So Camp Begins

As I write this, I am at camp, laying on top of my bed with the lights out so that my cabin mate can sleep. It is 12:46 am. Our other cabin mate is out for a drive with some other camp workers, and most of the rest of the camp is asleep. Covid restrictions have made camp very different from the usual, but having a whole month for staff development and camp upgrading has been a gift. We are considered one cohort, a group of people permitted to be together without social distancing, but we are asked to stay here as much as possible to avoid growing the cohort outside of the permissable number. We are not recommended to sing in groups at all, and our sanitizing processes have increased. It seems to be going well so far. 

Any day we expect the health inspector to come and check out the camp, but we are above and beyond the government's requirements for a camp this size. There are around 17 of us, plus cooks. People come to refill our propane tank and drop off groceries, but Dawson screens them, they enter, do their task, and leave without contacting any of us. We are effectively closed off.

Tonight we had our biblical discussion at the beach after group study and had a fire while the sun set, and then we drove to the area where the camp keeps horses (when there are campers) and set off a box full of fireworks. Jupiter and Saturn were visible in the North East, I believe. I recognized them as planets, and Dawson knew which two they were. Today was very peaceful- rather calm. We painted cabins and trim on the dining call.

The day before yesterday, however, was far different from today. The day was just fine until lunch. I am in charge of filling the dish sinks for after meals- each sink takes about five minutes to fill, and I go back inside to eat while they fill. The first sink I filled was the washing sink. I turned on the hose, poured the soap, and returned inside. Five minutes later, I discovered that I had neglected to put in the plug. I filled that sink properly, moved onto the rinse sink, went inside, and completely forgot about the sink. 15 minutes later, I remembered, ran outside, and found the sink overflowing, with water pooling in the dish pit. 

Later that day, I received an email stating that I would be charged soon for the renewal of a free trial I had begun. I went to cancel it, and my phone service wouldn't work for hours. When it returned, I had a new email saying "Your account has been charged."

*Written July 5 and posted when service was available

Around 3:00 pm, I was organizing the sports storage area, when I heard a scuttling in the corner. I turned to see a squirrel frantically trying to escape me, so I walked out and banged on the wall to send him away. He ran straight at me and veered off at the last minute- I'm not sure which of us was more scared. 

6:00 was supper. I started filling a sink, walked inside, sanitized my hands, and sat down on a bench. My pants- my cargo pants with my little embroidery pieces- tore from the middle of the crotch area straight up to the seat. 

Altogether, the day was not my most pleasant. But realistically, I've had worse, and nothing that happened was a super big deal. Things at camp are great, and I'm happy to be here. I'm one week in, with four weeks remaining. I can't wait for the rest. 

- Aliya