Summer - Part 1

So, I suppose sitting in the Anchorage airport is as good a time as any to get caught up on my blog. This summer was eventful, as a summer at camp always is. The lack of pictures in the next few blogs is because Tasha ended up with my camera at the end of the summer and I got all the way to Pendleton before I realized it!

Orientation started out on a good note. The first thing we're told is, "Don't drink the water. It won't kill you, but it tastes like chlorine." Combine that with the fact that it was too cold! It's summer, remember?! I don't think it got above 60 degrees all week. I was not okay with the whole cloudy/rainy/cold thing. I needed to thaw out, and that weather was not doing it for me.

Other than that, orientation was pretty typical. It got me thinking about leadership. I am not an "out-in-front" leader. The worst thing you could do to me is put me in front of a large group of people. I will do it if I have to, but I don't enjoy it at all. But isn't being up in front what leadership is all about? Not necessarily. I've come to the conclusion that there are different styles of leadership. Some lead from the front, some lead from the back, some lead with a combination of the two. I still don't have it completely figured out, but my leadership style is the place where my job and personality meet. My job, as head female counselor, was to lead/support/encourage the female counselors. My personality is shy and not willing to get up in front of people unless required. The point where those two (somewhat conflicting) things meet is the way I am most comfortable leading. It's a work in progress - I'm still trying to figure it out.

Our first camp was Music Camp. The tap water was finally drinkable, but Spike (the program director) announced at lunch (campers were showing up less than an hour later) that we were on water rations because something was wrong with the well. I can handle that. Then he announced that the honey buckets were on the way. (I know that he meant porta-potties, but for an Alaskan, "honey bucket" means a completely different thing. Try picturing a literal bucket in the bathroom. Upscale honey buckets have a toilet seat perched on top.) Oh, goodie. 100 campers on the way and an inability to flush the toilets. We had a lot of fun with that one. Try getting all 100 campers through the porta-potties after campfire. With 1 flashlight. Unless a camper was okay with taking care of business in complete darkness, we really could only use 1 toilet at a time. Luckily, the well was fixed by the next morning and we all got our showers and could actually flush the toilets.

The porta-potties were hauled away 3 or 4 days later, save for the 4 that got left outside the dining hall. The day after they disappeared, the ground in the circle started bubbling water. Generally not a good sign. A pipe burst or something and ALL water was shut off right after noon. No water at all. And only 4 porta-potties for the entire camp. We were all dehydrated by free time, but at least that cut down on the porta-pottie use. :-) Things were looking promising by dinner, but then a geyser erupted out of the hole in the ground. Apparently, the pipe wasn't as fixed as previously thought. Water was turned off again, but restored by the end of the day (11:00).

To be continued. . .