Scenes from a Summer Camp

I know you've all been wanting a clearer picture of what my day to day here at Lost Canyon looks like. So I'm going to spend a minute relaying a little scene that just happened here that I think pretty accurately represents how I spend my days:

I'm sitting in my office, valiantly attempting to catch up on a little bit of office work after a week of craziness where half of my department was gone taking kids to camp as leaders.

I'm half-listening to the constant chatter on our radios. (Our main means of communication: Ritron radios that someone is making noise on at least 75% of the day.)

I hear Abigail, one of my Housekeepers, pipe up on the radio, laughing a little and calling for Maintenance. I tune in because I assume something is broken in the building she's cleaning and I want to know about it. I overhear this conversation.

Abigail: "Maintenance, copy, Maintenance."

Matt (one of our Maintenance Techs): "Go ahead."

Abigail (with the clear sound of high school girls screaming and laughing in the background): "Um, hey, Matt. I'm here in Fossil (one of our dorm rooms) and the toilet's... Well, there's water running out of the toilet... The little hose thingy looked broken, so I tried to fix it and, well... It kind of sprayed out everywhere. Like, all over me. The toilet water sprayed me and it's, yeah, it's broken."

Matt (laughing a little): "Alright, I'll be right there. Are you still in the room?"

Abigail: "Yeah, I'm here."

Matt: "OK, stay there. I'll be right over."

Jim (Sites and Facilities Superintendent): "Abigail, that's reclaimed water. Don't worry about it."

(We all know where the reclaimed water comes from. You don't want to get sprayed with it.)

Abigail: "Oh, awesome. No, it's great. I'm soaked in toilet water. It's fine."

Me: "All part of the job, Abigail."

Abigail: "No, I'm fine with it. It was pretty hot, so it helped cool me off a little. No problem."

And, scene.

Yeah, this is pretty much my daily life. Never a dull moment.

And don't worry, those kids' toilet was fixed before they came back to their rooms. We're not messing around when it comes to toilets around Lost Canyon.

Song of the Day: Train Song by Ben Gibbard and Feist

Oh, And...

Don't worry. I still haven't cut my hair. So I still look a little bit like Michelle Duggar. But I did dye it kind of red. One step at a time...

Love Letter

Hi, Internet. It's me, your friend Kate. I know we haven't talked for a while, but if you're my actual friend and not just someone who creeps me on the internet, then you know that this is pretty typical for me.

1) I am not a very good communicator ever. I get pretty wrapped up in my own little self-centered Kate-world. (At least I admit it, right?)

2) I work at camp. So from Mid-May to August, I actually do live in my own little self-centered Kate-world called Lost Canyon.

It's true. Camp is it's own little solar system, revolving around meals and program events, and it is pretty easy to forget that the outside world even exists. Or to even really care that the outside world exists because this little world is just so freaking awesome.

And hard.

And life-giving.

And exhausting.

And really, really beautiful.

There is a lot going on at camp, always. It's 10 weeks of 100% craziness. Of running and working and investing in people. And it's my job to care for people: My little department who always need and deserve my encouragement and guidance. My Work Crew Boss who has no idea what's happening but who has huge responsibility in my department. My Work Crew Girls who came here with the expectation that they are going to grow and laugh and learn. My Laundry Summer Staff , college kids who are looking for anyone older than them to tell them it's OK to hope and dream and be scared about all of that. Campers who have never had someone care enough about them to clean their toilets for them every day and smile and say yes when they ask to have their laundry washed. A-Team who have prepped for months so that they can make their session amazing and life-changing. My Young Life Girls who will not be forgotten for months out of my life, who show up at my work because their lives are crazy and they know it's a safe place. My Young Life Leaders, more college kids with too much time to think, who need me to just call or text and stay connected.

Yeah, that's a long paragraph. And that's just the people in my immediate little world here. That doesn't include all the people I should care for because I love them a lot. You know, my family and my friends, people who take care of me all the time.

So, while this was going to be a funny post about how weird camp-world is, I'm instead going to turn it into a love letter to all those people. The ones who care for me enough that they let me be a jerk for months at a time. The ones who love that I love my job, my life, my career. The ones who take joy in the fact that they don't hear from me because it means that I'm busy and happy and spending my life on all these people around me.

Thank you for loving me that much. Thank you for taking me back in September without guilt-tripping me about my absence. Thank you for being there as a back-bone of support, always. Thank you for looking at me being far away as a chance to travel more to come visit. Thank you for not telling me I need to get a real job (even if you think it).

Thank you for being you. And letting me be me. I am one lucky girl.

Song of the Day: Stupid by Sarah McLachlan (Not sure about the medieval theme of this video but I have a never-ending love for some Sarah McLachlan and they just used this song on SYTYCD. So I've been listening to it kind of non-stop. Enjoy.)