Sorry for the delay in getting my week-end blog out, but I was at camp! My church, NewPointe, held its annual middle school summer camp at Skyview Ranch in Millersburg. As a middle school group leader on Sunday mornings, I was blessed with the opportunity for a 3-day paid vacation. That’s a positive way of looking at it!!! Here are some observations:
1. Camp cabins have that smell.
Skyview has great facilities, and does a great job of taking care of them. That being said, I think every youth camp that I have been apart of (both as a kid and adult) has had that same cabin smell: that unique blend of mustiness, sweat, wet swimsuits, and teen body odor. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to include lingering haze of Axe Body Spray. I guess that’s the power of those Axe commercials on teen males! Not quite the Old Spice of my youth!
2. Teen males aren’t too interested in cleanliness and hygiene.
Probably the prime cause of observation #1. Clothes laying all over the place. Make that wet clothes laying all over the place. Soap—optional. Washing hands—optional. Showering—optional. Throwing paper towels in the trash—about the same Shaq’s free-throw percentage. Lifting the seat up before urinating—that takes the challenge and fun out of the it. Axe Body Spray—mandatory!
3. Condiments go better on top of burgers than on top of humans.
A few years ago, someone at the church came up with the great concept of ‘Hamburger Hill’. Its basically a large tarp placed on a hill, greased with Crisco. The teens go in groups—ladies first for about an hour, then the boys—trying to team up to make it to the top while an adult is spraying them with a hose. Oh yeah, and they get hamburger toppings them at them. Ketchup. Mustard. Mayo. Relish. BBQ sauce. Ranch dressing. Mix that in with the Crisco, water, and mud, and you get an aroma as far from a summer cook-out as you can imagine. On a positive note, this year, syrup was added to the menu, and that sugary sweetness slightly nullified the potency of the rest of the arsenal. Some boys showered after. Others thought a dip in the lake would do the job. See observation #2.
4. Young polar bears must have much thicker fur than old polar bears.
We did a polar bear swim in the lake at 7 am on a brisk Saturday morning. The kids were swimming it up like a mid-July heat wave. I did muster the courage to get my head under water. I am getting close to my mid-forties, and I have noticed that I seem to get cold much easier than the kids. Whether it is Friday night football, 50˚ spring baseball, or 50˚ morning swims, I am bundled up and still freezing. Teens pretty much wear shorts year round. I remember having to usher the student section as a 30˚ football play-off game. I was double and triple layered from head-to-toe, and still shivering. As for the students, I remember complimenting my old student, Marshall, for being the only kid to even wear a coat! The power of the hoodie was in full display that night!
5. Old polar bears get up much easier than younger polar bears.
Teens need their sleep, and can usually stock up whenever possible. That includes camp on an unfamiliar mattress. As I have gotten older, I noticed that I have a much harder time trying to sleep in when not having to kneel to my 5:40 am work wake-up time. Throw in a new bed, and I am all out of whack! But who says that’s bad? Its amazing how much more you can get done on a Saturday morning when you are up by 7 instead of 11! I even did a 2.5 mile early morning jog at camp! Which leads to…
6. Jogging hills stink.
I should move to Kansas.
7. Teens can survive without their technology.
No cell phones, I-pods/pads, TVs, and computers were allowed, and the kids not only survived—they thrived! Us adults were allowed to have our phones, and I admit that I did my share of peeking.
8. Millennials are positive, enthusiastic and supportive.
Today’s teens and young adults get a lot of criticism heaped on them. But I love their enthusiasm, their positivity, and their support of each other. We had a karaoke party, but that title is misleading. There are singers on stage, but it really becomes as group sing and dance of 160+ students and the 30 or so college counselors on staff. Their energy level as they belted out the lyrics and boogied up a storm (for you young’ens, that means dancing) was amazing!
Beyond that, it is very heart-warming to see group members encourage and support each other throughout the weekend. Some students whose appearance or habits would almost always made for bully targets in previous generations tend to be more protected by their peers of today. The camp also has a late evening baptism of students at the lake, with family members watching along with the rest of the students. As baptized students step onto the shore, its beautiful to see them get mobbed and congratulated by their group members.
Well, another summer camp in the books (and the blogs), and not a poison ivy bump, or even a mosquito bite to be seen on my body. I guess my old polar bear blood is a bit to sour for those skeeters!