Summer Rain
Tonight at dinner, just as everyone had loaded their plates with chicken, sweet potato wedges and veggies, a quick rain came out of nowhere as we sat at the picnic tables. Nobody flinched. The sun was still mostly shining, and though it never rains at North Star, this was a bit more than a drizzle. And yet the campers and counselors laughed, covered the food, and waited as the 60-second cloud passed overhead. It is hard to imagine a scene like this taking place anywhere else. Smiling, laughing with friends, and enjoying a summer rain was just a great reminder of some of the simple pleasures of childhood at camp.
After dinner we had our regular Sunday evening programming of Unorganized Free and Cabin Campfires. Unorganized Free is another opportunity to capture that camp magic with some unstructured free play. And Cabin Campfires are an opportunity for each group to set aside some time to process their experiences and their growth, while setting goals and making plans for the week ahead. To read more about our Sunday programming, please check out this earlier edition of The Siren.
Last night at camp was our first Green-White Series of Second Session. Campers are placed on Green-White teams during their first summer and those teams remain for the remainder of their North Star careers. Green-White is a fun way to organize many of events in an ongoing competition throughout the summer, which includes the Green-White Marathon, games of All-Camp Capture the Flag, the Camper-Counselor Hunt, the Dodgeball Extravaganza and many more great activities will be a part of our ongoing Green-White competition through the summer. Green-White at North Star is an outstanding lens into our philosophy on competition at camp, which emphasizes the importance of being kind even while playing hard. We remind the boys that they are playing with their friends – that they are their friends before the game, during the game, and everyone should behave in such a way that they continue to be friends after the game. Our boys are all too familiar with the “haha, we won, you stink” dialogue that often echoes during school recess or local sports leagues, and we don’t want our campers to have to sleep in cabins where that is the pervasive language. So we ask that the boys try their best and support each other regardless of the outcome in order to create an environment where everyone can enjoy playing.
Today’s Grace:
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
– Albert Einstein
