Hunger Can't Wait

When I was younger I used to wonder how my parents could go out to dinner with friends and be out for 3 hours. Even now, when I go to the diner with friends, we very very rarely spend that much time there.

Tonight I was joining some old co-workers to celebrate the 40th birthday of my manager from a past job I had. We were going out to the Rose Tattoo in Philadelphia which is only blocks from where I work. Dinner was at 6.

Today I woke up hungry, was hungry for lunch by 11:30 and wanted to eat again by 5. Well they all hit traffic and we were not seated until 6:30. We put our orders in at 7:20 and were not eating until 7:45. When you wait to eat a meal that long, conversation, and even the meal itself, are not enjoyed. The food tasted great, and once I finished eating and my stomach stopped hurting from hunger I was glad to be there. But the hour long conversation and indicision prior to ordering our food was a struggle to get through. Even some other people were complaining of hunger before the waiter returned to finally take our order. Note to self, when the waiter asks if you need more time, say no and think quickly. Otherwise, you could be there awhile.

As such, I am postponing the Go Mississippi blogging. Those entries take awhile and it is too late to get started. Friday of that week was a big day and I don't want to cut it short because of the time I am writing it. I will resume those tomorrow.

Tuesdays Are Tough

A long time ago when I was a teenager I had a class where our final grade was to write an argument of sorts. This argument would have to be then explained to the class in a presentation. You could choose whatever you wanted. The only requirement was that your evidence and your writing be convincing enough that the class agreed with your point. I am not sure how but I decided to argue about the days of the week. In the end I ranked the days or at least explained the best day of the week, the worst, and how the others generally felt.

The general principle behind my decision for best day of the week holds for many things and situations. It has to do with anticipation being almost always greater than the result. More importantly, I explained why Tuesday is in fact the worst day of the week. I won't bore you with my argument here, but I use this as my preface to present day. At work, Tuesdays are lab meeting days. These means everyone (or at least 14 of the 18 students) are in the office that day. It means overcrowding, it means prepping for and presenting at the meeting, it means listening to everyone, taking notes, and then drafting the notes and sending them to everyone. It is also that time when I am supposed to tell everyone the progress on everything over the past week. It will disipate a bit as things progress but right now, the all eyes on you - tell us everything is done and going smoothly - bit is stressful. Combine that with lab meetings always ending with me somehow gaining 10-15 new tasks and there is my Tuesday mornings.

I love my job and I am more than pleased with my co-workers. That is not to say that certain days can be overwhelming. Tuesday, if there weren't enough holding it back already, is the day where these meetings fall. Today was an exceptional Tuesday and it must have shown because my undergrads told me at the end of the day that they better see me tomorrow and they were concerned for me because I just looked a combination of lost and worried. There is a big project I have been coordinating for a few weeks that is due into our review board by July 1st. We found out today that there is another major part that we need everyone involved (including past researchers who are still being credited) to complete and get to me. With only 48 hours the dread of not only asking them to do this, but have it back to me in time definitely was all over my face.

Things will work out, I hope. And if not, we'll figure something else out. On the bright side - three day weekend coming up! I am anxiously anticipating my return to the Big Apple.

Go Mississippi Day 6

Winding Up, Winding Down

Thursday, June 17th - Things started to run a little differently on Thursday.

Instead of everyone singing Rise and Shine, The Little Rascals were asked to sing in front of everyone. Since it was passed the middle of the week, Ms. Patti decided the groups should know it enough to be able to lead it, and so we were chosen to showcase our moves and voices. I'll blame the half-hearted attempt on the time of day. Breakfast was pancakes and Mass found me as a Eucharistic Minister again. I was asked to do a reading, but before I could think about that option I had responded with a "uhmmm". Apparently that was loud and clear and I was off that task. After mass it was back to the dorms before the start of another day.

Today would be our last day of rotations. I had hoped today we would be paired with GR8. Today's Rec activity was Ultimate Frisbee. Jason, the counselor for GR8 and our chaperone, is quite good at Ultimate and the two of us have played in the past. We brought discs with us and even got the campers into playing during some free time over the course of the week. Unfortunately, due to the weather canceling tent night, and the rule that teams don't have Red first the morning after tent night, things got changed around. Instead of playing GR8, we ended up getting paired with our rivals - Hamburger Helpers of the Future. We beat the two other teams in Rec this week, but our first day of Rec which was against HHOTF was our only loss. They were just better at "steal the bacon" and "sideline soccer". Today would be no different. The crew that was undefeated coming into the day, also left that way. They just had a lot of athletic kids.

Catholic Corner was moved to the Arts & Crafts building because Arts & Crafts was down in the pavilion today. Yesterday (Wednesday) was the end of regular Arts & Crafts. Today we would be using Arts & Crafts time to make our tye dye t-shirts. All of the kids were drawing and writing and myself, being as much of a kid, was sitting right there doing it too. Counselors could do theirs after the campers went to bed, but I was too excited about it. You could choose 2 of the 4 colors - blue, green, red, purple. I went with Blue and Green. I really like mine. I wrote "The Little Rascals" on the back real big and had all my campers sign it. It's a great shirt.

I was forced to wear a regular t-shirt today due to the painful sunburn. After each shower I put on aloe and I even (despite the discomfort and annoyance) wore a plain white shirt into the water. Needless to say, after coming out of the water it was no longer white. The waterway was just as fun albeit a bit different. I took it easier due to the sunburn and stayed in the shallow water. I started tossing a dodgeball back and forth with one of the boys and he started diving for it. This attracted attention and before I knew it I had 10 boys each taking turns pointing out an area, just out of reach, to throw it to. Each of them would charge and make a diving grab for it. I am not going to lie - I have played this from the other side before and it never gets old.

After returning from the waterway we returned for what was to be a difficult situation. On the way back from the waterway, on the bus, someone had brought up what was to be for dinner. Sloppy Joes. As expected, this was met with a lot of excitement - its a mess, so kids love it. One boy, however, was not interested. He told me he hates sloppy joes and wouldn't eat them. To back up, this boy was a handful, but in the best way. Ever meet a kid who is not easy but on the whole they're just really great. So much so that in their moments of frustration, you are less harsh. This boy was definitely that. He had become pretty known amongst all of the staff - he just stood out. Early on in the week he was acting out alot. Monday night Tim, Jason and Zach all hung behind after dismissing everyone for dinner to talk with him. He was being extra stubborn about something and was not bugging. After this talking to he 180'd. The rest of the week he was great, totally enthusiastic, and really someone we all became fond of.

Thursday, the sloppy joe thing was back to square one. Another thing to note about this boy. He was very religious. Not in a very noticeable way at all. Frankly, if you spent 90% of the day with him you wouldn't really know. But, at night he would ask permission for a flashlight so he could read some of his Bible. He was reading it like a book, cover to cover. He had also been promised by Father Tim that he could act as the alter boy on the last mass at camp, Friday morning. Well, flash to dinner on Thursday and he, as he said, is not bugging on the food. He is getting so upset that he puts his head down and stops responding to his counselors. His table was directly behind mine and he sat right at the end so I could hear and was right next to the whole thing. Finally, the male counselor, Mauro, had had enough of the boy's antics and told him that unless he ate, he was not allowed to alter serve. Well, the boy still had no intention of eating, noticed the hopelessness of the situation and lost it. He started crying at the table and just shut down. I had gotten closer with him than Mauro had because I was not his counselor, so I didn't have to see or fix or handle these outburts during the week. I was more patient as a result and had had some luck in some smaller issues throughout the week and had a pretty good rapport with him. Even so, he would not comply.

As an aside to this, I totally saw where the boy is coming from. There are plenty of foods I do not like and some that no matter what I will not eat. Certain things are not for everyone and it is unfair to force someone to eat. On the other hand, it is out of the question to expect the cook to take these preferences into account at every meal for 65 kids and staff. Sometimes you are going to make something that a boy or girl or adult won't want and that's just how it goes. It was a poor situation which left me sympathizing with both and struggling to help because I was upset both for my friend, the counselor who was frustrated, and the boy who was in tears over being forced into this meal and losing this one element that he was looking forward to all week.

After dinner it was back to the dorms to wash up and then onto skit practices. This boy, however, was done. He had lost the thing he wanted most and was so upset that he got in bed, buried himself in his sleeping bag and would not respond. Tim and I, the two who had gotten closest with him, tried to talk to him and Tim eventually said, look you have been great since Monday but if you don't come with us I have to get Father Tim. We cannot leave you in here and that's our only choice. He just teared up more and stayed retreated. Tim walked out the door, I stood on the porch and I waited for Father Tim. The two of us, Tim leaving to go to his group, talked to the boy. He explained to Father Tim that Mr. Mauro had told him he could not alter serve and so he wasn't going to do the 'stupid skits for anyone' because there was no point. Father Tim convinced him that he says the mass and he calls the shots and so as long as the boy came outside, Father Tim would see to it that he could still alter serve. As with anyone, he didn't react right away, but slowly came out of his sleeping bag like a turtle hesitantly coming out of a shell, and got his shoes on. He reached the front porch and sat down. To him, he came outside, and that was that. He had no intention of going to his group because he was still upset with his counselor and would not be in the skit. Father Tim told him that we could not leave him here and that he could come sit with him and his dog instead but had to move. The boy looked like he was retreating and I quickly jumped in and helped out adding an encouraging few words to which he smiled, even for half a second, and got up.

Father Tim must have talked with him more because by the time we had reached the pavilion he was all smiles. Backing up a second, though, I had to get to my group. They were losing time on rehearsing and with only one counselor there, the kids were acting a bit crazy. Skit night was less than an hour away and we really needed to buckle down on everyone's roles and such. Practice went pretty well and everyone felt ready. It was one last trip back to the dorms and then on to the pavilion for the show.

The skits went well. For some reason my kids volunteered to go first. We were ok. Once they got up there the skit went from 5 minutes to 2 minutes. Each kid only stayed on stage for one judge to comment before retreating. The judges never mentioned the originality, and one of the girls may have said one line. None of that mattered, though. They had a blast, the rest of the campers enjoyed it, and I was so thrilled for them. I still couldn't believe they wanted to go right away. The rest of the skits followed in silliness. There were some dances, there was some aliens and there was a joke about "Royal Papers".

The last skit was by the CITs. These indivudals are not old enough to be counselors but help out at the different rotations, in the dining hall, and several other things. Their skit was a mock date where two people were being set up together. They asked for one of the counselors to come up and act as the table. Andrew Gorman half volunteered and half was picked. He got on all fours, and they put a sheet over him. One of the CITs came up and asked if the two wanted water. She had a pitcher in her hand and there were two cups placed on the makeshift table. Naturally, she missed a bit and spilled the ice cold water on the back of Andrew. When reaching for the cup, one of the people on the "date" bmuped their cup and it spilled down his side. The waitress came bag with a bowl and a rag. She said "you need to be more careful" as she soaked the rag and proceeded to wipe down the table. By the end of the skit, his back was drenched, and we were all in tears. We found out later, they had planned to choose him all along. Brilliant.

At the end of skit night everyone was exhausted but smiling. I will be honest, I don't think at 10 I would have gotten up in front of 80 or so people and sung or danced or acted and I give all of the campers a ton of credit for that.

After the skits we played a very strange version of Rock Paper Sissors. It was a full body version and it was Surfer Dude, Giant Wave, and Hula Girl. You stood back to back like a western duel and on three you both spun around and performed the motions for one of those. The pecking order was: Surfer dude rides the wave, the wave washes out the hula girl, and the hula girl distracts the surfer dude. Like I said, it was strange, but the kids loved acting out the moves and making the sounds.

We brought the kids back and tonight there was no dorm duty counselors. Instead, we were all releived by other staff members as we had to report to the dining hall all together. Friday was to be a totally different day from the end of mass until bed time. As such, they wanted to run through everything with us, ask us if we had any thoughts going into the last day, etc. Afterwards we were asked to fill out awards. Each pair of counselors would award each of their kids, individually, with whatever award you felt fit them the best. After spending all week together, we had to think about what stands out about each of these campers and what do we appreciate about them. I had promised the boys of Swamp Left I would be back shortly to read them some Pinocchio before bed and I knew that if I did not get back soon they would already be asleep. As I stated before, I loved this part of the day and so I may have been slightly impatient in working with my co-counselor on the awards. I, apparently, caused her to mess up two of the certificates because I was stressing her out. I was also really tired and wanted to get in bed. Between working out the issues with that boy, the heat that day, and just the week possibly catching up a bit, I was ready for bed. We finally finished the awards and I walked back to the cabin.

Too late. The two CITs were not putting up with any bonus time for the older boys or reading time for the younger ones. I got back to the dorm about 10 minutes after we typically shut the lights out and the place was silent. I hung out for a bit with them, then told them they could go to bed or do whatever because I was crashing myself, and walked inside. I think I was in bed by 930 that night. I knew tomorrow was going to be exhausting and I wanted to make sure that I did not miss out on anything or be any less enthusiastic. Tomorrow would be the last day of camp and I wanted to be ready for it.

(tye-dye on display)

(some of the counselors at the lookout)

(Sheriff Timbeaux Hartnett)

(Andrew after getting soaked)

Learning Patience

Today I missed my train. But to leave it at that is to allow you to assume I was late. It is true that I left my house a minute or two later than usual. On my trip there, the back road I take to avoid a busy intersection ended up being blocked off due to a tree that fell during last week's storm and has yet to be removed. This was something I only realized after turning down this street and rounding a bend. After backtracking and continuing to the station I parked with 7 minutes to spare. I walked to the parking meter, paid my 4 quarters and headed into the station to buy my weekly pass.

It is the change of month as well as it being Monday. As such, there are many people who need to do the same thing as I do. Finally, there is one person between me and the cashier and the train pulls in. Luckily there are a lot of people who take the train at this time and so I have that as my time buffer. What is working against me, however, is the woman in front of me who is reading out her request as if she is at the drive-thru window of a fast food restaurant:

"Yes I am going to need a weekly pass. I also need, um, well, make it 10 tokens. Then..."

I finally get to the cashier, hastily say "I need a weekly" and hand him my card. As is typicaly with me, I had no cash and was unable to just bite the bullet on paying extra by getting the ticket on the train. I was forced to pay at the window, and by card. I finally get the receipt, sign it, get my pass and my card and head out the door.

"Chhhhhh"

The train released. It had yet to move and I flashed to old movies where people would jump onto a train already in motion. It's a pretty slick and cool maneuver and it was my turn to try it out.

"The train is in motion! Step back!"

A platform security worker was briskly walking towards me, ending all dreams of hoping on to the train. My train. It was in front of me, still stationary. The next one would not come for 40 minutes. And yet, I was unable to do anything. Instead of bucking the system, leaping onto the train, and making it to work when I had hoped, I moved away, retreated to a bench, and waited for 45 minutes. I kept pacing in my head, debating if I should just get in the car and drive to work. I was so annoyed at how close I had been, and how little had separated me from being where I needed to be. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that none of that mattered. I did not make it, I already bought my pass and I needed to relax. I would get to work eventually. Nothing needed to be done right away, and no one needed me to be there immediately.

Sometimes we get so hung up on our timelines and dead lines, even if there is no consequence to them, that we get all worked up. To balance this unnecessary stress, I slowed my walk to work, stopped for breakfast, and just took a second to appreciate some things. We are too easily upset and too easily convinced that if things change and do not go according to the mental plan we had, that the world might end. Freeing yourself of that is one of the most important things you can do.

Go Mississippi Day 5

Mid Week Is When It Hits You

There were definitely points in the week, especially following tent night, where I felt a little worn. I don't remember another time in my adult life where for a week I was in bed before 10 so many times. I think part of this had to do with the lack of watch. Once the kids settled in between 9:15 and 9:30 the place was dark and quiet. With how active you have to be all day long, there is little else you need to convince you to also lie down.

Wednesday progressed as most of the other days. We woke up, had our morning song, breakfast, mass, and then rotations. Something I have neglected to bring up to you until now is the two "problem" campers. Somehow I got lucky enough to interact with both. We had one boy and one girl camper who, more than the typical homesick kid, wanted to leave. The boy was not participating pretty quickly. The first day of the waterway, Monday, I spent the first portion on the beach trying to convince him to come in. It was a lost cause for that day as he had worn jeans in protest of the activity. I was just trying to engage him in hopes that maybe tomorrow he would come in a bathing suit. By Tuesday he was getting more vocal about wanting to go home. He was living in Swamp Right, where the only counselor was myself. His bunk was right above mine. I am not sure why, but even though he was not in my group, and for a large part of the day I did not interact with him, Father Tim told this boy that it was my call about keeping him here or obliging and sending him home. I was determined to turn his week around and make him happy to be there.

Wednesday morning he had explicity told me and some of the other boys that he was going to leave his bunk and bags a mess so as to prevent the other boys from getting the bonus they qualify for. Every day the "secret inspector" checks out each wing of each dorm. The cleanest wing wins a prize for all of its memebers. These means beds made, clothes away, bathrooms tidy, etc. It's not boot camp, but it shouldn't be unlivable either. This system is a way of keeping that in check. Well, my boys of Swamp Right were really into the bonus and made sure to keep their side of the dorm in perfect condition without me having to say a word. This boy, however, decided that he was so upset about being forced to stay that he would mess with the other campers. That is when I drew the line. I decided that despite my efforts, I was not going to have him affecting the rest of the kids because he was unhappy. I took off my first rotation that day and spoke with Father Tim. We went and got this boy and called his family with him present. Father Tim spoke with his mother and explained the situation, expressing his desire to keep the boy and turn his week around. His mother agreed but when we delivered this news, he refused to speak, look at us, or react in anyway. To benefit the max we convinced his mother to come pick him up. Father Tim explained that it was unfair to the boys and his counselor to have to cater to him. So on Wednesday we lost a boy.

All week long, a girl in my group was equally displeased with camp. She slept less than 2 hours the first night, dressed herself and sat up in bed until morning. On tent night, she stood up in the middle of the tent all night, still standing when the campers awoke. In addition, she would frequently cry in the middle of activities about being homesick. Only once did she come across as pleasant and that was an hour after getting to call home. She was 11, the oldest you can be in this week, and had been the previous year. Regardless, she was miserable. It was worse that she upset another girl in my group every time she would cry. Often times, this one girl would start balling and then the other girl in my group would to as a reaction to it. When they were apart, the younger girl was fine. So Wednesday, after dinner, and she also went home.

Wednesday was not a loss at all however. As sad as it was to see two campers I was involved with go home it also made things much easier. Sometimes things just aren't going to work out. Wednesday was another day of capture the flag. This day we were up against The Underdogs. They had some scrappy players, but we won by a narrow margin. Arts and crafts was a bit hectic. This would be the last day of normal Arts and Crafts. Tomorrow (thursday) we would be making our camp tie dye shirts. I hurriedly finished my pillow and then had all the campers in Arts and Crafts that day sign it for me. It's my favorite thing I have from the trip.

Before lunch that day we played a massive game of Simon Says on Field A. All week I had been wearing sleeveless shirts but I definitely recall feeling my shoulders during that game and in Rec. Sure enough, by the time we reached the waterway my shoulders were bright red. I put on a ton of sun screen but the damage was done. I was to be burnt the rest of the week. The boys thought it was a lot of fun to torture me and hang on my shoulders that day and the rest of the week.

At the waterway, Sergio - one of the CTs, mentioned to the kids that there would be a dance on Friday. This was the beginning of the end. For the next two days, at any given time, someone was talking about who they were asking to the dance. How much did it end up mattering - almost not at all. Only a few of the boys actually danced one on one with another girl. I mean they're 9-11 years old. Some of the boys actually got so upset by the apparent pressure that they didn't want to go at all. The damage had been done. All the campers wanted to do was talk about who they would ask, and who the counselors would go with. So much drama!

Wednesday was a day we knew about in advance. Why? Because Wednesday was that day that some of those nice people we met at mass on Sunday would come to the camp and cook all day. Dinner on Wednesday was an event. Dinner was fried food. We had fried chicken, french fries, fried zucchini and fried okra. It was absolutely amazing. It was the most legitimate Southern meal I have eaten and I have never enjoyed fried food quiet like I did that day. I had never even had okra before but I didn't hesitate one second before chowing down. Tonight was also parents night. Parents who were local enough or who wanted could come see their kids. For many of these kids, this is the longest they have ever been from home. At 8 and 9 years old, that isn't easy on them. So, after dinner, we walked around and met some of our kids parents. This was a pretty cool event too. Many of them brought their families and you got to see a glimpse of their home lives.

The night before (Tuesday) the campers were told that just like their counselors did on Monday, they too would have a skit night. Wednesday night after dinner we all broke off and worked on our individual skits. My kids loved the American Idol rendition and decided they would all do camp songs. The final decision was to have them all do the same camp song, each with their own spin on it. The judges would continue to mock but comment on how original the song was despite it being the same thing four times in a row. It was tough to get a few of them to loosen up to it, but surprisingly, most of them went at it - singing or filling their roll as a rude judge. It was a lot of fun.

Finally, the night would end with the camp fire. This should have been a lot more fun than it was. We all gathered around the camp fire and we were told that if you wanted to tell a scary story, tale, or joke, you should raise your hand. When it was your turn you would stand up in the middle of the circle and tell it. To keep form things getting out of hand, no one else was allowed to speak. After each story, there was no cheering or clapping. Even at jokes, there was no laughing. I am not sure what the point of all of this was. Patti really killed what should have been the most enjoyable night for the campers. If someone was to tell you that you were going to have a night around the camp fire, I would imagine you would have different expectations than how ours turned out to be. I walked back to the dorms a bit annoyed at how things played out.

It was once again tent night for Toad Camp J. Due to the poor weather the night prior, Tim was back on the floor for Pinocchio. Tonight I was back on duty and it was great. I really think this activity was one of my favorite aspects of the week.

Tuxes By Generation

Today, my grandpop, my dad, and myself all went to have our tuxes fitted for my sister's wedding in the fall. I always enjoy when the three of us go somewhere. I don't know why, but the idea of seeing, at once, the progression, the three generations all standing in a row - it's interesting to me.

Also, my grandpop is great. He was wearing a golf shirt and that was causing issue with trying out the dress shirt. They suggest he go change in the dressing room so that he is not trying to button a dress shirt over a polo. He liked that because he thought it was too public to change where he was. He walks over to the dressing room, and proceeds to take off his shirt. With the door still open. For the whole store to watch. So much for privacy.

Go Mississippi Day 4

Bad Weather is no Bad Thing

Tuesday, June 15th - It was definitely a bitter sweet walk back to the cabins form tent night. I had known about tent night from one of our last Go! Meetings at some point in April. I had mixed feelings about it. I was not so concerned with the heat, or the poor night of sleep. What I was concerned about was making it a fun night for the boys. I don't know any ghost stories and I am not typically the most outgoing/theatrical person. Tent night came and went and there was not a single moment where I felt the need to entertain them. They took care of it on their own, and just the same, they all fell asleep on their own. I never had to tell them to settle in, I never had to do anything except hang out and goof around like they did.

The day after tent night is typically the worst for the counselor. As such, Father Tim asks that the counselors who were in the tents stay back from the waterway, as well as take full advantage of all of the down time you can have in a day. What he didn't know is that I am just as much of a kid at heart as the campers and there was no way I was missing the waterway. I did, however, take off the a rotation to shower and collect myself. Later, I found Father Tim and due to my enthusiasm he was more than happy to allow me to go to the waterway.

Rec is never first for the group who had tent night the night before as a way of letting you fully wake up before running around. After a calm morning at Arts and Crafts, where I continued to perfect my awesome looking pillow case, it was time for Rec. Rec today was capture the flag. Here, it was on Field B and there was no hiding the flag. It was just who could dodge the other team, outsmart them, and reach the "flag" and get back. The flag was a sponge, a wet sponge. This made it difficult to grab it as you were running. There were many a time where people, while being chased, attempted to grab the sponge without losing momentum but could not grip it. It was a cool added challenge.

We won Rec handily against Toad Camp J. After returning to from Rec we had one station left. This would be my time to relax. Although I never got a chance to actually rest, it was nice to just move at a slightly slower pace and not be responsible for a group of kids for about 40 minutes. Towards the end of my break I walked over to the dining hall to see what was for lunch. No more than 30 seconds after getting inside, the skies opened up. The rain only lasted about 40 minutes but it was enough to end Rec early, and leave the rest of the campers to walk back from their respective stations in the storm. After lunch we all retreated to the dorms and waited to see if we would go to the waterway. I was hoping we would because otherwise, my going to Father Tim for permission to go would have been a waste. Luckily, the storm looked like it was breaking and we loaded into the bus.

We reached the waterway and it was bright behind us. As long as the storm kept moving east, we would see blue skies shortly. Unfortunately, the storm was moving west. Before we even lined up to go in the water, thunder broke out and we retreated to the hut next to the water. We never got in the water that day. It never let up. Between the thunder and lightening and then the rain, we waited for about 90 minutes before calling the bus back to pick us up. It was not a waste, though. This was the coolest it was all week. The breeze coming off the water and the cool rain were so refreshing. On top of that, Tim told a few long jokes, did a few magic tricks, and everyone just hung out. I was really glad, despite not getting to swim, that I fought to go that day. I definitely didn't regret not taking the day to sleep.

When we got back to camp there was no need to shower but dinner would not be ready for a while. We had time to just hang out and play some games. We even went over to the pavilion and Ms Holly led us in even more night time games later on. Aside from Poop Deck and a massive game of Simon Says, I don't remember what we played. Regardless, everyone had fun with it.

Dinner that night had been corn dogs and this was the first time I had to speak up. Before reaching camp, Patti had asked us if anyone had a special diet so she could let the cook know. I was in the back of the van, half asleep, and half thinking to myself - there will always be something for me at a meal - no need to say anything. Wrong! Unless I was planning on only eating Pringles from 6 pm until 8 am the next day, I needed to say something. Mr. Ron was more than accommodating and made me a delicious PB+J. I don't typically like these, but for some reason, it was really enjoyable.

After dinner that night myself and Andrew Gorman (the two leaders who had tent night the night before) were on Dorm duty. Every night, two male counselors and two female counselors are dismissed from the last evening activity first. The go to the dining hall, get some water, and maybe a snack, before heading to the dorms. These people are responsible for the kids that night. The rest of the counselors bring the kids back to the dorm, are relieved by the dorm duty counselors, and can do what they want. They can go down to Field B to look at the stars, go to the overlook, or just hang out in the dining hall, eating ice cream and talking with everyone.

I found out, since Toad Camp J was heading to the tents that night, that Tim (their leader) had been reading Swamp Left Pinocchio before bed. Not the Disney tale, but the original story of Pinocchio. He asked me, since I was there for dorm duty, if I minded taking over for him in his absence. I was thrilled. I used to hate reading out loud. After working at the day care for a year, and reading to the kids there, I had gotten really good at it. Some things you pick up on are when to change words for the age group, when to add in a "he said" if there has been a lot of back and forth dialogue but nothing written to keep the kids aware of who is saying what, and just the overall delivery. I grabbed the books, told my Swamp Right boys to behave since I would be in the other side and couldn't watch both, and settled in. No more than 1 page in, and Tim had returned. Because it was still ugly outside, he was not going to the tents - Father Tim deemed it too dangerous. He did not take the book back, and instead sat and listened to me reading. I was fascinated at how interested the boys were. They were all hanging over the edges of their bunks, listening to every word. It didn't matter that this version is totally different and much much darker, or that they were nearing the age where they don't need to or want to be read to before bed. They were on the end of their bunks from start to finish.

I read 3 chapters and said it was time for bed. That was all I needed to do. They all curled up and closed their eyes. It was magical and so easy. I took the job the rest of the week (at least all the nights I could).

I had given the older boys 15 minutes extra. I remembered that was something I always treasured as a kid - as I got older I got to stay up later. I let them stay up, on the condition that they were not loud. Instead of horsing around or being obnoxious, they all got together and played a game of simon says. Well, several games, but still. I was impressed that they chose this over just being boys and screwing around. When the time was up, I walked in and told them so. Because they had gotten this privilege over the younger boys, they were grateful and didn't ask questions when it was their turn for bed. I never had to say it twice. Within 20 minutes of telling them to go to bed the entire dorm was quiet. It was the fastest and calmest the boys went to sleep all week. I was pretty impressed and gave myself a little credit on how I handled it.

Since Andrew and myself were on dorm duty, we had to stay within earshot of the cabin. We sat outside and played chess and Stratego. The other counselors, knowing we had to stay there, brought us cake and ice cream. After about 45 minutes of sitting outside, with how quiet the boys were, I was getting really tired. It had been a long day and I got into bed. None of the other counselors complained because once one counselor goes into the dorm for the night, everyone else is free to go hang out. I think I was asleep in 5 minutes. At least it felt like it had only been five minutes and then all of a sudden my alarm was going off.