Pictures from Shani

Comment:

Great one, Neil -- well worth the wait.
(For some strange reason, this is the only way I can post a comment on this blog.)

Camp

My positive feelings about camp start before I even get there. Car rides are no fun, but the one to camp is one of the nicer rides I do. All bike rides are fun, and the one to camp from home is fabulous. The trip through Crawford Notch is always scenic and wonderful. It’s like the setup to something really nice about to happen. Camp itself is a place of rest and a general being at ease for me. What it is to me is:

A beautiful lake

My children learning how to swim

My kids loving to go swimming

My kids learning how to ride their bikes

My kids loving riding their bikes

A wonderful family

A battle against cold coming through every door and window on winter nights

Winning that battle with a warm fire

Getting up in the middle of the night, feeding that fire and feeling it get hotter as I doze back off

Me and Zoe

A great weekend before Harper was born, just me and Zoe

Gram

A place with a ton of great road rides right close by

Blueberries

Little kids voices

Little kids having fun

Spending time with my kids

A canoe or kayak paddle

Sleeping in a tent

Getting up in the morning with nowhere to be all day, and because of that, enjoying my coffee just a

little more than I usually do (and that’s quite a bit)

Good food, and lots of it

A dopey parade that’s fun

Friends

Reading my book

A walk around the edge of the lake in winter when it’s really quiet

Harper and Patrick having a place they love to go to

A cold delicious beer I might not drink otherwise

A walk around the circle

Warm sun

Booming thunderstorms

Snow

Sitting on the deck

A great launching pad for other fun trips and a great landing pad from other fun trips

The one lobster I might eat all year

Odd jobs that I really love doing because they help out Gram

The pleasant clang of galvanized garbage cans

The creak of the swingset

Kids drawing on an old overturned boat

The smell of sunscreen

Sand in my sandals

I guess I’ve been going to camp for 20 years now. I never had anything like it when I was a kid. One summer when I was 10 my family rented a camp on a lake. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. I never went back, but I remember how much I loved it. I couldn’t tell you how close the next house was or how many annoying people were buzzing motorboats there or if the road was paved or dirt. Things have changed around camp in the last 20 years, but when we go there with Harper and Patrick, I’m sure they’re just like me when I was 10, just loving it. The beauty of the place comes through all the more watching my kids love it. I've heard the story about Robin's mother (I think) not getting out of the car when her husband showed it to her. It's cool to think that his decision to buy this place has been one that affected so many other people's lives with happiness and fun. Good going.

Photos of Camp 2009