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| 08/13/06 - Jenna Comes HOME! |
DEK & JK early wake up
MSP airport
Mall of America
camp by 8 pm - Ribs
JAK nesting |
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| 08/02/06 - Bayfield County |
| Today
was so nice. I had the day off, so I started the first part of the
day on the phone selling. The phone continued to ring off the
hook. At about 2:00 I finally got in the car and started driving
north. My course was set to cruise the shore of Lake Superior
coast. I headed north and east and made my first stop at the
mouth of the Brule River. It was a
bit overcast as I cruised up the shore. Finally, I reached
the very top of Wisconsin. which is my favorite part of the state
outside of Douglas County. I looked out and saw the apostle
islands. It is such a great lake, if you know what I mean!
As I drove along Highway 13, I came across a junk
dealer and chatted with ((what's his name)). He is an
interesting fellow who is one of the hearty souls that live here all year long. I got a picture
of him near some old gas pumps. Me
and my Dad just love old gas pumps. I
also took some cool ones of
me reflecting on a mirror that was on the
gas pump. This picture is among
my favorite shots of the summer. After driving thru Herbster,
Cornicopia, Sand Bay, etc, I came to
Bayfield, WI. It was getting late, so I ate
the traditional Lake Superior white fish outside as I listened to a guy
play the keyboard. I found a couple of great Lake
Superior/Bayfield/Madeline Island refrigerator magnets for the growing
collection. As I drove back, I passed the wood working shop where
we got the cow for Mom and Dad in 1987. The wood
carving shops along highway 13 are my favorite and this one is the best
of all. I drove back to camp before dark. The night driving
can be very dangours with all the deer that wander on the roads.
When I returned home, there were more and more and more orders to place.
The orders continue to flow in at a rapid pace. |
| 08/01/06 - Cribbage Tournament |
| Today was another great day. The rain
continued to fall on and off throughout the day, but mostly it was all
sunshine. What a riot I had tonight running a cribbage
tournament and teaching a couple of guys to play. One of the
guys was Alfredo P's (Mexico City) son. I just love hanging out
with old camp friends kids'. All the kids had fun and Adam B won
the whole thing. (That is Andrew B's kid for all your keeping
track of our old camp friends kids'.) This morning a ton of kids
showed up for photography. We took pictures and then developed the
film. This afternoon we printed post card pictures. I got a
good shot of the camp bell (no need for a watch here at camp, we just
listen for the bell and we know where we need to be). |
| 7/31/06 - More Pictures |
| In photography we talked about how a
picture is made, settings on the camera and then we went to shot some
excellent pictures. In the afternoon, we developed film. It
was so hot that I went into town to eat lunch at the bar, where it is
air conditioned. It was nice to cool off, although it
was too brief. The weather has been unbelievably hot. It
just keeps getting nicer and nicer here in the North Woods.
In the late afternoon, I returned to bake in the heat of my cabin, but
work was calling. The phone continues to ring off the hook.
It is so much fun to finally sell a product that sells itself.
Finally late in the evening I need to take a break from work and get
some dinner. Sue and I headed into town for a burger. It was
nice to get back to the air conditioning of the bar. It did rain
again today late in the evening and there was some really good thunder.
Now that is a sound we have not heard in awhile. |
07/30/06 - Sunday with Willettman
Pictures and details coming soon |
The service was given by Nira
Photography - Film Developing
Dinner at outside at the Lawn Beach with Sue B.
Counsel Fire by Ramsey
Fishing the Brule with Willettman, in the dark. We started at S. |
| 07/29/06 - Photo Field Trip to Amnicon
Falls |
| Today the photography
project headed to Amnicon Falls with 9 campers and Judd R (Sterno's
nephew). We arrived at the falls and took a hike and talked about
taking better pictures. Hopefully we shot some winners. Time
will tell. It was a another beautiful day. We swam in the
falls and then ate lunch. No bar-b-q as there is a fire ban in
effect due to the extreme lack of rain this summer. After lunch we
took a drive to picture some of the countryside in Douglas County.
Then we headed to the mouth of the Amnicon River on Lake Superior.
The wind was blowing and there were big waves. The kids enjoyed
swimming in the Big Lake. At the end of the afternoon we headed
back to camp. A good time was had by all. I ended up taking
a nap and waking up after 1:00 AM. I guess I needed to catch up on
some sleep. |
| 07/28/06 -
Pictures and details coming soon |
Bi-camp picture taking
Printing
Friday Night Fish Fry
Garbage Auction
Hard RAIN and Hail at night, and then beautiful again (just like
always), with stars |
| 07/27/06 -
Pictures and details coming soon |
SI - Juggling
Printing |
| 07/26/06 -
Pictures and details coming soon |
Day off - work
Willy & Zack Brule River
Photographing Douglas Cty
Superior/Duluth, Lift Bridge
Hanging out with Dr. Mitch and Chuk.... |
| 07/26/06 - All Camp Birthday Party |
| Tonight was the all camp birthday bar-b-q.
We celebrated everyone's birthday by singing to ourselves. Then we
ate by birthday months. It was lots of fun to eat as a group.
The bar-b-q was delicious and the cakes were wonderfully decorated with
scenes of camp. Earlier in the day Willy Stern stopped by camp for
a visit with his son Zack. I had the chance to do some
printing and make photograms with Zack. It was so nice to meet
another old camp friend's son. He is a great guy and I am sure he
will have a blast here next summer. |
| 07/24/06 -
Western Fast Draw |
| Today started like most days, perfect
weather. I woke
up did some work and headed to the tail end of breakfast for
announcements and a bit to eat. In photography we took pictures,
developed the film and then printed in the afternoon. Some of the
guys are really starting to produce good work. I worked on a C/N
t-shirt with one of my old camp buddy's son. It is so nice to have
pals that are 10 years old! At the end of the day Willy and Zack S.
arrived for a visit and I did a few photograms with Zack.
That was really cool and of course it was great to see Willy. Then
Jeff G, David M, and Michael A stopped at camp after their 22nd annual
BWCA trip. It is so cool to see all my old camp friends on such a
regular basis. Everyday there seems to be another familiar face
stopping in for a visit to camp. At lunch I took a drive to Becks Beach
on Lake
Superior. Becks Beach is almost directly north of camp by 20
minutes. I had not been over to the
"Big Lake" yet. It was
nice to take a dip and then leisurely work my way back to camp taking
pictures of the country side. I ate a
quick dinner in the Rec Hall and then Todd, Thomas and I headed to a
local gun club near superior to learn the sport of "Western Fast Draw."
Yes, this is in fact a real sport and
one of the owners of the club is a world champion. The
goal is to get your pistol out of your holster and shoot a 2 foot
stationary disc target that is 21 feet away faster than
the other guy you are competing
against. Fast times for this are well under a second. My
time was slightly over 10 seconds to draw the pistol and shoot the
target. The sport is shot using 45 caliber, single action
(that means you must cock the hammer),
long colt pistols. These guns are pre-1900 designed revolvers. The guns are
loaded with a shotgun shell primer and wax. There is no lead or
gun powder, which eliminates the chance of injury. The fellow
training me assured me that a wax bullet only stings a bit and would
cause no long term injury. Fortunately, I did not shoot my foot or
leg, but the thought crossed my mind. It was so much fun!
Afterwards I took a drive into Superior for a few errands. |
| 07/23/06 - Sunday: A day of rest and pizza |
| A day of rest. I slept late. It
was nice to catch up on some sleep. Dr. Mitch C. arrived at camp
along with his wife, Stephanie. Mitch was on several trips I led
including his Big Trip. Mitch is camp doctor this week and what
fun that he is here. It seems there is an endless stream of pals
that arrive almost daily. We ate pizza in the Rec Hall for dinner
and then headed to the counsel fire for a nice evening program that
Jonathan S wrote. The weather has been perfect all summer (unless
you are a farmer), hot and sunny. It was in the 90's again today.
Tonight about the time of the counsel fire, the sky turned dark and
thunder began to roar, however, it barely rained at all. I think
there were about 8 drops of rain until after the counsel fire ended and
then it rained for about 4 and half minutes. The great sprits were
watching over us so we could enjoy the evening outside.
After gathering some warmth from the counsel fire, Mitch, Chuk and I
headed into town for some fun. As I write this, the sky is bright
with stars that have become completely routine along with perfect
weather. |
| 07/22/06 - Old camp friends |
| Today started with a
cabin picture! The picture is of me, Chuk, and Rick.
Of course we took the picture outside of Swamper 5 which is where we all
shared the summer of 1974. We thought of all our old pals and hope
they are thinking of us too. It was fun to be in the same spot
with Chuk and Rick. Although it is 32 years ago, we lined
up for that picture just like we did way back when. During project
periods, we printed a lot of pictures and developed some film.
The evening was a village of bar-b-q, so I had some time off. The girls
from Birch Trail were here for a socail with the older campers. I
walked by and smiled as I remembered being a ninth grader and the fun I
had the night of ski patrol. I remember dancing with Kim Goldman
so vividly I almost expected to see her standing among all the girls.
(If anyone reading this knows Kim, I hope that someone will point her to
this webpage!) I hope that some of the guys had as
much fun tonight as I did that night. I had a wonderful fish
dinner on Lake Nebagamon. It was such a nice night. The sun
was so bright and the lake looked so beautiful. Rick and
Stephanie brought me a piece of fudge from Hayward where they spent the
day with Cobey, Kiki and Danny. (Dad, I shared it with my
friends-just like you!) Later in the evening, the town of Lake
Nebagamon was rocking to a fantastic band that played in town. A
lot of the C/N staff were there. It was so much fun and the
chance to be with Chuk, Rick and Stephanie was just great. There are nothing like old camp friends. |
| 07/21/06 - Projects - |
Rick and family arrive
Wanado filming
Dinner with the swampers |
| 07/20/06 - More and more project periods
and work |
| 07/19/06 -
Ron's
39th Birthday, Project periods with Swampers |
| 07/18/06 - 2nd
Four Weeks Begins, met Queen's son |
| Today I woke up
in the tent. It was nice to be on the trail. I got back to
camp and started getting ready for the 2nd four weeks and did some work.
The campers arrived and we ate the traditional spaghetti with meat
sauce. Tonight I helped S-5 unpack, hung out with some pals and
spent a nice evening on the hill. I even demonstrated the proper
ringer technique to a few little guys. It is nice that camp is
going to be in full swing tomorrow. However, the fist half of the
summer has gone far to fast. In 5 weeks from today, I will be back
at my desk. |
| 07/17-18/06 -
Canoeing the Brule on Steve's 42nd Birthday |
| After some work
in the morning, Steve and Benji came back to camp from Duluth and we
packed up for a day of paddling down the Lower Brule River. Today
is Steve's 42nd birthday - a BIG HOW for
Steve! The weather
is perfect again today. It is even cooling off a bit from the high
90's/100's that we have had this past week. After arranging the
canoe in Brule, we pushed off and started our glide down the river.
The water in the river is very low so we were glad we did not own this
canoe. There were lots of good rapids and ledges and we had quite
a ride. We got thru most of them, but some got the better of us
and we tasted the river. It was such fun to paddle with
Steve and Benji. We saw very few
people, a couple of deer, a great blue herring and a few rocks.
After a good paddle from Pine Point to Highway 13, we headed back to the
campsite (#8) on the river to set up camp and get dinner started.
We ate steak, corn, hash browns and bug juice. It was a great
dinner and Steve did an excellent job getting it all together.
After dinner we made some'ors, sat around the campsite and played
cribbage. Steve and I tied at one game a piece. I fell
asleep in about 2 seconds. What a great day off and what fun to
spend it with Steve and Benji. |
| 07/16/06 -
Sunsets on the first 4 weeks |
| The first session campers left early this
morning. I ran into Gary and Mindy S. on the way into camp who were
visiting Joel. One of the coolest parts about being here is seeing
all the folks who come to visit. This morning I had to say
good-bye to Guy and Linda
S. It was so great that they were at camp for 10 days. I
enjoyed being with my old pal Guy and meeting Linda. This morning
was Ginnus T. Nebagamus on the lower diamond. (contests of silly
games to set camp records) After lunch,
I headed to the airport to drop off the Dr. at the airport. I did
a bunch of personal errands and then I had a chance to see a little of Duluth and
take some pics of the big city. Dinner was catered fried chicken
in the Rec Hall for the 8 weekers. The staff KP'd and the kids loved
that. Everyone walked into the DQ for desert. It was almost
100 again today. The weather has been HOT HOT HOT. At sunset I
drove towards Lake Superior to capture a beautiful sunset. |
| 7/15/06 -
Steve B visits camp |
| The day started like any other day, me
waking up and rushing to the Rec Hall. I made it in time for late
breakfast and then I was off to projects. We developed film.
Steve B was in town before lunch and we ate together with Benji's cabin,
S-3. In the afternoon the awards ceremony for the first half of
the summer took place. I presented about 12 campers with awards
and recognized all the guys who came to photography during the session.
The countdown was pretty cool. I was one of 2 guys towards the
end. I cannot believe that is the case, but the truly old times -
Nardie and Sally are out of town. Steve B and I were the
only 2 guys up for a few years in the early 70's. (Sorry to talk
in code to those non-C/N-ers who might read this. The countdown is
when everyone stands up and Adam starts counting backwards in years.
If you were at camp in that year you stand, and if you were not at camp
in the year, you sit.) The countdown is a highlight of the summer
and to be recognized as one of the "old timers" at the countdown is
pretty neat. Guy S started in 68, and I came to post camp in 1971.
Guy S was so excited to be the last person
standing as the countdown ended. His excitement
made me smile that I was the 2nd to last person to sit down and Steve B
was the 3rd to last. This place brings
out the kid in all of us. Steve and I took a dip in the lake and
then headed to the Lawn Beach for a wonderful fish dinner. The counsel
fire was overflowing with the camp family and many visitors. Every
single seat was taken and there were even people standing in the back.
It was awesome to see so many people in camp celebrating the end of the
session. The fire was put on by Kyle H and dealt with acceptance.
It was very much like Dr. Seuss's Sneeches story. Instead
of "stars upon thars," the distinction of importance was the length of
an animal's tail. It was very creative, fun to watch and very
insightful. The keylogs were meaningful and brought back memories
of my last counsel fire as an LJ (1979). Guy, Linda, Sue, Steve
and I gathered at the friendship fire on the range to celebrate.
We sure had a good time reliving old times and creating new memories
that will fade far too soon. The stars and the milky way lit up
the sky. |
| 7/14/06 -
Photo show & Luck of the Draw Run |
| 7/13/06 - Fish
Hatchery & Trails Forward with Adam B. |
| 7/11 & 7/12/06
- Visit to Kamaji |
| After projects
and VA ended on Tuesday, I took off for Camp Kamaji. I made it to
camp in time to say hi to Jenna for about an hour. Jenna's cabin
was making cabin T-shirts. Eventually, I headed to Bemidji to find
a hotel. I arrived in Bemidji in time for a
gorgeous sunset over Lake Bemidji. I
traveled to the north side of the lake and stayed at a wonderful, old
lodge called Rittger's Birchwood Resort.
On the way, I saw the
giant Paul Bunyan and Babe
the Blue Ox. I sat by a fire on the beach with some
nice folks from central IL; then I played some pool in the
hotel bar. This morning, I ate a
wonderful waffle breakfast that was included in the very reasonable
charge. The view from the hotel out on to the lake was just
beautiful. I had to stop by the
giant Paul Bunyan and
Babe the
Blue Ox again since it was getting dark when
I saw them the night before. It was a good thing I did because I
saw the MN Dept of Natural Resources
capturing and
tagging about 50 geese. I had never seen that before.
That is a messy job as the geese poop all over these guys. I guess
someone has to do it, I am glad it is not me. When they hold the
geese these guys place the
head and necks under
one wing. Very interesting. Anyway, I headed to
camp for a day long visit with Jenna.
We had a very nice day. I attended all her projects with
her...drama where she applied stage make-up, dance, photography,
swimming and then Kayaking. We ate lunch in the dinning hall.
I saw a bunch of her pals and sisters/daughters of camp friends.
We had a great time together. The day was very sunny and it was
over 90 degrees. After dinner, I headed back to C/N. It was
so nice to see Jenna and have a chance to experience her camp for a day.
It is a wonderful place. |
| 7/10/06 -
Monday is cabin cookout |
| Cabin cookout and much more.... |
| 07/09/06 -
Amazing Sunday and Full Moon |
| Today was another
awesome Sunday.
Sunday service in the AM by Joe C. He gave an awesome talk
about trails and opportunities. He talked about the incredible
opportunity we all have at camp. He talked about all the people
with such a strong connection to C/N and discussed what brings us all
back. This was very cool since it was so personal. After
lunch, I had another awesome bike ride around the lake. It is so
cool Guy and Linda are here to share all the fun with. We printed
pics in the afternoon and I worked on my covered bridge picture from our
Amnicon Falls photography field trip.
It is pretty good. This evening we had a lovely dinner
out and then we headed for the Counsel Fire. It was a beautiful,
cool night with a full moon. The counsel fire was on "growing up"
and Ben G. did such a great job. It was very funny and insightful.
It hit home in so many ways since I spend so much of the time claiming I
have not grown up. Growing up at camp was one of the main themes.
This was very appropriate since so much of the growing up I have done,
has been at camp. I had a chance to watch the
moon before going
to sleep. It is very pretty tonight on Lake Nebagamon. |
| 07/08/06 -
More Brule |
| In photography we developed film in the AM.
Then we had to compete with Village Activity in the afternoon.
We lost...but had time to work on cleaning up the darkroom and getting
ready for the art show. This evening I set out for a photo adventure of
my own along the Brule River and in Brule, WI. There are some pics
of my adventure here. In the evening we
put down our cameras and picked our balls (juggling balls). About
15 kids joined us for juggling on the hill. There are some campers
who are great. We worked with Chinese yo yo's, devil sticks, pins,
balls, and yo-yo's. One camper who joined us is ranked in regular
yo-yo-ing. (23rd nationally). That is fun to watch.
Some kids never had juggled 3 balls and I taught them how to do it and
they got it. Our cook, Jack, got really good at tossing scarves.
We had a little show at the end of the evening that everyone enjoyed.
There were a lot of BIG HOW's head from the hill! Then on to the
Waterfront (local bar) for a big night of Kuroki. Some of the
singing was great! (I watched!) |
| 07/07/06 -
29 years ago today |
Today was Paul
Bunyan Day and the Red River team won. It was a narrow victory,
but I was very psyched for the team! Mostly because 2 of little
buddies, Benji and Cobey were on that team. I sure had a hard time
calling today Paul Bunyan Day. I kept calling it Pow Wow Day.
Most things around here don't change, but the name of the big day of
splitting into 4 teams and competing changed about 12 years ago.
Really, other than the change to a logging theme from an Indian theme
the day is almost exactly the same. The Big Chiefs are now called
Boss Loggers instead of Big Chiefs and there are some other minor
differences. None the less, all day I referred to the whole day in
terms that would be familiar to most of my readers. Heck I still
call L-6, L-6 even though it is now really masquerading as L-5.
It was a very nice day for me as I had the opportunity to roam camp and
take pictures of many contestants. I took about 200 pictures today
and that was really fun. I am sure that I captured some of the
memories that will last a lifetime. I am glad to have participated
in that way. Tonight after all the games and contests, we cooked
dinner for camp on the lower diamond. It was a lot of work, but
most of the work around here is just plain fun. After dinner there
was a hilarious counsel fire that was pretty much completely improvised.
Everyone was cracking up.
I just have to mention that 29 years ago today my Mom wrote me a letter
that was dated 7/7/77. She thought that was pretty neat and, as it
turned out, I did too. To think that in just 12 months we'll be
looking at 07/07/07 is pretty wild. Time sure flies when you are
having fun. |
| 07/06/06-Paul
Bunyan Day Prelims |
| Lots of prelim
events for Paul Bunyan Day. I took a lot of pics. |
| 07/05/06-Brule
River |
| Today was another
wonderful day off. I was on the phone for several hours with
prospects and then I was off to paddle the Brule River. It was a
lovely 5 mile paddle between B and 2. It was so nice to float down
the river and paddle the few rapids. The weather could not have
been any more perfect. I ate dinner back at camp and then a whole
bunch of guys bar-b-Q'd chicken and ribs late at night on the range.
It was a really fun day |
| 07/04/06-4th
of July |
| Fourth of July in Lake Nebagamon. Apple Pie
and Ice Cream for breakfast...Flag raising and all the festivities.
We printed pics in the morning, ate meat ball subs for lunch and then
watched the parade. It was a blast to see the whole village out.
It is a big celebration and Lake Nebagamon is 100 years old this year.
Miss Lake Nebagamon was
crowned, based on the number of buttons to honor the 100th year.
Many of the people riding the floats threw candy and the kids loved
that. For some reason, they were not allowed to eat it.
Something about too much sugar. The few pieces of candy I caught,
I ate when no one was looking, as did most of the kids!
Camp put together an
awesome float.
It was a 15 foot high 100th birthday cake for Lake Nebagamon.
There were many campers and counselors marching as birthday presents,
which were wonderfully painted boxes which were worn by the marchers.
It was a most creative float. Adam and Joe did a brilliant job
building the structure. A lot of people helped to decorate the
cake in the craft shop. We had a wonderful Turkey Dinner.
Jack cooked 16 turkeys. Wow. Then after evening activities
it was time for fireworks. The campers watched from
camp, but I walked into town to watch from up close. I have never
seen that good of a firework display from so close. I was less
than 75 yards from where Tony and the others were lighting them.
It was over 20 minutes of
non-stop, awesome fireworks. The whole show had many
explosives going off simultaneously. The town was overflowing with
people. There was actually traffic after the show. Late tonight, I
briefly watched an
amazingly
large spider in a massive web
outside my cabin. It has been there the last couple of nights.
I am hoping he decides to leave soon. The 4th was a great day and
I am so glad to be in Lake Nebagamon, but today I missed being with the
family. |
| 07/03/06-Cabin
Cookout |
| Today we developed film in the morning and
printed in the afternoon. It was fun to see some of the kids
really understand the process, as now they had done it before. We
printed some pictures in the afternoon and I walked around to take some
pictures. The craft shop was working on the
float for tomorrow's parade. It is terrific. More on
that later. I chatted with some campers and CNOC and watched them
chop for cabin cookout. Tonight the cabins had cabin cookout.
The specialists were cooked out at CNOC and handed out dutch ovens. |
| 07/02/06-CQ |
| Sunday morning came far too quickly after
the night out with Willett, Joe and Keith. They pushed off before
Sunday services and I headed to the shrine for a wonderful talk
delivered by Adam F. Then I took a long walk through town. I
ate lunch and then after a long rest period we developed film. I
updated the bulletin board in the Rec Hall with newer pictures the
campers and I had taken and printed. It was fun to be in the dark room
with the kids. They are learning a lot from me and Louis and that
is rewarding. Tonight's counsel fire was on Timing. It was
done very well and Adam's comments after the fire were brilliant.
He continues to amaze me as he is so good in front of the group.
The keylogs after the fire were even funnier than last week. (Last
week a keylog was delivered for Sunday's) This week a kid actually
put a very small keylog on the fire for all the kids who made his week
bad. It was as close to taking a keylog off the fire for someone
as I have ever seen. (Non Nebagamon readers will have to excuse
this entry, I am sure you have no idea what I am talking about, but
trust me, it was funny!) After the fire, I was on duty (CQ) and
had to hang in the big house. I accomplished some work and that is
always good. |
| 07/01/06-Lake Nebagamon Rocks |
| Today started off like any other day, but
just kept getting better and better. There was a 4th of July weekend 5
mile run in the village. About 50 campers and staff ran the race,
so I walked in to town to take pictures. My new camera is really
great and I took about 225 awesome pictures of nearly everyone crossing
the finish line. Then I was off to the darkroom for
the rest of the morning and then VA (village activities) in the
afternoon. About mid-afternoon Willettman showed up with Keith A.
and Joe C. I had received a message from Willett that he was going
to stop by, but he had not told me Joe and Keith were going to be with
him. It was so much fun to see some of the old gang at camp. There
is nothing like old camp friends. Chris and I started together on
staff in 81 and Keith and Joe followed a few years later. While I
have sort of stayed in touch with Keith, I had not seen or talked to Joe
for 20 years! Wow, was it fun to catch up with those guys.
There was a street dance with live music in downtown Lake Nebagamon,
where we stayed well into the evening. The band was great and
the town was rocking.
|
| 06/30/06-Little Buddies |
| More fun than the day before, not as much
fun as tomorrow. It was projects during the day and then village
Bar-B-Q. I dined with the swampers. I was the guest and they
let me go thru the line first. I hung out with some of my littler
pals. |
| 06/29/06-Another Gorgeous Day |
| The photography project packed up and
headed to Amnicon Falls with 8 campers and 3 staff. We took a
whole lot of pictures of the falls and then we went swimming in them.
Amnicon Falls is a great place to swim. It is easy to walk right
up to the falls and then sit behind them. Watching the water rush
over your head, in front of your face is truly awesome. But even
better is pushing off the natural rock bench and swimming thru the
rushing water. It is a great massage, although far too short. You can swim towards the falls and stay in place as the water
pushes back. I have spent countless days here, one better than the
next. We Bar-B-Q'd burgers and hot dogs and ate a spectacular
meal. We forgot
to pack out cups so we bought soda and then used the cans to drink our
bug juice. We were well hydrated. My co-counselor told us
that last time he was at the falls, John Kerry stopped by campaigning
when he was running for President. Who would have thought? It was another gorgeous
day. |
| 06/28/06-Madeline
Island |
Today was an official day off, although to
tell the truth most days are days here at camp feel like days off.
I am just having the time of my life except for my conversations with
what's her name. I cannot even
believe what a great time this is. Don't misunderstand, there is
work involved, but it is so much fun it hardly seems like work.
Anyway, back to the daily report. I was off to Madeline Island
today for some not needed time off. I arrived on the island at
about 2:30 and headed straight for Big Bay. Big Bay is one of my
favorite spots. It is a 2 mile beach. I sat on
the beach in awe of the beauty, mostly thinking of my first time camping
on the island which was 30 years ago almost to the day. I was in
6th grade and I was on a camp bike trip. I have returned many
times to Big Bay. One time we took Jenna
there to camp when she was just 2 and a half. That was really
great. Dana was not born yet, but she was with us too. I took a long walk
along the beach, a long bike ride around the island and then ate dinner.
I stayed for the sunset, which was one of the coolest sunsets I have
ever seen. The pictures are amazing.
When I retuned back to the cabin several orders had come in so I
had a lot of work to do.
|
| 6/27/06-The Largest Ball of Twine In the
World |
| Today is
TB's 42nd Birthday.
TB is
one of those guys I was talking about in my posting on June 20th
below, who became one of my closest pals starting just about the first
day of camp in 1974. A roof raising How and Hanskelava to
TB!
I actually made it out of Lake
Nebagamon for the first time since I arrived on June 11th. This
morning's projects were a bike ride around the lake. It was very
fun to be riding around the lake for the first time since about
1987. I just love that ride. We took the long route so we
could stop by JFK's place and see
the largest ball of twine in the
world. It is currently 19,470 lbs. He started it in 1975. Since I was at JFK's last, he has
built a new shed to house the ever growing ball of twine. James
(JFK) told us that Rose (as in Rose's Bakery in Lake Nebagamon) is his
sister. Hopefully the guys got some good pictures of our visit.
In the afternoon we printed some pictures. I worked on my eagle at
the top of a large white pine tree. It turned out quite nice.
We will put that one up in the Rec Hall. After projects ended, I
got some more work done and began a nice break as tomorrow is Cruiser
Day, which means there are no project periods and I don't have to work.
At the end of the day, I drove over to Brule for dinner and to sit by
the Brule River. It was sure nice to sit by the edge of the river,
watch the fish jump and listen to the birds. |
| 6/26/06-Lake Nebagamon is the center of
the universe |
| Another great day. Projects in the
morning included developing film so we are all set to do some more
printing. The village activity proved too popular to produce any
campers at photography, which allowed me to do some printing. Cabin
cookout was rained out at the last minute, then it all cleared up in
time for evening activities. I can't believe it, but it is over 2
weeks and I have not ventured out of Lake Nebagamon. Tomorrow is I
am heading out, perhaps as far as Lake Minnesuing. If your not
from these parts, Lake Minnesuing is right near the center of the
universe. |
| 6/25/06-I am glad I am here |
| There is nothing better than Sunday's at
camp. The day started off with a wonderful Sunday service.
This week it was delivered by Steph. She talked about the
importance of slowing down and taking the time to enjoy the ride. As
it turns out, that was the perfect talk for me to hear right at that moment.
I had just walked to the shrine thinking of all the things I should accomplish this morning during the Sunday
morning break. It was wonderful and thoughtful message along with
a good excuse to delay getting any "real world" work done. After Steph's
talk, I decided I should just hang out and enjoy myself. I sat on
the swamper hill and chatted with counselors and watched the swampers
and loggers play. I took some fun digital pics too. There is always tomorrow. Lunch,
projects, dinner and then the counsel fire filled the rest of the day.
Tonight's counsel fire (Sunday evening program) was on the importance of
Influence and the influence that each of us have on each other as
well as the greater influence that camp has on all of us. There
are so many examples of how much influence camp has had on so many of
us. The skits presented a few funny scenarios. Camp has had
an amazing and powerful influence on me. So many of my close
friends, experiences, and skills were a direct
result of being at camp. When I examined taking the summer
off and spending it in a way that would be a little different, I did not
have to think about any other options. Camp is where I wanted to
be. I am glad I am here. |
| 6/24/06-Everyday is a Saturday at camp! |
| Since everyday at camp is a Saturday it is
just a coincidence that today is in fact Saturday.
Photography included developing some more pictures and then we
shot more pictures around camp. I can't wait to see the
pictures the kids shot tonight...it was Paparazzi night - Stalk your
favorite counselor. Like I said, today was like every
other day here at camp; it was filled with fun and happy campers.
Tonight I was asked to shoot a family photo for the Dr and his extended
family. I am psyched to be thought of as the "photo guy" and
relied on to shoot important pictures. |
| 6/23/06-Time flies when you are having
fun! |
| Today started like most days, answering
phone calls from customers from the moment I wake up until it is time to
head to the rec hall for breakfast. I made it in time for
the posting of my activities on the project board. We were in the
darkroom all day. It was wonderful. Several kids developed
film and we even printed some pictures. I worked thru lunch as the
work phone does not stop ringing. I printed a few pics with Eric
who is a photo enthusiast after lunch. He was really into it.
After projects ended, I got started on my summer photo project.
More on that later, but suffice it to say that it is quite exciting.
I stayed late and printed pics in the darkroom alone. It was very
different to have the whole place to myself. Today is Friday, that
means tonight was village bar-b-q I joined the loggers. They are a
nice group and it was age appropriate for me (they are 11 years old!).
I helped cleanup and while most would consider that work, I was just
having the best time. It rained a little at the end of
dinner, but now it is sunny again. Tonight should be fun, one of
the guys turns 21 tomorrow, so we will go out at 12:00 for his first
drink in a bar. I feel like it was yesterday when Les, Mom and Dad
celebrated my 21st birthday in NYC. That was half my life ago.
Time sure flies when you are having fun. |
| 6/22/06-Keeper |
| Today was a beautiful sunny day. We
simply could not spend it in the darkroom so we walked around camp and
took pictures of camp's many well known places. For the evening
program, we took a ride on The Keeper, camp's pontoon boat.
We all took some pictures on the lake. The highlight of our
ride was seeing a bald eagle perched high in a white pine right near the
lighthouse. Tomorrow, we will be in the darkroom all day. I
cannot wait. After we came back from the boat ride, I walked up
the hill and as I passed the backdoor of the kitchen, I was thinking how
great it is to be here. That is just about the same thought I have every summer I have
spent at camp. Tonight
I chatted with DEK on the phone from the beach on the range. It is
really great that there is now cell coverage all over camp and
throughout Lake Nebagamon. The new cell coverage is one big change
that has made keeping in touch much easier. While it is certainly
less campy to have cell service here, day to day life and business can
continue to go on nearly uninterrupted. There is a very strict no cell policy in camp
which does preserve the isolation from the outside. (Which we all
like!) One highlight of the day was chatting for awhile with our buddy
Willett-man. Can't wait until our paths cross in the
north woods. |
| 6/21/06-Photograms |
| Today was the first day of camper
activities. We did photograms for 4 periods with 4 cabins of 4th
and 5th graders. Some of them really were creative and we are
quickly filling the bulletin board in the Rec Hal with some nice
work. The food at camp continues to be excellent. Hamburgers for
lunch and burritos for dinner. During camper meals we took
cabin pictures on the hill. There are a few more to finish
tomorrow. Work was exceptionally busy today. I closed
4 new Onebox deals and led a kick
off meeting for a new ACT!
client. Clean cloths fill my closet after a trip the Laundromat.
I have to get some rest, more later. |
| 6/20/06-Camp is so awesome! |
| The campers arrived and camp is alive,
duffels being unpacked, four square balls bouncing, ring toss hitting
ringers, box hockey sticks banging, and the roar of the word HOW in the
Rec Hall. As we say at the counsel fire ring, the camp family is once
again assembled for the 78th season. When I came here as a 10 year
old, it was the 46th season. The wild part about this place is
that so much remains the same. It is not just the facility that
has been beautifully kept in its original design. One of the biggest things that has
not changed is all the friendships that are formed here. As I sit and
type this, the youngest boys are forming bonds that will last a
lifetime and returning campers are meeting up with pals that they have
had to wait 10 months to see. Some (most) of my closest pals today
were guys I met or got to know better at camp. I have a group of
friends that I met 32 years ago tonight. You know who you
are. One really cool thing about returning to camp this year is
that so many of my pals have boys here. It is going to be great to
get to know each one of them a little better. I cannot wait until
tomorrow. Camp is so awesome. |
| 6/19/06-Bar-B-Q |
| Today started off like any day, breakfast,
more photos, lunch and then time off in the afternoon before the campers
arrive. I did some work this afternoon as the phone continues to
ring off the hook. Although my phone is ringing all the time, I
have it on vibrate and I am not able to pick it up in camp. There
is a strict no cell phone policy at camp. Lake Nebagamon has
a new cell tower and there is a great cell signal all around.
Anyway, after missing calls all week it was nice to be able to take
incoming calls and do some selling.
I chatted with JAK as she leaves for camp tomorrow. She is so
excited and I am so excited for her. At dinnertime, a few of us
gathered on the range to eat Bar-B-Q that one of the guys had been
smoking a whole lot of meat
all day. We had the best Bar-B-Q chicken, pork tenderloin and ribs
I have ever eaten. It was quite a feast and we all had a great
time. |
| 6/18/06-Finally
some sailing |
| Well it took about a week and I finally got
out on the water in a sailboat. The wind was great with white caps
on the lake and this boat is fast. There was so much wind we
flipped trying to get the boat rigged. I was told to keep the
boat in irons, but the wind made that difficult. As the sail went up, the
wind caught it and we went right over! We climbed back in and we were off and sailing. WOW! One of my
in camp activity objectives was to sail and this was a fun day to start. More
sailing to come. The photo project is all put together and I will
get some more pictures printed before the campers arrive. Some of
our prints went up in the Rec Hall today. Tonight was cabin
cookout. The Trip Staff made many different dishes for the specialists
(non cabin counselors) and administrators. All I can say is, them
trip staff sure like their vegetables. If you haven't seen the list of
vegetables I eat,
you should check it out.
I don't eat a lot of vegetables. Can anyone say, DQ for
dinner? The
counselor GTC was at the counsel fire ring. It was funny. The
guys in charge are very good. It makes me think of Tim F, Bob M. and
Jeff T. There were a lot
of nice keylogs and it felt good to be singing round the counsel fire's
light. That is a special place. One of the best part about
being here are Sunday's. Today was a great Sunday. Today was
Father's Day and I just want to say, I have the best Dad. I am a very
lucky kid. I love you Dad. |
| 6/17/06-Moving |
| Tonight was one of the most moving
experiences I have ever had at camp. Adam gave a great talk about
the importance of our campers. He read some of the letters from
parents describing the impact camp has/had on their most precious piece
of them, their boys. It is really neat to hear some of the
feedback and feel the awesome responsibility we have as a staff. I
am so excited for the campers to arrive. Today I mixed up some
chemicals and we printed some pictures. It rained hard tonight so
we moved cabin cookout until tomorrow. Speaking of cabin cookout,
did you swamper's and loggers hear there is a new water fountain on the
upper diamond? How many times we each carried number 10 cans of
water to the upper diamond for cabin cook out. Talk about a
"Radical Utopian Experiment!" Just when you thought camp
was perfect, it gets even better. There was a standing O in the
Rec Hall. Tomorrow is Sunday so we get an extra half hour of
sleep. BIG HOW! |
| 6/16/06-More Excitement |
| Projects, swim test, more exciting meetings
and we all passed our tripper swimmer. Took a lot of pictures. All
staff Bar-B-Q on the lower diamond. This evening I sat by the range friendship fire
with a lot of friends. |
| 6/15/06-The Excitement Builds! |
| Another great day in the northwoods.
Camp just keeps getting better and better. We got the
darkroom a little more in shape than it was yesterday and even processed
our first roll of film. We will print pictures soon and then we
will be ready for the summer to begin. As I stood in the darkroom
(in the dark) getting the film into the developing tank, I really felt
excited and I can't wait to see the campers arrive in a few days and
then come pouring into the darkroom to start sharing the magic of the
Photo Project. |
| 6/14/06-It
Does not get any better than this! |
| The first few days: It is so good to be home. The drive
to camp was smooth. It was great to get to know Ben C on the way
up north. We had a lot of fun together. Counselor Training
started and what a fun time to be at camp.
The darkroom is shaping up. Louis S. is my co-counselor. We
have been busy getting our space in shape for the arrival of the kids.
I can't wait. I have sure met a lot of great people. So cool
to see these guys meet up with all their close friends from camp like I
did in 1981. So many cabin mates renewing old friendships and
embarking on their time to lead camp. Today Frank S. arrived
to do some leadership training. Camp felt a little more familiar
with my own Axemen Village Push in camp. I am looking forward
to the rest of the week. It does not get any better than this.
Pics |
| 6/11/06-It All Starts Today:
|
06/11/06 early Morning:
The trip starts today. I can't believe it is finally here. I have
been waiting a long time to experience the "night before my camp
departure" feeling. So as I drift off to sleep, the excitement
builds and tomorrow I am off!
Haircut, camping store
purchases, cameras loaded and ready for action, just like 1980
something. See you from camp. Hope you will take a peek at
my on line journal often and send a note when you have a chance.
Letters are like gold at camp and email will certainly make me smile.
Hope to hear back from you. Pics |
| |
|
(If you do not wish to have your picture on
this website, just email me and I will remove you.) |
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