Summer Camp

Our oldest grandson, Aken, is at summer camp. This is his third year to spend a couple of weeks at a camp in North Carolina. I’m reminded of my days at camp.

When I was 9 years old I went to 4-H camp for a week and went every year after that until I was probably 13 or 14 years old. We went to the same place every summer. It was by a lake near Marble Falls, Texas. I remember it was always very hot and dry and dusty. We stayed in small dormitory-like wooden cabins that had no air conditioning and slept on cots. The mess hall was a short walk away on another little hill. That’s where we ate and met together. That was a big wooden building with a big kitchen and dining/meeting area. I recall that it had screens on 3 sides to let in any slight breeze that might blow off the lake.

I didn’t know it at the time, but our camp was in “the hill country”. I’m probably the only person I’ve ever heard of who doesn’t like ‘the hill country”, but I don’t. I grew up where it was very flat, lots and lots of lush green grass and big, healthy trees. At camp, it was hilly, no grass, lots of dirt and rocks and scrawny things that were called trees, but looked more like sick bushes to me. Despite the way it looked there, I always enjoyed going to camp.

Kids from all over Wharton County went to camp the same week. I don’t remember how many were usually there, but probably 40 to 50 kids and some adults. We all pitched in to help cook and clean up and plan our activities. I always liked working in the kitchen and eating! I remember one time making coleslaw and realizing that a piece of my finger had been grated off with the cabbage. I tried to find it to no avail. I guess that had to be my first experience cooking in large quantities. In those days, I could eat a lot. I’m sorry to say that it was at that camp that I would participate in eating contests with the boys! They usually beat me, but I gave it a good try.

We did folk dancing at camp. That was kind of like square dancing, but better – at least I thought so. It’s really the only kind of dancing that I’ve ever really enjoyed. We danced in groups, similar to square dancing, but there were no costumes. The music was different than square dance music. At 4-H Club functions, was the only place I ever heard of doing folk dancing. I’m not sure where it came from or what has happened to it, but it was so much fun!

At night, we built a campfire on a little hill by the lake and sat around the fire and sang “campfire songs”. If you’ve never done that, you’ve missed something special!

The first year I went to camp, I said earlier that I was just 9 years old. My parents drove me to Wharton to the County Agents’ office. We unloaded my things and a kind of strange thing happened to me. I looked around and saw all the kids and their parents hugging and kissing each other and saying good-bye. I wasn’t sure what was about to happen to me. You see, my parents had never shown me any affection like that, certainly not in public, at least not that I could recall. I remember feeling really uncomfortable and anxious. I’m really not sure what happened at that moment, just that we said good-bye and I left for camp. If I ever got homesick at camp, I don’t recall it. I just remember having a good time.

I hope Aken is having a really good time at camp. Just like his Nana, he will make new friends and do lots of fun things and have lots of good memories about summer camp.