The chorus of bird song seemed to pause momentarily as the Turn of the Road bell rang out over the Draws, Dunes, Ridges, and Trails to wake up the campers and leaders.
Miniwanca Sundays are special. We sleep later, and the morning shifts into a slightly slower rhythm. The Founder Family, those here at camp and those miles away, can recall digging through their trunks for a clean shirt or a simple sundress. Instead of morning stretch, the next bell ring invited everyone to breakfast for WancaBread! The meal began when platters of cinnamon sugary goodness arrive at the table along with hard-boiled eggs, oatmeal, fruit, and orange juice.
Soon, the community walked down the Ridge Road and up to the Church of the Dunes to focus on the Mental and Religious/Spiritual folds of the Four Fold philosophy. Each person is learning and striving to be their Own Self, At Their Very Best, All The time by living a balanced life mentally, physically, socially, and spiritually/religiously.
To start the Something Sacred gathering, the community sang, “When we rise in the morning, to the silver skies of dawn, may we sing a song of gratitude that will last the whole day long.” Next, speakers from each age group shared on the topic of gratitude.
“To me, gratitude is bigger than thank you,” one leader said. “I’ve found the more I pause to search for what I am grateful for, the more I recognize that I am surrounded by gifts that fill me with joy and hope.” Campers were invited to sit silently and ponder choosing gratitude, counting all the good things in the day, as the lens through which to view their lives.
After lunch, droves of Quad shirt clad campers, cheered to open the afternoon of purposeful play by competing in the Quad Cup! Girls Camp hiked over to East Camp, joining Boys Camp Quads at the base of Baldy for relay races to the summit. One can’t quite fathom this mountain of sand unless you’ve made it to the top yourself!
The afternoon continued with a festival of friendly competition between Quads that challenged everyone’s physical, mental, social, and religious/spiritual folds. It also provided hours of laughter as campers ran dizzying relay races, played musical chairs with buckets of water, tried to pop balloons tied around each other’s ankles, and much more.
The day ended with an all-camp pizza picnic on Bryant Field. Returning to West Camp, the girls community settled into the cool grass of the Hollow to play a Night Doing game of trivia. Tired and bubbling with joy, campers and leaders soon traveled back to their cabins to sleep.
