I love the energy of this term so far.

Often times, this part of the season has two important trends that pull at each other.   On one hand, the counselors are more experienced and capable than they were at the first of the summer.  During orientation, we talk with them about homesickness and cabin conflict, but there is no substitute for experience.  Since virtually all of our team has at least one term under their belt, they are simply better counselors for the experience.

On the other hand, there is less novelty for the counselors.  The counselors have seen the dances and heard many of the jokes (we try to keep some fresh, but we do recycle a few between terms).  As a result, I have seen counselors approach repeat events with less enthusiasm.

On the whole, greater experience is more important than reduced novelty, but I still hate seeing the latter.

Well – I am not seeing it here.

Of course, your children are seeing everything for the first time and love it.  They are climbing the Pirate Ship, enjoying the Spin Cycle, going down the slides and playing gaga.

But so are the counselors.  I am not sure why this is so.  Perhaps it is the fact that we have our best staff.  Perhaps we are keeping them all better rested.  Maybe the rain provided extra variety and energy.  I also think that seeing the end of the summer provides enough nostalgia and appreciation to make them savor camp. Perhaps it is all those great campers!  Whatever it is, I am so excited.

At torchlight last night, I heard one of the most sustained roars from the guys.  Today at lunch, the “Attitude Check” was thunderous.  Division night tonight was a huge success.  Life is good.

We had our first Man Caves and Friendship Games today.  I will tell you more about this in a later blog, but the short explanation is that we invite every cabin to our house for an hour.   Susie Ma’am meets with the girls in Friendship Games and I meet with the Boys in Man Cave.  Since camp gets so busy, we want to make sure we get a chance to enjoy some chat time with every camper.  These have also been a blast.

I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Steve Sir