Pancake Saturday!

Today’s Pictures 

The morning started out delightfully with hundreds of scratch-made pancakes with compliments of bacon, fresh-cut fruit and berries, hash browns off the griddle (just like Waffle House), yogurt, assorted cereals, and of course syrup and honey!  You can’t beat that to start your day.  I stuck with a big bowl of berries topped with three slices of bacon.  I usually eat as fast as I can and then get back to moving around. I used to just eat and walk, but with dining hall mask etiquette, I need to eat, then move. It’s a great way for me to stay up on what these boys are doing.

It was such an awesome day at High Rocks! There was a nice breeze all day long. Little spitws of rain here an there, but the sun never really left. It wasn’t too hot or too cold. Just lovely! The sailboats were enjoying the wind while the canoers pulled an old boat of the rack to create a slide off the dock just for fun. The whole waterfront was alive all day! I enjoyed seeing the boys jumping of the iceberg.

Mountain bikers were hitting some of our twenty miles of trail including our new pump track today. We will have to be sure to get some of those pictures next time. Hikers and horseback riders all had fun stuff going on too. I really appreciated the boys taking that next step of leading their horses out of stall and down to the ring today. It’s one of my favorite sights.

After 28 years of being at High Rocks with Zoob, things have changed and a lot is still staying the same. What I know now allows me to appreciate camp in different ways than when I was 25.  I have come to enjoy the community here more than anything. When I was twenty-five, I was all about the paddling program and how many kids we got into kayaks and how many kids we got on the river.  While those are still important ideas for young men, the picture has become much bigger. What I have come to learn and ask our staff to focus on is the need for individual attention, respect, empathy, and the fact that everyone depends on one another.  One of the last things I shared with our staff at the end of orientation is that everyone here matters. At times some will be leaders and at that same time, many will need help. These moments are not static and we all need help from time to time whether we realize it or not. Regardless of the situation, we all work together for the betterment of each other. We are stronger, faster, happier, and definitely cooler when we stick together; when we appreciate our differences and still find a common cause.

Pictures are still pushing up as of 9:53 pm. Sorry for the late post and pictures. Kids come first :)! You should have about 300+ by the time they are up. Have a great night!

Don