I Hope That's Enough

I'll never get over how beautiful this pool is.

I love driving my truck

I love drawing and listening to music. I love climbing and oatmeal. I love the warm weather. 

There are some really good narrow edges on the entry way to the kitchen and sometimes when I'm cooking dinner I'll just hang on them and pull on them. I want to get really strong fingers. 

Season 3 of Camp is Done

 It was a really successful summer. I helped lead two week long overnight trips into areas I've never been before. I'm really proud of how the trips went and the campers we brought and the counselors I worked with. I think I was still able to bring a lot of new energy and ideas to camp even though it was my 3rd year. It's been great to begin to watch kids grow up at camp and take on new roles. It's definitely the most fulfilling and meaningful thing I do in the year. 

Today I feel like I started the off season off right by sleeping in, working on a lot of art and whittling and having a really good run. I want to continue to be intentional and use every day to work towards my goals. I feel fortunate to once again be in a position where I have the money saved and job security to have some down time in the Fall. It kinda seems like I'm being unproductive or not doing as much as I could professionally but I really believe that making myself available to camp and continuing to develop this program is going to pay off down the road. I feel really fortunate to know what I want to do with my life and have the ability to do it and be good at it. 

It's time to get back into running. I'm not out of shape. I'd say I'm getting in shape to get in shape. I've been spending a lot of time in the gym this summer and I would've guessed that I would've added at least a couple of pounds of muscle but I just weighed myself after running in the heat and I'm still only 130 pounds. That seems really low but also I'm definitely down a couple of pounds of water weight. Anyway, the quest to get bigger continues. Every year around this time I think I've figured out the breakthrough thing that's gonna propel me to new heights and every year it's kind of a bust but I feel good about this one! Weight lifting is fun at the very least :P

CIT missions

We have junior counselors at camp and they're almost always great people who have been at camp for a long time and are great to have around but they don't often know how to interact with kids or how to be productive in a camp setting. They'll default to hanging out with each other or picking one kid and spending time with them. 

So my idea to give them guidance would be to come up with weekly missions or challenges that would be a fun way to give them some instruction. We'll see.

we made thrones today

I'm tired of being skinny.

 I want to have muscles.

By June of 2022 I will have rock climber muscles.

So says me. Andy.

loveletter to camp

I often say things like, "I hate school" or "School is bad" or "I love camp" and "Camp is the only thing people really need". And people don't usually have too strong of a reaction. They might laugh nervously because "Oh Andy loves camp so of course he hates school haha he's just like a kid."

But I'm serious. I really mean it. School is bad and camp is something that teaches you how to live a meaningful life and be in a community and be in the world and not hate yourself and everyone and everything around you. 

School doesn't prepare you for that. Oh but well how will people learn things? How will society run? We all know that an overwhelming majority of what we learn in school is not relevant in everyday life. I went to teacher school. I was trained to be a teacher. I was told in a class that our model of education is based on the idea that you go to school to learn skills that make you marketable to companies. It's the human capital model. That's it. Education makes workers more efficient and productive. That's the model. The first time I learned this I thought it was ridiculous and it has only become more ridiculous as I've gotten older. My worth as a human being isn't dependent on my efficiency and productivity. I'm a person with thoughts and feelings who wants to make meaningful connections to the people around me. That's why people like camp. Because it emphasizes those things and makes people feel human. 

I really truly believe that in all the silliness and chaos and fun of the summer, some really important work is going on. Identities are being shaped. Everyone is building a narrative about who they are and what the world is and what the relationship between the two is. And I'd like to think that at it's best, camp celebrates you for being you and being a part of a community. We take whatever we get and we make it work as best we can. 

We're outside. We're moving around. We're in the water and in the sun and the woods. We're talking and making and building and playing. I guess at some point some very serious and dour people came along and said that none of these things matter and that only serious things matter and the way we know things are important is because we don't want to do them and we make ourselves do them. School values compliance. And, to be sure, camp values compliance as well to the degree that things stay organized and safe but there's no one telling you that what you take away from camp is right or wrong or better or worse than what anyone else takes away from camp. Whatever experience you create and share in is what you get. And that's life. Sorta.

day of nothing

feels good to have a day of doing very little