Worthy and I spent Wednesday through Saturday the week before last at Hemlock Wilderness Brigade Camp. My brother and his son have been able to go every summer for the last 4 years, and I had lamented that I wouldn’t be able to take Worthy when he came of age because we would be in Europe. But seeing as we were unexpectedly in the States, I took Worthy to the camp at which I had spent parts of seven summers growing up, including the entirety of three summers as junior staff. It had been 19 years since I was last there!
And it felt like it. How best to describe our 72 hours there? Through two conversations:
“So how are you liking camp?” I asked another father.
“It’s great. We’re having a lot of fun. It’s also…” he paused to search for the right word.
“Grueling?” I suggested.
“Yes, that’s the word.”
The second conversation is more of a monologue given to us just before meal-time by the one who oversees Father/Son week:
“A lot of dads ask me why we don’t have more free-time. The truth is, you get lots of free-time. From 10pm to 7am every day.”
Worthy did all of the activities with two other boys, one of whom is the son of an old friend of mine from Annapolis, Daniel Buckingham (on left):
And in 72 hours we did riflery, ...
...hiking, ...
... the low ropes course, ...
... crafts, ...
...slingshot, ...
...archery, ...
...lots of pool time, ...
...tomahawk (axe) throwing, ...
...ride in a M35 2 1/2 ton cargo truck:
...and model rocketry.
I did not get pictures of meal-time (with all the same rituals as 20 years ago), nightly campfire (with many of the same songs and skits), flag-raising and flag-lowering ceremonies, and the 100 degree heat on Thursday and the 108 degree heat on Friday. That is not a typo.
The degree to which I was exhausted is the same degree to which I had fun. This will be a memory with my son I will treasure for the rest of my life!
Glad you could do that!!
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