Greetings again from the bucolic hillsides of Merrowvista. The campers have long been off to bed as I write these reflections on the past few days, and a quiet calm has settled upon the valley. These moments of peace stand as a contrasting punctuation to a day filled with loud laughter and joy. These campers know how to play! We’re near the midpoint now, a time of transition, comings and goings of most groups returning from first trips or leaving for overnights. That early nervous energy of beginnings has given way to a community of young people who have begun owning their experience.

Sunday morning was a pearl. With Trailblazers all out on their canoe and hike adventures, the kingdom was in the capable hands of the Pioneers. While the two weekers planned, packed, and prepared for their overnights, the 3 weekers spent the time until lunch enjoying a Beach Party hosted by the Waterfront staff where the sun shone brightly over music, dancing, games, and swimming.  In the afternoon we bid adieu to our youngest campers as they set out for their overnights, an event that for many is their first introduction to camping. Our goal here is always to create a meaningful connection to this signature summer camp activity, knowing that some of these intrepid young people may look fondly back on this memory some future day as their Odyssey group approaches the summit of Mt. Katahdin. The Trailblazer campers returned, dirty, worn, and happy, full of tales from the trail, and also ice cream in the case of our canoeing L village ladies. Seeing the confidence they carry with them back into camp is a highlight of my summer. They have gone afield for the first time, and while the stories you may hear list toward the dramatic, the pride on their faces is unmistakable. A “Drive-in” movie seemed an appropriate end to the day, and campers sang along from their sleeping bags to a screening of Moana.

Today the world came to Merrowvista. Campers gathered after breakfast to receive their passports and plan with their villages a journey through the various stations and locales being offered. This is the day for our staff to showcase the culture of nations from which they hail or have visited. Campers get the opportunity to visit these destinations, travelling the entirety of earth in one camp morning! Highlights are too numerous to detail in full, but included tasting Mexican treats, watching volcanoes erupt in Antarctica, discovering the ruins of Angkor Watt in Cambodia, and picking up a bit of SiSwati in Swaziland. Amid this globetrotting, our rugged two weekers returned triumphantly, reuniting the entirety of our in-camp community for the first time since Thursday. To say the energy in the Eating Lodge was ebullient would be an understatement. These kids reveled in their reunion, and set a lively vivacious tone that would carry through the afternoon. It was back to business as usual with the start of new interest groups, and a return to a regular schedule that will continue through the next few days. The evening saw a well paired tandem of high and low energy activities. Night’s doings marked the high, a spirited village versus village space race around camp, made more challenging by Chocorua village representing the obstructing interstellar forces of aliens, asteroids, and supernovas. The running and rowdiness was complimented nicely by a beautiful Evening Reflection put on by Flag village fresh from their 6 days in the Saddleback Mountains. Their theme of how they connect to the Four Folds in their lives at camp and beyond left much to ponder as campers headed back to their cabins under a blazing pink late evening sky. The mountains whispered their wind swept goodnights, as darkness and quiet descended upon Merrowvista.

I can’t wait to do it all over again tomorrow and see what memories more there are to be made. Good night everyone. Onward, Upward!