Brrrr!
Oh the weather outside is frightful!
I am writing to you here on this freezing day, dreaming of the summer heat. Well… freezing for Florida anyway. This week has been in the mid-50s down here, and it is funny to see how everyone in Orlando reacts to the cold. Meanwhile, I am outside in my CGL staff shirt and jeans. My school turned on the heat, had students in Uggs, sweatpants, sweatshirts, gloves, hats, scarves, and massive coats. On the flip side, I am fully aware of how hot it gets down here in Florida during the summer, and how lucky I am to be able to escape that to be in the arches.
The weather this past summer was the best that I can remember. There were only two really hot days where we had our “steamy day” schedule. For anyone who doesn’t know, steamy day is where we rotate our campers between the pool, the lake, games, and other specialties to make sure that our campers stay safe and cool. We also only had one “rainy day” which we rotate the campers through specialties, bunko, and other indoor activities. The other 47 days were filled with beautiful cool morning, perfect weather days, and comfortable nights.
This is not to say that we did not have some stormy nights. I, like many of our campers, really enjoy being in camp during a thunderstorm. You are inside with your cabin, playing cards, making up new games/activities, playing rafterball, and intently watching the rest of camp through your shutters. Some of my favorite memories of being a counselor came during thunderstorms. I was able to teach my campers new card games (which I still see them playing, and teaching others how to play), but more importantly, I saw my campers interacting with each other. They were really listening, and engaged, to what their cabin mates were saying; sharing stories of summers past, home friends, family, building up the courage to ask a girl to dance, or anything else. That is what a Camp Green Lane summer is all about!!
I am about to come up to Philly for our week long Thanksgiving break. In addition to the best holiday due to the amount of eating, watching football games and spending time with my family, I cannot wait to see many of my camp family as well! The cold will be a nice shock back into reality, but meeting with Uncle Adam and Uncle Jay and planning for this upcoming summer sure will surely warm me up!
I am very thankful for all the memories at camp, friendships made, and traditions. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Almost 200 days until summer 2015!