The good, the bad, and the in between.

1. It was hot. Like, so hot it makes your skin shrivel up and actually steam while still on your body. This may seem a wee bit extreme, but if it does, you obviously didn't just spend an entire week at camp.

2. Phoebe asked me if I would bait her fishing hook for her because "she didn't want to touch any nasty worms." I may or may not have laughed in her face.

3. Chiggers love me. The feeling is not mutual.

4. I carried my friend, Julia, up a long, rocky, steep hill on my back. (Like, I know I exaggerate sometimes, but this hill is really steep and really long.) It nearly killed me. And I was delightfully sore for the next three days. This soreness was greatly helped by the soft, comfy beds I got to sleep on every night and the steaming hot showers I was blessed to take every day. Not.

5. The hot water heater in the little cabin where I shower was broken. You might think that an icy shower on a wickedly hot day sounds like the best thing since sliced bread, but it was only nice for about .8 of a second and then it was just plain miserable. Plus, going from approximately 190 degrees to approximately -120 degrees in less time than it takes a chigger to bite, (in other words, no time at all,) creates a severe risk of hypothermia. The goal became taking a shower while seeing how little water could actually touch me, especially at 6:00 in the morning or 1:00 at night, when I kept expecting ice cubes to burst through the shower head at any moment. The tents and campers around the cabin were privileged to hear blood curdling shrieks at fairly regular intervals. I'm sure they all appreciated it.

6. I drank three Dr. Peppers. Yes, yes, I know. But only when the choices were soft drinks or nasty camp water, (which is brown and often has flakes of rust floating in it,) did I yield. Stupidly, the first one I drank was at 9:30 p.m., and apparently my body does weird things when I drink my first caffeine in three weeks. Needless to say, I slept very poorly.

7. I didn't play a single sport the whole week. And I've never felt sorrier for delusional people who feel like it's somehow fulfilling to bop around a ball or whirl around a frisbee in treacherously hot weather.

8. I have some of the absolute best friends on God's green earth.




9. I fell in love with this little girl. She sucked her thumb while clutching her ear, and I think that's going to be my new look.


10. My pale green flip flops will never ever be the same. I'm afraid the brown outline of my foot will forever be imprinted on them.

11. French braids are awesome. Laura, you're the french braiding queen.

12. Emotions can be nasty, rotten little creatures sometimes.

13. Going to sleep later than 12:30 every night and getting up at 6:00 or thereabouts every morning doesn't put me in a sparkly, angelic mood.

14. I have taken a long, refreshing nap every day since Camp, and oh my, isn't sleep just wonderful?

15. I heart sleep. (Broken record? Who, me?) Especially on a rainy, grey afternoon, cuddled under clean sheets. No, this has nothing to do with Camp.

But in a way it does, because Camp makes me appreciate the little things in life, like roach free showers, sufficient sleep, the benefits of cutting line at lunch times, upholding traditions, watching beautiful relationships unfold, (yeah, I'm looking at y'all, K. and J.,) making charming new friends, and reveling in the companionship of old friends.





p.s. you may notice I like back pictures as opposed to face pictures. Well, duh. At Camp, what with the dust and the sweat and the dirty water, (and cold at that!) faces aren't at their best. Backs aren't quite so temperamental.