Camp Stories

20 days without showering

One thing I had to quickly get used to was not showering daily. I live in a city and when I'm home I shower everyday. It really wasn't that bad of an adjustment -- we normally went into town every 2 weeks to bathe ... Steph and I were town buddies and one time we went 20 DAYS WITHOUT A SHOWER ... It was pretty disgusting. I felt fine and then as we were packing up the boat to head to town, my head got incredibly itchy all of a sudden. It was terrible, but then we got to shower .... Refreshing ...

Uker or not

It seems Uker is a Midwest card game, which I had never played nor heard of until this summer. Well, in my opinion there's a good reason for that .... because I suck at the game. Jeremy taught everyone how to play last year, so they were already pros. Jeremy tried to teach me on several occasions and it just didn't click. He was SO PATIENT. I'd play with everyone, but would go in with kind of a poor attitude because I knew I wasn't any good. Jeremy even made me a cheat sheet -- he was very supportive and believed I could learn the game and be a flawless player, but no cigar.

I was T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E and some members of the crew wouldn't let me forget it.

Mandala

My Aunt Vickie sent me mail weekly and one time she sent me mandalas and colored pencils.  A mandala is supposed to represent a period in your life. She sent some that had flowering suns, which were supposed to represent fruitfulness, positivity, growth and self-improvement. I thought it would be neat to color one and then hang it in my tent .... so the activity began.  It was a lengthy process, which I worked on for  a few minutes before bed every night. Well, one day I had the day off and decided to work on it in the main weather port. Everyone could see what I was doing and was asking questions. Dan was in there with me and I asked him for some suggestions. The center was empty and I needed ideas for what to put in the middle ... He suggested bright honeycomb shapes.

It was almost complete. I asked Jeremy for his opinion on color combinations and Dan for hexagon placement...A little green here ... a smidge of orange there .... some blue in that region. It was finally done.

Well, once completion had arrived, Dan pipes up with:
"So, do I get to have it? I helped you make it."

My lip quivered slightly. It took so long to finish it and I was looking forward to putting it in my tent. And now Dan wanted it ... It was alright. I had others I could color. Vickie did send me multiples of the same mandala .... But it took me so long. Blarggg!

Sure Dan. You can have it.
Ah, thanks Syd.
But, you better hang it in your tent.
I will. I will. - Said with a smile and wink.

Later that evening a uker game was requested. God damnit -- uker? Oh no they want me to play. They know how bad I am. Why do they feel the need to torture me? I ended up playing with Jeremy, Steph and Dan. Sweet Jeremy was always my partner and always encouraging. I felt bad he was always stuck with me.

Ok, so the game gets going and my plays are so idiotic it's like trying to watch a worm tie shoelaces ... Have you ever seen a worm tie shoelaces? I can imagine it would be pretty embarrassing. Well, that's how this game played out ... It was humiliating! And it didn't help that Dan was throwing verbal punches at how bad it was. I tried to suck it up, but was secretly pissed. I wouldn't lay off. This was unusual -- Dan generally didn't act like that. As soon as the game was over I got up and sort of stormed off to my tent -- I was pissed, but I didn't want them to think I was.

When I got back to my tent, I got in my jammies and zipped up in my sleeping bag. Soon after I'd turned out my light, a voice sounded:


Syd?
Yeah?
Was I too hard on you? 
No!
Sorry if I was. I didn't mean to be a jerk.
I'm a big girl Dan. I can handle it.
Oh ... ok ... Night.

Silence

The next day, I felt dumb for getting upset and did my best to get over myself, so I was quiet and kept to myself most of the morning, which was unusual for me. I'm usually pretty chipper and smiley in the morning, so the fact that I had my nose buried in a book and I wasn't saying hello to everyone as they entered the weather port for b'fast, was a bit odd.

Later while I was brushing my teeth, Dan came over and asked if I was ok. I reassured him that I was fine. I was upset the previous night -- he hurt my feelings. I knew I was a terrible player and didn't want to play, but they wanted me to play. He said he felt bad and apologized again.  I felt better. He was supposed to go to town that day and spend the night, so I asked if he had any plans for his evening stuck in the cabin. He said no and asked why:

Would you like to color a mandala for me since you took mine?
Sure.
Awesome -- I'll get you the supplies. Thanks Dan.

I went out with the fishing crew that day and didn't expect to see Dan when we returned, but they didn't end up going to town due to weather I believe. When I got back to camp that night, I found a beautiful mandala waiting for me with writing on the back:

To: Syd the Kid
From: Some Man Named Dan

It was perfect! I thanked Dan and immediately hung it in my tent. It was so nice waking up to that every morning.

Huevos rancheros with Dan

One morning, while Camp Happy Beaver had a crew of 9, Dan and I decided to get up super early and make breakfast for everyone. We decided on Huevos Rancheros. Dan makes amazing breakfasts, so I was really just his su chef, but it was a lot of fun. We made it with hashbrowns instead of tortillas and then added black beans, eggs, cheese, bacon, avocado and salsa. It was SO GOOD! It's making my mouth water just writing/thinking about it. Everyone loved it and to top it off, Steph made delicious blueberry muffins. Yum!

 Dan cooking his bacon. Our crew ate a lot of bacon.

 Voila! B'fast a la huevos rancheros. I'm ready to eat!