Snakes, Bees, and Bugs Oh My!

Five snakes four bee stings sunburn one scratch and an infinite amount of bug bites… the joys of camp life.  I am currently sitting at the laundry mat in Black Mountain washing my stinky clothes and reflecting on the past weeks work.  I arrived at camp late afternoon last Tuesday and started working on Wednesday.  Currently most of my activities have consisted of cleaning up Camp Grier.  Cleaning up camp means being covered in grease (left over from last summer) up to our elbows from washing the cookout pots and pans, hiking The Firetower twice to clear the trail, carrying wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of mulch half way across camp to put around buildings and make things look “pretty” (ok that’s a bit of exaggeration), having a competition to see who can finish first while running around with bleach and spraying mattresses down, acid washing the pool after a long day in the sun only to paint it the next and walk back into main camp looking like a smurf. I can probably continue this list for an entire page.  However, I won’t bore you with it.  I’ve enjoyed spending time with my friends and taking care of camp. Something about doing the dirty work makes me appreciate what we have at camp even more.  One thing is for sure my appreciation for the pool has grown tremendously and I will be most excited to swim in it this summer.  In thinking about it we as a staff that come early to clean not only prepare camp for the summer but also give it the kind of love it needs to make it into the fall as well.  Some of the work we do may seem trivial but in taking care of what camp has it will last.  Besides, for me it marks the beginning of being able to give kids the greatest week of their lives in a place most have never been… the woods.

Tomorrow the masses arrive and what most would call chaos (though Grieriets would call it fun) will begin.  I look forward to new friendships and yet another year on staff at Camp Grier.