I have several (fond?) memories from my staff year

I remember a ferry ride with several friends at dawn after one session, probably after staying up all night. I fell asleep standing and leaning against the front of the deck house. I woke up after about 10 minutes and felt better than I ever had before. I have fallen asleep and woken up in a great many more mundane and strange situations since then, but for some reason this one has always stuck with me. I felt very happy, satisfied, loved and content. Very much the way I feel in similar situations with my family now.

I remember a shocking event involving Brian (Counselor Brian)! NOT for the faint of heart... First or second session he and one of the other counselors (female I don't remember her name) went to pick up an upside-down boat on the beach. It was a row boat and he took the heavy end. When he went to snatch it up, she pushed it slightly toward him.... when he picked it up somehow he hooked BOTH his big toenails....remember I said not for the faint-hearted... Standing both nails straight up!

I remember Dave Davenport, catching an relocating a cotton mouth snake from the old cypress on the water front. Apparently he had been a snake wrangler at some point in his past?

My own little disaster... I had a counselor cut her foot (don't remember her name, but we assumed it was a shell cut) on something undewater in the surf early in first session. I helped her up to the boathouse and my sister and Linda Rider helped patch her up, call the van for a quick ride to the surrey clinic, and keep the kids calm. Then full of cheerful bluster I gathered up all the kids and said "LETS GO SAILING!" I stamped out into the water, next to the counselors boat. BAM I stomped down on something that cut deeply into my foot! I reached down and pulled up a broken off mayo jar that was in the surf. I tossed the jar up to the woods and asked Brian (Brian from the waterfront that year. Don't remember his last name) to take the class out for a sail and I hopped back to the boat house.

Now this was a very deep cut, I knew. I didn't want the kids to see it. So I didn't check it out until I got back to the boat house. My sister and Linda were there. It was in the arch just behind the ball of my foot. I opened it to see how dirty and deep it was (James river, 1981, dirty?). My sister and Linda fell very silent as it started to squirt blood. Who knew there was an artery in the arch of your foot? So as I close it, I look back at my shocked and ashen faced sister and Linda, " Uh, sis, could you pass me the first aid kit?"

It took one rather sadistic nurse with a brush/sponge and 12 or more stitches to close it up. But young-uns being what they are, in a couple of weeks I removed the outer stitches with my Swiss army knife, because they made it hard to get up on water ski's behind Susan Bowman's father's boat on lake Gaston!

I have a funny memory of a faithful comment from Brian (Waterfront) that year. Seemingly shocked that Linda Rider could drive the whaler. I think it was Linda that said, "You think it takes balls to drive a boat?" My quip, "That would take some good muscle control!" became one of the all purpose phrases for the summer.

After a couple of weeks of steady work, sanding patching holes in the Scorpions with fiberglass, straightening masts, and sewing patches into sails with Jeanne( the dragon lady of arts and crafts?). I declared "there is no reason to tip over a scorpion in the river!" and tried to enforce this. It worked more or less until I capsized one, by accident... Not easy to explain that one away :)

Wow, just writing these reminds me of a lot that I had thought forgotten. I look forward to reading others memories!