Cool and Chill
PUPPET GROVE circa 11:30pm—An hour since lights-out, our campus is swaddled in cozy quietude. The night’s pitch black darkness is gilded with rope lights demarcating certain important walkways. Silhouettes of counselors can be seen travelling between the Kitchen and the Tipi Circle, a route which passes by my impromptu writing station. The kitchen emanates soft murmurs of commiserating counselors who get to enjoy some time off until 12:30 curfew. Until that time a night-watch crew attends the Tipi Circle and its central campfire.
A rustling immediately to my right startles me. I whip my desk lamp in the direction of the noise to see a small skunk heading my direction. Just then one of my chair legs sinks into a gopher hole causing me to slam the table with my knee as I grapple for balance. The skunk is startled by the noise and scrambles away to the dense foliage surrounding the creek.
The second day of Session B was heralded at 8am by a series of impressive thunderclaps. By 8:30am a light sprinkling of rain raised the question of whether to initiate our full rain protocol. Fortunately, the sprinkling subsided before such measures were necessary. The clouds, however, did remain for the entire day, casting a dream-like atmosphere.
Today I asked children how they spent the first cloudy day in Camp Winnarainbow history.
“I played lots of ping-pong,” said Zo, 12, Blue Tipi. “I think I’m quite the competitor. I had like 23 wins and only 18 losses. The weather definitely helped my game. If it was really hot my hands would get sweaty and I wouldn’t be able to sustain that level of play. When you come to Camp, it’s good to make lots of friends and try everything. I had never even played ping-pong before coming here last year. It’s great because you don’t have to worry about people judging you.”
“It doesn’t feel like Camp if it’s not hot,” said Brook, 14, Ultraviolet Tipi. “Once the sun comes out I’m gonna play some ping-pong. The heat is gonna give me a huge advantage over Zo.”
“Well it was certainly a change,” said Micah, 11, Turquoise Tipi. “I liked it being less hot and the thunder was exciting. When it gets hot again I’m gonna make sure to get sprayed with the hose. I’m also looking forward to Teacher Talent Night. If I see a cool act, I’ll be more likely to take that class tomorrow.”
“I was a little fun,” said Amira, 7, Yellow Tipi. “I got to do art and drink cocoa. The weather was a mixture of good and bad. I couldn’t even feel the weather. My favorite part of Camp is everything—the rainbow, aerials, tightrope—it’s all fun!”
“Today I mostly didn’t do much,” said Cal, 13, Purple Tipi. “I woke up too early, walked around, and drew like 10 cats. I’m looking forward to puppets, but I’m not sure why. I think I’m going insane but in a good way.”
“Today I wrote a song, but it’s a secret,” said Shy’a, 13, Orange Tipi. “It’s gonna be a big reveal when I finally perform it. It’s almost better than the French-fry song I wrote last year—but nothing could be better than the French-fry song. The rain today made it less dusty, which was nice for my allergies. Today was really chill, and Camp is just cool and chill in general; no advice needed.”
“Today I got re-giraffe-ified,” said Boon, 13, Orange Tipi. “That means I am qualified to ride the tall unicycle. Normally I’m five feet tall, but on the giraffe unicycle I’m like seven feet tall! Then I went to the creek and got some henna on my left hand, just some spirals and stars. I was sad that the lake was closed but the temperature for classes was nice.”
“I woke up late, like usual, and then I just stayed tired all day” said Nick, 13, Indigo Tipi. “Not in a bad way, but like chill and relaxed. I started writing a song about nature: the breeze and the trees and the sunlight—things like that. The weather reminded me of my home in San Francisco.”
“To be honest, it was just like any other day,” said Quill, 13, Indigo Tipi. “I didn’t realize it was thunder at first. I’ve never heard thunder that loud. It was literally unreal. It was the first day; what can I say?”
Stay hydrated,
—J. Payseno, Editor
