Day 112: the last day

where to start..

has it really been nine weeks of consecutive camps? and now, in a sudden and final ending of fun and friends and sharing and music, it's all over. and not just for one week's pause before the a new camp and new faces, but the end of the end.

youth camp is the grand finale of summer where the campers are fourteen to eighteen years old and there's a huge overall amp in the week and program.

part of this is the banquet where many work hard to set and prepare a classy outdoor dining area on the field. banners and white strings of lights hang from poles like a circus tent skeleton and an atmosphere not much unlike prom has filled every camp outlet with blow driers and whatever else girls brought in preparation for this night. from the stage along the outer circumference, the sun is seen fading behind the mountain and i feel like a lizard in the warm glow of the nearby standing stage lights. they take effect as the mountain begins to sleep in the growing night and i think that i'm content because i'm playing piano as the six hundred campers and friends and staff are seated and laughing in the ocean air. friends dash up on stage at random times to take pictures and the music doesn't stop and there was jazz and octaves and seventh chords and the purest, cleanest, most-fitting recreations as i can pull in this moment that has now become the realization of a long and deep desire for an outdoor audience and piano and mountains and everything.


now, much later, i'm in my office for the last night. i'm only half way through the dvd label stamping and case filling because i couldn't bring myself to leave the fireside. the campers shared stories about broken pasts and broken homes and lives that they're scared to face again tomorrow afternoon. why do i have it so good..

i'll be awake again in a few hours to make it to the final breakfast and my first in several weeks. i'll clean the office, pack my bags, say goodbye to camper and staff friends, and the lights will go out suddenly after such a long and beautiful and admirable summer.

i don't know what else to say right now.

Day 96

the days of heat are back. humidity too.

today the speaker and i finished our shoot. we did one shot from the top of the eighty foot swing and went down that and then did the final third section from the top of the zip line platform. between the blob, the skyscraper, and the zip line, we have a quality product.

a couple of my starwood dv girls were super solid in their video making this week so i used their project for the nightly highlights. they were completely excited about this and this also saved us from making a highlight for today.

tonight was concert night so i did lights again for the rock show deal. fun and intense.

i don't have much time tonight.

Day 53

some of last night's excitement was still alive as i went to the office this morning. today was 'wide-eyed and liquified,' so the morning's games were all water-related and were held on the field. this included a massive, blue tarp with suds and a fire hose. i took the 'epic camera housing,' a waterproof video camera holder, out to the field. for forty minutes, i went down the sweet slip-n-slide with the kids and held the heavy plastic cylinder to get awesome footage. this also included jumping into the middle of several water games to capture the action and reactions and everything else that crazy, wet, hyper campers decide to do during a water frenzy. everyone loves the camera man in a game with water guns.

after lunch, i found that one of the other video guys wasn't too thrilled about going to the top of the double zip-line to do the 'exclusive speaker rap-up interview' that's gonna be put on the week's dvd. this sounded exciting to me, so i tied the camera to my neck and got geared up with randy the speaker. we sat perched with our legs hanging off the top of the zip-line tower and he talked to the camera. after saying 'dare to soar' for the last time, we both jumped off the ledge. it was kind of intense to jump after him because both of my hands were steadying the camera as we whizzed down, so i kind of leaned and fell. it was almost surreal.

tonight after q-town there was a special music concert by the band. during the show ryan was doing live video mixing from our balcony office, nick was running the dv7 and doing some shooting, little kim stepped in to help run sound, and i was doing lights and some short powerpoint. i'm starting to enjoy controlling and selecting spots and locations and was able to execute the songs' requirements. other than that, it was a free-will show. the little buttons made me miss piano though.

i promise i'm not trying to becoming a media-minded person. i never wanted to learn tech-talk, but i think i still might be learning some. its all good. i like my position and the opportunities it includes to participate on both sides of a staff position. camper interactions and staff operations and video productions are all valuable and exciting to me.

"there's excitement, adventure, friends, and a lot of good stuff i only had glimpses of during school or baseball or whatever. i do miss going to bookstores and holding actual, breathing books and the computer screen gets old, but other than that, the mountains and ocean and everything are good. cabin #19 all drew pictures for my office."

Day 49

go.

over three hundred junior high campers have filled the grounds and the perspective of the place has made its third and final transition. i spent the day finishing up on a couple last-minute videos for tonight's first-night and q-town and also created a logo for the dvd cover for the projects my video campers will make in their 'starwood dv' club.

the first meeting tonight was intense. the media went really well and all the short activity intro videos we'd been making and filming and editing over the past month finally performed. it felt good to see them on-screen and in place. for the music part of the meeting, i ran power-point with one hand and ran lights as the other hand produced on-stage flashes with the music.

tomorrow is the big day, for me at least. i'll meet the handful of campers who i'm directing after lunch and we'll go up to my office to learn the basics of the camper camera equipment and simplified editing system and we'll start making their own movies.

the night's activities have just ended and i think this place has addicted me to coffee because i haven't had any today and i've had a lingering headache. it'll be interesting to see how the staff lounge and rooms have been changed since many counselors are now out in the woods in the cabins with their campers.

i'm leaving my office at the foot of the mountain to find my place in the night. i've learned so much so far and tomorrow i start my actual position. this has been a great balance.

Day 34

more video editing was done today during the last day before tomorrow's open house. the registered amount of guests has reached over 800 people and there could be walk-ins as well. it's gonna be huge.

after work and dinner, the video and media guys went back to the meeting place to set up hanging stage lights. we started at 8p.m., which seemed reasonable, but we didn't get done until after 11:30. all this after a full work day has made for a really long day. thankfully there's the stash of food for times like these. the three of us had thanked our friend the cook tonight for his provisions and he said he'd do his best to keep it up for the summer. it's funny how no matter where i go, people always come to the understanding of this hyperactive appetite.

there was a seal on the dock yesterday that i forgot to mention and i got pretty close to him before he started snarling and barking. you'll see.