp last year, who has really been there for me. I couldn't wait for us to be together, so we could finally hug and I could try to start expressing my gratitude. But, this is a guy friend, and the rules about guy/girl contact at camp and being in the cabin area of the opposite sex are pretty strict. We never had a moment even slightly alone. We had fun together in the group games, though, and I got to know my cabinmates a lot better.

Here are some of my favorite pictures and memories.

                            (Britney Struzik, and me in my nerd costume for the skit)

           
       (Dee Reed, probably the cutest "staff brat", putting hand sanitizer on the driveway)

                    (Mary Reed taking pictures with a camera much fancier than mine)

  
                    (Allison, whom we all adore because she has the best laugh EVER)

   
                                             (Me and Mary on banquet night)

                                        (me and my cabinmate Maddi Berthoud) 

                (one of my favorite pictures all week, Grace Kidd and Praise Olatunde)

                                     (Me with one of my closest friends, Sam Reed)



I'm trying to think of nice superlative statements (this was my favorite memory, this was my funniest memory, etc.) but I can't come up with any.  So I'll go for random stuff I remember.

I told the camp director to get his act together.  He was running behind schedule and didn't have a flashlight when he was supposed to be the one leading everyone through the woods.  I, on the other hand, had my flashlight ready.  :D

Dee and I chipped lots of bits of mica off of a rock to hand out to only the most special of our friends.  I brought home a few pieces.

The power for the girls' cabins (at least) went out repeatedly.  This time, it wasn't the fault of hair dryers and irons and so forth.  I think the water heaters were just too much for the wiring to handle.

My clan put on war paint one day.  That was fun.  I was going to keep it on for a couple of days, until the banquet, but it felt like my eyes were getting irritated, so I washed it off that night.

We had a Slip'n'Slide.  Just a long tarp covered with soapy water on a big hill.  The water spread off the edge of the plastic and onto the grass, so we had a nice soapy mud concoction to continue sliding in.  My legs got so cut up :/

I met several people who knew my brother Alex when he was at camp, a decade before me.  Sam Reed (in my grade) has a brother who was in Alex's grade.  Then again, the Reeds have ten kids so they're in almost every grade :)

One boy I've known for a while, instead of saying goodbye like a nice person on the last day, kicked a rock at my ankle.  "I love you too, Schaeffer."  

There were many beautiful sunsets, and I saw some shooting stars too.  It was neat being out every night and seeing the moon grow.

I felt like my cabin grew really close to each other.  I shared a cabin with one of them only in sixth grade, and another was at camp with me every year after that.  One of them I've known since I was a baby, although we only see each other at camp now.  One of them, I met for the first time.  It seemed like I got to know them a lot better, except, strangely, the one I've known the longest.  One morning during devotions I shared a prayer for my friend and I broke down crying.  One girl held me until I calmed down.  Another let me cry on her shoulder as we walked back to the cabin.  Some of us really opened up to each other.  I've never really realized the importance of the people I share a cabin with.

Everyone who was at Deerwander, thank you for making it an amazing week.  And those super special friends who were there for me over email this year, thank you for helping make this an amazing life.  <3  (Yes I mean you  S.R., S.B., and B.G.  Love you all.)