I've Got to Be Going Now

(Side note: to really complete the experience of reading this blog I suggest listening to David Lamotte's Song for You; I apologize in advance if this causes you to tear up, because it gets me everytime)

I realize it has been far too long since I've updated my blog and I cannot possibly hope to cover all that has transpired in the last month and a half in one post. How could I even start to describe my summer at camp, my last few months in Kentucky, and my on-going transition to life outside of the mountains?

Summer, as always, flew by. Although this year I felt like it was moving faster than normal, as I always had in the back of my mind that this would be my last full summer up at Camp Shawnee with the small children and all the other amazing, crazy camp counselors. I couldn't have asked for a better summer to end my counselor career on however. The group of counselors on the mountain this summer were an absolute joy to be around and work with, and they all helped me grow in some way. Another one of the beautiful things about this summer is the fact that I got to see campers that I've known for years come back to camp and see how they've grown and matured. A lot of times when our kids leave us at the end of summer, they are going back to places that aren't the most stable or the most loving and sometimes honestly downright terrible. It makes it really hard to watch them drive away on the bus knowing that they're leaving a safe haven and wondering whats waiting for them on the other side. But as a returning counselor, its so wonderful to see a familiar face come back summer after summer and talk to them and hear how they're doing and know that they are okay.



My rescuers



There are so many crazy stories that I could share about my summer, but I feel that there is one I have to share or you all would miss out on one of my crazier Kentucky adventures. During the last two weeks of camp this summer, I served as the camp nurse instead of a counselor. As part of my role as the nurse, I gave out medications to the campers, with the bulk of them requiring morning and night doses. (To help you understand the rest of this story, please keep in mind that the door of my office opens to the left with the door handle on the right.) The third night of Teen Girl week I was in the middle of night meds and was alone in my office when I heard a voice outside say "Oh my goodness, there's a snake!" Naturally, I immediately walked over to the door and opened it to see what was going on. When I opened the door, I was greeted by a 2 - 3 ft copperhead snake slithering its way from the right towards my open door. Of course, I was shocked and had no idea what to do, except I knew there were campers on the other side of the door and I did NOT want the snake going anywhere near them. My immediate reaction was to shut my door which just got the snake trapped in the door jam. So now I not only had a copperhead half in my office to deal with, it was a ticked off, slightly squished copperhead. For reasons I still do not understand, I re-opened the door and the snake was now trapped between my open door and the entrance to my office. If you remember the way the door opens, you may be able to imagine that the snake's first instinct would be to follow the angle of the door right into my office. I quickly shut the door to prevent it from getting back out to where the campers were and then grabbed my walkie to call for help. It went something like this: "Aghhhh....nurse's station....copperhead...aghh!!" "Um, what did you just say?" "I'm trapped inside the nurse's station with a copperhead!" It was at this point that every male counselor, save one, came running full speed to my office to save me. By this point, the copperhead had coiled itself up and its head was raised and it looked like it could strike at any moment. Luckily, the boys were able to crush its head with a rake and then eventually decapitate it and dispose of its remains. It was at this point after a quick clean-up of the snake's blood on my floor, I was able to resume giving out medication.

Just another night at Camp Shawnee.

Although camp was absolutely wonderful and I wouldn't trade it for anything, it was very different in that this year I now had connections in Kentucky outside of camp. Camp is such an all-consuming experience, it takes over every part of your life and all of your time. It was hard trying to balance that and still maintain the relationships I had formed outside of camp. One of the closest friendships I formed during my year with CAP was with my crew member Kate from Housing and it was really difficult not seeing her for weeks at a time, especially after seeing her all day, every day for ten months straight practically. Luckily, I was able to see her and my crew leader Tony before I left several times and she'll be in the New England area at the same time as me so we will get to have a reunion shortly.

Now for the final part of this post, the transition to life outside of the mountains. I left Kentucky on Sunday morning and drove to Michigan with Kevin. From there, I caught a plane to Rhode Island on Tuesday and now I am sitting in my kitchen at home typing up this novel of a post. Its all still slowly sinking in; living in Kentucky takes over your life so completely, sometimes its hard to remember I had a life before. Change is never easy, especially for me, and I get completely overwhelmed when I think of all the new things that I am going to have to adjust to here in the real world. But I read a quote the other day that I've decided to take on as my own as I face a whole new set of adventures.

For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This perspective has helped me see there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

- Souza

And so I'm facing this next phase of life with the utmost confidence that it will be wonderful, no matter what happens.

Here's to the adventures to come.