Science Camp at Mission Springs. This was something that SW missed at Heritage due to COVID, and his was payback, with a vengeance. And I was blessed enough to volunteer to be a chaperone.
3 days and 3 nights of being in nature. How much better can it get?? Well.... the first day and 2nd day... it was downpouring rain!! I had, supposedly, water proof hiking boots on. But they're not water proof, they're water resistant!! Which meant... yes... they can certainly get wet. So 1.5 days of hiking in the wet, cold rain. Looking forward to a dry room where I can blow dry my shoes and socks dry... only to be met by... a power outage!!! So instead of dry, warm socks and clothes... I was left with cold, damp clothes. To top it off... one of the kids in my cabin runs REALLY hot... and he didn't want the heater on in the room. So it was even less of a chance for the clothes to dry while hanging!!
The first day there... I was miserable. "What am I doing here?!?!" I didn't know anybody. They kids were on their own. All I did was stand on the side and made sure the kids didn't kill themselves. But.... as the day grew into days... and I got to hang out with the parents (and the kids), things got better. I need a meaning in life. I can't just be a bystander. I need to talk. To communicate. To contribute. Praise God for a wonderful chaperone-mate (Peggy) that made my time there so bearable. And praise God for all the chaperones that commiserated with my time there.
Being in a room with 3 tweens is a challenge. I want to be the fun parent and let them be themselves. But I still can't help myself when they got WAAAAAY out of hand. Rick-Rolling people at 7:30AM in the morning...fine. But laughing out loud and screaming after lights out... I had to step in and say, "Shhhhh...." Watching them try and pack up their sleeping bag... I stepped back. Watching them deal with a kid that runs HOT and wants the heater turned off over night... I stepped back. Watching a kid wake up at 6AM... so he can run into the showers... so he can bang open/close the door... so he can turn on the bathroom light and wake everyone up... I stepped back.
The organization of this event was impeccable. The driving group. The cabin-mates. The hiking groups. I was able to witness the 6 grade cliques and friend groups. How they sat together during the meals. I saw how they interacted with each other. There was the sporty/athletic boys. The Asian studious group(s). The sporty / athletic girls. The quiet group. The annoying/despised group. The quiet group. The outcasts. It was eye opening seeing my son in his own element. Some of the kids I've known all their lives being in THEIR elements. It's hard to explain... but it was a blessing indeed.
I was disconnected for 4 days. We were far enough from civilization where I didn't get any reception. My only connection to the outside world was when we were in the Worship Center or Basketball Court and there was Wifi. It turns out...I really don't need google news or twitter. I didn't need to text my friends or play Wordle/Mini Crossword. This really was my way to disconnect and find myself. I cherished every moment of it.
There were a lot of moments in this camp that's memorable. There was the chaperone who couldn't find one of the kids in his cabin for a solid 10 minutes and everyone was frantically looking. There were the moments of chaperones sitting in the mess hall, each to a table, waiting for kids to show up and hoping you're not the last chaperone they pick. There were the teacher's testimonies... each of which stood out on it's own, for a sharing geared towards 6th graders, it really hit a middle aged man really hard. Moments after moments... but if I were to pick one moment... (like the Disney Magic Moment) for this camp... it's gotta be the solo walk at the Night Hike. Tuesday night... in a heavy drizzle... we hiked up the hills with our flashlights. And towards the end... the Naturalists had us get accustomed to the dark by turning our lights off for a good 10 minutes. Then it was time for the Solo Walk. The Naturalist would walk about 100 yards ahead of our group... and Peggy and I would send the kids... one by one... 1 minute apart. It wasn't completely dark. The moon and stars were shining through the clouds above the trees and you can see the reflection on the puddles and also off of the white ponchos. But between 16 heavy breathers and a tea light 100 yards away... there was nothing except for you... your thoughts... and God's nature. This moment was downright spiritual.
No one said a word. I told them... I'm going to randomly pick and I blessed them to enjoy this moment. There is no shame in fear or being nervous. There was the brave one who volunteered to go first. The others quickly got in line... but I purposely picked them out of order. I even sent the tiniest girl before some of the bigger guys. Towards the end... two of the Sixers were petrified. One started shaking and needed a big hug. The other came up to me and whispered... "Can I not go last? Can you come with me?" So I followed her... giving her a good 5-10 feet headstart. I didn't want to steal her moment.
As I was walking... I quickly realized that I was doing the Solo Walk myself. I was a chaperone. I was here to look after the kids. I was here to help. I'm that kid's lifeline. But in that moment, I suddenly felt a surge of doubt. Was I gonna make it?? Should I turn on my light?? Can I do this?? And in that moment... I paused. I looked up. I looked around. I took everything in and enjoyed that moment... that moment in time.
