Fortnight Camp

It is day 3 of the Smoke Farm Fortnight Camp.  This year, fifteen or sixteen high school students are building a fire watchtower in one end of the first meadow under the tutelage of a small army of adult builders and counselors. It is an impressive group of kids, and an impressive group of adults.  I think back to my summer camp experiences and while I wouldn't want to change much, to be involved building a complex structure like the tower would have been something big, for sure.  One thing is for sure, these campers eat better than we ever did.  The kitchen crew consistently makes food that one would be happy to find in a restaurant.

 

 

 

A lunch time walk up the creek to the tall ones with V and A

Today, with the project well in progress, we break into teams to work on different parts of the structure.  I work in G's team, which is laying out and preparing the upper deck so that it can be carried out to the site and assembled tomorrow.  Everything has to be demonstrated to the campers, but it takes more understanding than patience.  The automatic of the experienced tradesman is not automatic - I guess it never was.  It goes to holding a tape measure properly and keeping the carpenter square "square" and making pencil marks that everyone else will clearly understand.  But with each task, everyone comes along - they're less intimidated by the circular saw and when we double check the measurements, they're more accurate.  I find it particularly interesting to watch them learn things that I learned so long ago that I've forgotten how I learned them.

After lunch, I take two of the campers and A (who I'd hiked with up here during the winter) on a short hike.  We don't get nearly as far as I thought we would (because walking through dense brush without futzing is also a learned skill) but we do get up to a beautiful spot on the creek where two very tall cedar stumps overlook us.  Good enough.