A New Day

The title means a lot of things...Yesterday was a very emotional day for me because the night before was the sweat hut, which is where everyone gets in a hut with hot rocks in the middle and sweats. It is a Native American tradition I think, but it's really spiritual and puts you in an entirely different mental state because your sweat releases a lot of tension and feelings that you have. So yesterday I felt like a load had been lifted off my shoulders, but also that I had a heavier emotional burden because I was thinking about a lot of things all at once.

Also first session ended yesterday, which was quite sad. It was sad to see the old campers and helpers go, but I'm really looking forward to a new session. Kids are now starting to arrive so I should probably go, but I'll write more later. I'm also working with a boys' tent this session so it should be interesting :)

Love to everyone!

An animal tour and a hike!

Tuesdays are usually our day-hikes in junior camp, and I finally got to go on one! I went on the long hike, and it was great. The campers got pretty annoying though, and drove me crazy because the whole way up they complained about how their feet hurt and how it was so long which is funny, because they did sign up for the long hike! We took the campers in a van to go a little ways down the road to a semi-small mountain, and we hiked up to wildcat rock. Even though the hike was really hard because it was really steep the entire way, getting up to the top was extremely worth it. The view was incredible.

I was really sore yesterday from the hike, and it wasn't really the best day because I was so tired and worn out. So instead of teaching Ultimate Frisbee during my wildcard activity, I took the kids on an animal tour around camp. The past few days have been really hard on me physically, so I'm gonna try and take it easy tomorrow. I also got a little homesick today, which was unfortunate because it kind of ruined my mood. I think tomorrow will be better though.

The pictures are of the hike and the animal tour; one is of the amazing view we had; another is of me holding our 4-month old lamb Zuzu.

So late...

It's very late right now...almost midnight. But my day off is tomorrow so I can sleep in if I want :) I haven't posted anything in a few days because it's hard to get a lot of time to be on the computer. Lots of things have happened over the past few days; things always happen at camp :) Today we went on a picnic, and it was really nice until it started thundering, so we went back to junior camp. With picnics, we combine junior and senior camp and split them into 3 groups, and go to 3 different spots.

Before picnics the kids went to Friends Meeting at the local meeting house. I was extremely tired, so I stayed back and took a much-needed nap. Also today, I rode double bareback with one of the gardeners, Molly. She was the horse counselor 2 years ago when I was a helper here. Also, tonight was senior skit night so we all got to watch; they were pretty funny. The pictures are of me and Molly on Cowboy, and of a tree I made in a nature activity that I lead the other day.



I'll write more tomorrow when I'm not so tired :) Joey comes to visit in two weeks!

PS

-The post-timing on this blog website is never right...I wrote the last post at 8:30 pm, not 5 something...so don't believe the time :)

A Very Busy Day!

The title says it all! My very busy day started bright and early at 7:15 this morning. I woke up hungry for breakfast, and it was delicious 7-grain cereal and scones. Then I fed the horses with the campers, and went back to get them during morning meeting so we could get them ready to ride. We took three groups on trail rides, so I did a lot of walking today. We lead our horses at camp because we only have three and most of the kids that come to camp aren't that experienced, so it gives them a sense of security. After riding in the hot sun (although there was a nice breeze all day) we went to lunch and had a yummy bean casserole with beans straight from the garden. I had to cover one of the guy counselor's rest hours today because it was his day off, so I sat in his tent and read my book.

During rest hour, one of the kids from the tent across from Kevin's began crying because he was homesick. This was really my first personal interaction with that because I'm not a tent counselor so I don't usually deal with homesick children. I brought him out of the tent and sat in the grass and talked to him for a while and he told me that he missed his mom and that he didn't really want to come to camp in the first place. I was a little sad about that but I consoled him and he eventually felt better and got back in bed and took a nap. I felt good because I had comforted him and made him feel better; I felt really accomplished. He also cried at dinner and I took him outside and talked to him and found out that his parents have been divorced since he was three; that's part of the reason he's so sad all the time he said. I told him that I've been through a divorce and that I know what it feels like. It's really good sometimes to get on a personal level with the campers because then they really listen to you.


After rest hour we did activities and I did nature both periods we went to the place in the woods where we usually have campfires and talked about trees. Then we played a game and then we drew pictures of trees that we had created. It was a lot of fun! Swim was after that and I didn't get in because I was a counter, but I went swimming after supper. Oh yeah, the senior campers got back from there three-day hikes today and it was nice seeing all the counselors again.


Here are the pics; I rode Fancy today after all the kids had ridden; there are a few ones of the kids riding and one has a great view of the mountains I get to see every day; that flower is an evening primrose and we watched it bloom last night (it was the COOLEST thing ever); also the moon rising was pretty great; and of course, the swimming hole.

More tomorrow!

Kitty Pictures!

Here are a few new pictures. The kittens don't officially have names yet, but they will eventually. It's hard to name them when a ton of campers want to name them all different things!

The horses were at the side of the road when i took that picture; that is an actually street close to the camp.


More soon!

Another day

So today is my day off, and I am just relaxing in the staff room right now. I think I might go sunbathe down at the river today...we have these great big rafts to hang out on :) I also might go hang out in the pasture with the horses...that's always fun.

Today the juniors went on their day hike and they won't be back till supper, and the senior campers are on their three-day hike, so camp is pretty quiet. It's very nice :) I am thoroughly enjoying camp and am so glad to be here, but I find myself really missing certain important people in my life a lot. It's strange not to be waking up with my dog Ivy sleeping my bed and going out on the porch to eat breakfast with my dad; instead I'm waking up in a tent everyday to noisy campers and lots of nature sounds.

So one of my main priorities here at camp besides the horses has been a litter of kittens. They lived down the road for the first few weeks of camp because they were too young to live at camp. One of my jobs was to drive down the road and get them twice a day to be held by campers. Yesterday, we decided that they were old enough to live at camp, so Barb (Gib's sister, Gib owns the camp) and I went and de-wormed them and brought them back to camp! They live in the loft of the tiny barn in senior camp. I'll post some pictures of them later...they are too cute :) I consider them my children because I have been taking care of them since they were about three weeks old!


I'll probably write more later today, but for now I have kittens to play with!

My First!

Ok, so this is my first official blog entry EVER! I thought it would be a good idea to keep everyone updated on the things I'm doing this summer, so I decided to create a blog! I don't get to use the phone all the time, so this is great.

I've been at Camp Celo since June 3rd, and I will be here until August 12. The first week I was here was kind of an orientation week for all the staff. It was a lot of work getting camp ready for kids, but it was also a lot of fun getting to know everyone :) The campers arrived on the 8th, and then the real summer began. I am the horse counselor here, but I also help out in Junior camp. We have about 35 kids in junior camp and about 27 in senior camp. The junior campers are anywhere from 7-10 years old, and the senior campers are 11 and 12. Our first session in junior camp has ended because it was only a one week session. Campers for the next session which is two weeks arrive today at 1 pm. Second and third sessions will each be three weeks, and for senior campers all three sessions are three weeks long.

Celo is a Quaker community that is full of people with there own large gardens and many animals as well. My job at camp is to feed and care for the horses, and to take the kids on rides almost everyday as a part of morning activities. Here at Celo we ride bareback. We only really do trail rides, so not a ton of teaching is involved, but it is still lots of fun! I love watching the kids interact with the horses and really develop bonds with them. I myself have had some pretty intense bonding sessions with the horses, and I feel like I connect pretty well with them. And I haven't fallen of yet, which is great! I also feed them, which is part of the reason they like me so much :)


While here I have learned how to folk dance, helped to castrate and de-horn calves, milked a cow, helped in the garden, gone on a hike, built a fire, cantered bareback many times, and had to deal with a raccoon in my tent! I've done many other things, but those are just a few memorable ones.


The picture of me on the horse was taken at a house down the road that one of the gardeners is house sitting for, and she let me ride on of the horses, Nicki, on my birthday! Our two calves are Preston and Westin; the view is from the house where I rode; the baby goats (kids) are Matilda, Casper, Rubarb and Rubar; Matilda was on my back! ; the waterfall was on the staff hike we took on my birthday; I'm holding a speckled baby chicken; two of our three horses...Cowboy is the brown one and Astro is the white one; my tent! ; the view of the house, which is where we eat all of our meals, and the garden is in front.


More to come!