Camp Out
One of the highlights of the kid’s summer camp is the family cook out/camp out, which was last night. There are many, many great things about our summer community, but this has to be in the top three.
20-25 families camp out in a meadow, high above the Beaverkill Valley. The event starts at about 6:30, with families driving in, setting up tents, and then driving their cars back out and into a parking area. Kids play soccer or football, and run around in the meadow and the woods, playing, conspiring, and having fun. The adults have drinks and talk while the sun sets.
Counselors cook hotdogs and hamburgers, and everyone eats while they sit around the camp fire. After dark, a few adults play guitar, and there is a sing along. Eventually, the kids and counselors sing all the camp songs. Eventually, everyone goes to their tents, and tries to sleep (except the counselors, who traditionally stay up and have fun through the night). Some adults, whose houses are relatively close, or who no longer have little kids on the camp, sneak off in the night to sleep in their own beds.
In the morning, people regather for coffee and breakfast. Adults admire each others’ bed heads, and ask how they slept. The kids start playing again. By about 8:30, the tents are all struck, and everyone goes home for a traditionally very low-key day (with plenty of naps). The whole event is so authentic, and wholesome, and fun, that I can barely believe that it exists. But year after year, the same families (more or less), gather for the camp out, and enjoy the idyll.
This year the weather was nearly perfect, with rain pouring down only about 30 minutes after everyone had headed home. (The rain was a bit of a blessing: our well ran dry yesterday, and the fish are dying in the rivers and ponds). Both of our kids are completely exhausted, but very, very happy. The cook out/camp out rules.