Pre-camp is quickly coming to an end here at Cheley. Dustin and I have been lucky enough to be teamed up on many of our tasks, so we've spent many days working next to one another. A lot of the work we have been tasked to do has been heavy manual labor. Estes Park and the surrounding cities had a pretty devastating flood come through last September and a lot of people are still trying to get back on their feet. It's quite a fascinating and sad scenario... Cheley consists not only of the main camp that I am primarily working on, but also extended outdoor camps where campers stay in covered wagons and explore a more outdoor experience: Girls Trail End (GTE) and Boys Trail End (BTE). On our way out to work at these camps, we passed through utter destruction from flood waters: chimneys and partial foundations were the only thing left of houses, debris of washing machines and backyard decorations tossed among uprooted trees and sediment, roads left jagged and cut in half. A lot of the small towns could only be described by past campers pointing out where houses and buildings used to be, their lots empty with no traces of former establishments.
Our first days of pre-camp was spent digging out river sediment from where the flood waters overcame one of the bridges and threatened the home of Don Cheley, the director of the camp. I dug all day, about 4 feet of river sediment, roots and rocks, leveling his front yard and attempting to expose the wood of his walkway. Dustin was in charge of rebuilding the riverbed, moving rocks in, out and around of the ice cold river, giving it some form and fashion once again. Our progress was halted in mid-afternoon when a monster thunderstorm came through and dumped "big ole fat rain" which eventually turned into a mix of sleet/snow/hail that came down for the better part of 15 minutes. This wasn't a hot Texas summer thunderstorm where you can dance in the rain and feel alive and refreshed; this was freezing rain at freezing temperatures in freezing wind that made your fingertips numb and your bones ache. This experience taught me to carry my rain gear with me every afternoon.
Those days were hard work but I found great joy in handling the earth. It has also been a humbling experience to see the pure power of Mother Nature. We are so quick to call things ours, throw a fence around a plot of land and claim it. In truth, nothing on this earth is ours, we are only temporarily borrowing it from Mother Nature who can so easily and powerfully come back to claim it as her own.
The next day wasn't as physically grueling, as I (and many pre-camp staffers) was tasked with cleaning cabins from top to bottom, front to back, drawers, windows and bathrooms. This is what pre-camp is all about, preparing all of the spaces for our eager campers. An added bonus is getting to know those around you, and there are truly a great group of people here. Throughout our tasking questions are being posed like "if you could meet three people dead or alive, who would they be? would you rather have an elephant trunk or a monkey tail?, if you could bring back a musician from the dead, who would it be?, what is your greatest fear?, would you rather fart bubbles or burp leaves?, if you could have a music lesson from any musician dead or alive, who would it be?, if you could be reborn in another era, what would it be?"... there's just never a dull moment. It should also be mentioned that everyone wants to be here, which is such a delight. People wake up in the morning and say good morning with a smile, they wave when they pass by in a camp vehicle, they ask questions and follow-up with genuine interest. It's a group of out-going, happy people who are excited about what they're doing and why they're here, who look upon the mountain tops with excitement and gratitude, it's such a pleasure. (and for the wondering minds: Sylvia Plath, Shakespeare, Yogi Bahjan; elephant trunk, Amy Winehouse, losing Dustin, burp leaves, Carter Beauford, and 2090)
My third big task was next to my beloved husband: wire-brushing the paint off of Senior Chipeta's lodge. Let me repeat that and be a bit more specific: we were tasked to use a brush about the size of a hair brush with wire bristles and scratch off the paint on three sides of a huge four-sided building. Is it not obvious that this was not my favorite task? It was during this task that I learned that the Colorado sun will burn you in half the time at twice the intensity... my calves are still itching from this sunburn. A few other things I've learned about living at a higher elevation: it does something to your bodily fluids.. my nose is a leaky faucet all day, everyday and there is no time to waste to find a bathroom: when my body alerts me that it's time to pee, it's almost already too late. There are no more potty dances, only potty runs.
After two days of wire brushing, we moved onto repainting the lodge. This was a far better task than the preceding task and was very rewarding to see the beautifully finished product along with a freshly stained back deck. Perhaps it sounds as if they're driving a pretty tight work train here at pre-camp, but I assure you we have plenty of time off. My day starts at about 6:00 am (by choice) when I rise for an hour yoga practice. Breakfast and coffee is served at 7:30am and we circle up for roll call and job assignments around 8:15. Work commences soon there after. Everyone breaks for lunch around 11:45 where lunch is served promptly at 12. We continue with our tasks until about 2:15 when we have a coffee and snack break and then are back to the grind until about 4:30 with dinner at 5:30. We are free in the evenings to do as we please. This means that I have been able to catch every single San Antonio Spurs basketball game... GO SPURS GO! And I must say, if there is anything I miss about San Antonio, it's having a whole city to root on our Spurs, Coloradians could kind of care less, but they're very obliging to turning on the game for our viewing pleasure (and oh what a pleasure it's been!)
A few of the other tasks that I've experienced is the set-up/cleaning of BTE and GTE and two days of window washing alongside my beloved. A few days into pre-camp I was offered a new job here at Cheley: arts and crafts coordinator (as opposed to arts and crafts counselor/general counselor) which I happily accepted. Because of the scope of this job (inventory of all 4 craft shops, training during staff training, creating the list of crafts to take place over the summer and gathering (purchasing) all the supplies), my job has already begun even though there are a few more days of pre-camp left. The biggest perk of this job is that I get my very own cabin... MY VERY OWN CABIN! And because I'm hitched, Dustin gets to bunk with me! It's only for a few days, but after spending nights in two separate camps, I'll take anything I can get!! We're super happy to have some time together as staff training begins this Sunday and we'll be on different sides of camps involved in different activities. Tomorrow we're taking a day off and are headed to Boulder to tour the Celestial Tea Factory and take a few yoga classes (of course!).
Overall, pre-camp has been challenging and extremely fun. I've gotten to invest time and energy into the camp and have cultivated a fondness and love for this wonderful place, aside from it's majestic views. It's hard to believe this is only the beginning and that the actual camp hasn't even started yet. I try to be present every single day and appreciate the atmosphere and people that I'm surrounded by. There's a big element of letting go involved: a fine layer of dirt coats almost everything (including my sinus passages) and everywhere I go is a 15 minute walk, at the very least. But learning from the lessons of Mother Nature, everything is temporary and changing constantly, so I just have to let it go and let it flow.
Thank you for your love and support, I miss my friends, family and CAT immensely and I send you love and grace every single day. God willing, there's always more to come!
Two Yogis, One Love.
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