So here's something different. I decided to lay off the typing for this one. Click that little play icon (maybe twice), turn those speakers on, and give a listen.

And here's that link.

First of all, let me preface this entry by saying that it's 3 in the morning and I'm extremely tired. I don't have work in the morning, thank God, but I should nonetheless be in bed. But this site and Chanco have been foremost in my thoughts for a couple of days, and despite the fact that I have a lot of other writing projects that I should be working on, this blog will not leave me alone and let me sleep peacefully. So, inspired by a comment on Brian Counselor's profile page, I feel the need to tell a couple of stories from my first year at camp, first session, 1986.

Here's the comment in question: "As Program Director, I think my imagination was bigger than my ability to do the job. I hated doing the announcements, but I totally got carried away with the evening program. [...] Earlier I laughed at Dave Davenport’s picture of him scratching his head as he talked to me when I was program Director (1986 Photo Album). I think I had some kind of crazy outdoor game going on every other night that summer. Later my little brother Cooper (now a pilot for US Air) told me it was the only summer he remembers that we almost never went inside."

Boy, did this bring back a strong memory. And it is of an outdoor game that, sure enough, was crazy. I don't really remember all of the details,  continue reading »

During the 7 years it takes to get from age 10 to age 16, a lot of things change in a person's life--so much more than changes in any given 7-year period of adulthood, or at least that's how it seems. One big thing that changed for me was my attitude, as well as those of the boys around me, towards girls. The first summer I went to camp, when I was 10 years old, the boys in my campsite and I presented a united front: girls were annoying and we wanted little to do with them. This was an easy stance to take, and in my own prepubescent infinite wisdom, I never imagined that I'd change my mind about it.

The first year I was at camp, when I was 10, my campsite (Luke II) staged a raid on a girls' campsite. This involved all of us waking up in the dead of night--probably really only at midnight or thereabouts, which seems incredibly early to me now, but would have been insanely late by the standards of an 10 year old with a 9 PM bedtime when he was at home. We then snuck down the path past the bathhouse, very quietly and with no flashlights at all. Once we arrived in the girls' campsite  continue reading »

I just dropped off my 12 year old son for his first Camp Chanco experience at 3rd Session...a whole 2 weeks...and let me tell you, I have had an awful case of that green-eyed monster, JEALOUSY!!!!   I have repeatedly asked him if I could stow away in his footlocker for the past week.  I remember so fondly the excitement of that first day...who will I see??, who will be back this year??, what campsite will I be in???  what kind of fun stuff will I get to do???   Ohhhh the fun he will have!!!  He was even singing in the car on the way about how Mom didn't get to go as I laughed at him  continue reading »