Complete Freedom
Friday, July 17th, 2026
LOO-LOO circa 8:03pm—Full of spaghetti and zucchini, I plop down in a small camping chair to work on tonight’s readers’ digest. Even though the show has started, the shower house is still busy with after-dinner bathers. A young barefoot boy paces around, menacing me with a rock and a forked stick. He holds the combo up like a slingshot, seemingly trying to will a rubber strap into existence.
“Every year we used to have wrist rockets,” laments Dax, lowering his would-be weapon. “You look around for a small rock and then you pull it back like this and try to hit five balloons. There were different tiers and prizes.”
He gazes wistfully into the Tipi Circle, overwhelmed by the existential absence of wristrockets. I attempt to distract him with tonight’s blog question.
“So, got any big plans this weekend?” I say with ingenuine charisma like I imagine office professionals speak with each other.
“I’m gonna vote against Tis Corp,” he says, referring to the highly anticipated big-tech corporate takeover of Camp scheduled for Saturday morning. “There’s this mad scientist that keeps asking questions to the orb. I figured out what ‘Tis’ stands for: ‘Tech Is Sad.”
“I’ll be honchoing fire juggling,” says Operations Manager Angel Herrera. “There’s lots of safety precautions to take care of like trimming the wicks, checking fire warnings, checking in with the performers. Today we did a dry run in the parking lot so people could get used to the weight of the different fire toys. Tomorrow we’ll do a lit run. I’ll be looking for control and confidence. A good fire juggler will appear natural and comfortable with their pattern.”
“I’m just gonna go with the flow,” says Lifeguard and Songwriting Instructor Vashaun Harris. “I’ll probably be at the lake, but I could even hop myself in the creek. I’m excited that the big tipi clean-up is on Sunday because that’s my night in the tipi, so it’ll be extra clean.”
“I’m gonna do a sleepover with my tipi in the Big Top,” says Donald, 14. “My tipi is UV. It’s fun, gets me hyped up. We’re the most famous tipi this session. I’m excited for Fire Circle—why?—because that’s when the counselors juggle fire. That’s my favorite memory.”
“I want to go to the lake some more,” says Ariana, 8. “Last time I went I only got to be there for 30 minutes. I want to take the rafter test. I’m probably also gonna go to the creek a lot. I like to do creek walks and just hang out. I like how on the weekend we have extra free time.”
“I’m really excited to go to the lake,” says Gage, 15. “I’m also excited for the movie. I think it might be Napoleon Dynamite. No disrespect, but Bend It Like Beckham kinda sucked.”
“Tomorrow morning I’ll be sending my robot, Robot Riley, to do my cocoa shift,” says Clowning Instructor Riley Soloner. “That’s why I built him. For the Midterm Tipi Clean-Up, I’m a micro-trash guy. I do a meticulous lap around each tipi, then I go to the theater and check under the benches, and then I go to Snack Beach where there’s always little wrappers to be found. I would love the movie this session to be Speed Racer by the Wachowskis. Highly underrated. Dazzling CG effects.”
“Tomorrow we’ll do the first kitchen walk of Session C,” says Lead Stilt Instructor Anaïs Medoza-Rosekrans. “Every parade stiltwalker needs to have completed two kitchen walks. Starting tomorrow we’ll do one per day, and then we’ll ramp up to two or three per day by the end of the week. Last session MJ gave us cookies when we got to the kitchen, so fingers crossed.”
“These kids are going berserk for whatever is happening tomorrow,” says Counselor Sheena Johnson. “Am I pro-Orb or anti-Orb? I don’t know. I wanna go back to dry erase and chalk boards, so I guess I’m anti-Orb.”
“I’m just gonna play guitar and write songs,” says Zuri, 13. “I love stuff from the 70s and 80s and also newer indie rock. We are working on a song called ‘18 Chicken Tenders’ because my friend ate 18 chicken tenders. I’m not sure the key but it’s got minor chords for sure.
“No big plans,” says Cierra, 13. “I’ll probably drink some water, maybe eat some food. I’ll breathe air.”
“I think I’ll perform a song with friends for the Fire Circle,” says Eleni, 13. “I’m not sure what the movie is gonna be. Everyone’s talking about Benji the Hunted. It sounds like Bambi to me. My brother had this book of weird laws and punishments, like you can’t have an ice cream cone in your pocket in Indiana, things like that. There was this guy who illegally hunted deer and then he had to watch Bambi in prison as part of his punishment. Camp doesn’t have rules like that. The rules are all pretty common sense and related to safety. Besides that, we have complete freedom.”
Stay hydrated,
—J. Payseno, Editor