Camp Randomness

Throughout the week at Camp, random stuff would happen that would often have me grinning ear-to-ear. I wanted to take some time tonight and share some of those moments with you.

Meal times at camp are fun. We eat in a dining hall where everyone eats at the same time. In the dining hall is a small stage where announcements are made during meals. During meals this Summer, campers would go up on stage and often sing or play an instrument while we ate. Typically, the campers had to eat first before they went up on stage, so we did get to eat for a while without entertainment before the events began.

My favorite thing that would happen during meals was when we would be eating a meal, and this little kid (I never did learn his name!) would get up and sing the Star Spangled Banner. Yep, you guessed it, we would all stop eating, stand up, turn around to the flag, and sing with him. After the song, the guys would start chanting "U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.!" It was hilarious and cool all at the same time.

We also had another gentleman who would sing "Victory is Mine" and play keys along with his singing. He was really good. We would clap our hands to the music and sing with him. It was great! He sat at the table behind me daily when he ate his meals, and I would occasionally hear him saying that the songs on stage weren't any good, and he could do better! I just grinned. The thing was, it was true!

Of course, the usual Birthday Rap was a hit as well. You would have to be there to understand it, but it makes meal times fun.

Another completely random thing that we would do while waiting outside the doors for the dining hall to open is we would say the Pledge of Allegiance. There is a flag down by the tennis courts that we would turn toward and say the Pledge. This was a new experience for me this year, as Term 7 is too crazy for stuff like this to happen! It was cool!

Wrap-Up is our evening worship service before the campers head to bed, and it was really cool this year. We sang the song "Trading my Sorrows" and yelled during the "Yes Lord!" part. I have done that song A LOT of times, but this year it was really cool. During Term 7 the kids would jump during the "Yes Lord" part. It was really cool. Wrap-Up was special to me this year during Term 8 because they had an interpreter during the songs and I learned how to sign a lot of the Camp Barnabas Theme Song. I didn't learn all of it like I had hoped, but I got the chorus down pretty well, which meant a lot to me.

One night Justin (Same Justin from last night's post) got up and played guitar at the end of Wrap-Up. It blessed me immensely. I sat there fighting tears as he played. It was a good thing. A really good thing. It blessed me.

CIA arrival day we had some early campers arrive for camp. I was walking down the hill by the dining hall, and I looked over and Cameron Black (Who is blind.) was leading another blind person to his cabin. The CIA that was with them gave me a look that said "Can you believe that we're literally seeing the blind leading the blind?!" It was awesome!

During my cabin's "Cafe" activity, the girls were making pretzels. By the end of the activity, everyone had shared the flour with everyone else and their faces were covered with flour. Following cafe, we had pool time, and you can imagine the looks the girls got. However, it's camp, so people just grinned.

Of course, as I shared last night, our cabin ate with our feet one day at lunch. Carmen eats with her feet, so one meal my entire cabin sat on the floor and used their feet to eat their food. Of course, some chose not to do it, but it was a lunch I will never forget. It was a lot of fun.

We have some dogs out at camp, and it amazed me how much they put up with from our campers. It was funny to watch the kids with the dogs.

Cameron Black, as I said earlier, is blind. He skates on a skateboard, and he did a demonstration for us. It was really cool. Yes, he's blind and skates. Amazing. I missed most of his demonstration but I saw the end of it, and was amazed.

As I said last night, we learned how to write with our mouths one day in the Silver Lining. It was GREAT! Of course, I stink at it, but the idea of a lesson in writing with my mouth? Random, indeed!

There are others I could share but it is late and I want to go to sleep!

Camp is so much fun! And the Randomness is what makes camp, camp! *grin*

Life.
Is.
Good.