Off He Goes to Summer Camp

This morning, my son left for his second summer camp of this 2008 summer season. The first camp was at a boy scout reservation here in northwest Florida, Wallwood, to be exact, and now, he is on a plane flying to Missouri for another summer camp experience, but not scout related.

He will have fun with all the many activities offered: swimming, horseback riding, soccer, caving, water skiing, nature exploration, campouts, hikes in the Ozarks, other sports programs, musical theatre, drama, bible studies, and so much more. He will experience order, an underlying, harmonious order. This is an order that makes these activities possible and enriching for the children.

I don’t know if summer camps constitute a uniquely American tradition, or if camps are all over the world, but one thing I do know, is that many American youth have had the summer camp experience. I never did, except in the boy scouts, but, I did work at a summer camp near Bat Cave, North Carolina, one summer when I was in college. It was a fun, and learning experience. I only would have liked to have attended summer camps beyond the boy scout experience, and got to experience that part of growing up in America. There are so many camp, and camping programs for youth, as well as for families.

I was sitting in a McDonalds, in Milton, Florida, being interviewed for the position of Camp Counselor. I was accepted, and spend that summer working with children from all over North America. I was a cabin counselor, took them on field trips to theme parks nearby, took them camping, and backpacking in the forests around the camp, took them blackberry picking, took them swimming, and supervised water activities, and rock cave explorations. I taught martial arts classes, and nature studies. We gathered natural items, labeled them, learned to contemplate the sounds of waterfalls, and nature, listed the sounds, compared our lists, and decorated our nature hut. I had to help children get out of their homesickness, help them with cuts and scrapes, remind them to do this and do that. Working at a summer camp with so many good children, was probably one of the most fun, and rewarding jobs I have ever had.

The friendships made, the skills practiced, and acquired, the opportunities for growth, all the fun, are the experiences my son will have, like countless other before him, and others going to camp now.

Yes, summertime has the heat, the sun is not so friendly, but the fun is unending, and there is so much fun for the kids out there during summertime. This is in part due to summer camps.

So, we talked, my son and I, about getting involved, and participating in the many activities offered, over 100, I believe, and to think of our many camping experiences as a family, and in his scouting. I told him that we will miss him during these next two weeks, but that he has a wonderful opportunity to go to summer camp, a camp that offers more than most camps.

Everything about our son’s growing up, seems to fit an order. “Order is heavens first law” goes the famous expression. That is so true. Even though mortal eyes sometimes confuse what is going on, underneath everything is a strict, unbreakable order, a divine order if you are a God-loving individual, a scientific order, if you are an analytical individual, or a natural order, if you appreciate the things of nature and nature’s course in everything. I see my son fitting in with an underlying order, and it is beautiful. Everything seems to just drop in place, without a lot of human effort and agony. That is wonderful!

Seven Fundamentals from my Dad

I am sharing seven fundamentals that my Dad taught me when I was growing up, and even when I got into the business world.  Dad gathered much of his inspiration from gardening. Dad was a great gardener and even constructed an awesome Japanese Garden, an authentic one, with pond, waterfall, walking bridge, pebbles, and stone. He spent time in the garden, and in nature, reflecting on current events, and on God.

These are the fundamentals dad taught me and I cherish:
1. Smile at everyone you come in contact with. A smile will make others feel better.
2. Be honest in your business dealings, and in relationships.
3. You can’t always have what you want in this world, but be patient.
4. Offer to help someone and go the extra mile. (Dad had the Scout spirit)
5.  Avoid organizations if possible since they start good, but often become corrupt.
6. Eat together around the dinner table, not in front of the television.
7. Learn to question things. Question the world, question religion, question institutions.

Dad was not a conformist, but rather, a critic of the way things are going. He came from a simpler time, and always found the world of today to be too complicated, too hasty, too much of a rat race. Dad wanted things to be slower, more relaxed, simpler.

 Kenneth Fach, Tallahassee 850-339-5753  Blog: http://KennethFach.wordpress.com