As Lizzie, one of our ingenious and intrepid counselors pointed out, the etymology for words of parting is quite interesting.  As she noted, “Adios” would mean a wish for someone to go “to God,” or with God.  Au revoir and auf wiedersehen, French and German parting terms, both really mean “until we see each other again.”  Good-bye derives from the expression “God be with you”; farewell comes down to us from “fare thee well.”  We have had such a wonderful summer season, and so we will say farewell–we wish everyone who has been part of our community well, and we’ll say au revoir–we hope to see you next year!

(You’ll find links to pictures from August 6 here and from August 7 here and also on those actual blog postings–our apologies for the delay!)

Camp-out was a great success!!  Campers and staff had a great time hiking out, hanging out, making pita pizzas for dinner, roasting marshmallows and making s’mores, and telling stories.  One group heard the calls of a great horned owl (or two or three) all night long; another group really eating dinner and watching the sun set from Long Rock.  A couple of our younger groups stayed closer to home, camping out around Base Camp, and they had fun playing games in the field; they had a good time cooking, too, sauteeing apples from our orchard and scrambling eggs from our chickens for breakfast.  Everyone came back tired and happy, and hungry for our cook-out lunch–hamburgers and veggie burgers with all the fixings, corn on the cob, potato chips, and watermelon.

Here are a few of campers’ and staff’s favorite things from camp-out:

“sleeping in the tent,” “sleeping outside” (got those several times!),  “swimming in Joe’s Pool,” “crawdad hunting,” playing in Narnia” (what they imagined the area behind the Gazebo to be), “I built a fire,” “we did yoga this morning,” “making s’mores” (got that several times, too!), “skipping rocks in the pond,” “making the tent” (setting up the tarps), “making the fire,” “the turkeys we heard in the middle of the night,” “going to Long Rock for dinner,” “watching the sun set on Long Rock,” “the hike up,” “everything!” (got that several times, too!)

After lunch, we had rest hour, and then campers and staff went to their last round of activities.  In outdoor skills, they practiced their stalking skills, sneaking up on other activities.  In nature art, they made cool sculptures out of things they found in nature–pine cones, branches, leaves, rocks.  In outdoor cooking, they made tin-foil packs, with bananas and other yummy stuff.  In fly-fishing, we had an activity period of all-new fly-fisherpeople!  They had a great time learning how to cast and trying it out in the lake.  Our archers were excited, and not just about shooting–they paused their activity for about 5 minutes while a deer wandered across the course.  Quite a sight!

After our final activity period, campers enjoyed their last free time, swimming in the lake and playing on the West Field.  Then we gathered in the Lodge for our final banquet, and after that we headed up to the Upper Council Fire.  We sang songs and, of course, heard a story from Bob.  We finished the evening by the canoe lake, floating candleboats and listening to music played by several of our staff members.  It was a quieter, more contemplative evening, which allowed us to think back on the many friends and memories we have made this session.

We have posted pictures–check here!

We have loved having your campers here with us–we hate to see them go, but we look forward to seeing them again next year!

Whoo-hoo!!  It’s camp-out time, and we’re excited!  The day started off with a bang, with a camp favorite for breakfast–biscuits!  yummy with jelly and/or with sausage (or, with both, if you do open-faced biscuit sandwiches and put jelly on one half and sausage on the other!) (and there’s also veggie sausage available), and oatmeal, and there’s always fresh fruit, yogurt, and the cereal bar (an automatic dispenser with four different kinds of cereal) available.  Hmm, we do like breakfast here!

After our satisfying meal, campers and staff set out on mentor hikes.  They had a terrific morning, spying lots of intriguing things.  We think there has been a population explosion of salamanders in the area, since our Uncle’s Falls polarbears again saw tons of them.  Many campers went into the Salamander Cave, and some even explored what we call the Salamander Womb, a smaller sort of tunnel-cave, that you slip and slide and twist your way through, coming out near the waterfall and seeing some salamanders along the way.  Our visitors to the Balds also had interesting hikes; one group talked about the woolly adelgid and the damage it’s doing to hemlock trees.  That led to a conversation about invasive species.  They also spent some time just sitting–a fantastic way, actually, to observe fascinating creatures.  They saw centipedes, green spiders, yellow ants–all sorts of good stuff.  Our Reasonover Creek group visited the massive beaver dam that’s near that site–we’ve been watching it grow, in a boggy sort of area, for the past couple of years.  Quite an impressive feat of engineering!  They also saw lots and lots of butterflies–so today, their group learned a lot about beavers and butterflies.  Another group, visiting the Hemlock field, practiced their stalking skills, moving as silently through the woods as they could.  They were rewarded by first hearing and then seeing a woodpecker, high up in a tree, busy getting his own breakfast for the day.  Then they headed down to the Green River, where they caught lots of bugs and lots of crawfish.

All in all, a great morning! and then we were on to camp-out cool.  After lunch, campers and staff returned to cabins for a rest hour and to finish packing up. Then we all met in the East Field, where groups got their food, and then they all set out for their respective camp-out sites.  They are out and about right now, roasting marshmallows for s’mores and telling stories around campfires.  Tomorrow, we’ll let you know some of the highlights of their adventure!

We’ve posted pictures–check here!

The word “story” comes to us from “history,” which derives from the Latin historia and in turn from the Greek for “inquiry,” related to “to know,” “to learn.”  Here at The Green River Preserve, we believe in the power of stories and the types of knowledge they convey.  Every morning after breakfast, for instance, we have morning skits–these short enacted (silly!) stories teach us about the Word of the Day and the Bird of the Day.  Today, we had some great stories going on at The GRP!

Our mentor hikes embarked after breakfast, setting out for distant lands, far, far away.  Well, at least, a bus ride away!  Our Uncle’s Falls polarbears were very excited about all the wildlife they saw on their way up and down from the falls; they saw a very large black rat snake stretched out across the trail–an obstacle they successfully navigated around–and they also saw a small toad, camouflaged in the foliage (spotted by some sharp eyes!).  When they got up to the Falls, they saw a ton of salamanders, sometimes just their cute little salamander faces, poking out of the cracks of the rocks.  Another group hiked up to the Pine Barrens, which is a stand of white pines in the middle of the forest, elegantly spare.  They practiced their turkey calls–hoping to complete our story of a Grand Slam!–but no luck.  They also talked about Leave No Trace ethics, and how to hike with as little impact on the wilderness as possible, in order to preserve the stories forests tell for generations to come.  Our Reasonover Creek group explored the site that serves as a base camp for our Blue Ridge Expeditioners; there’s a Postman’s Walk element out there that they challenged themselves on, and they also found some jewelweed–nature’s remedy for poison ivy.  Somewhere in their story today, some mud figured into things, too….!  Our hikers up to the Lower and Upper Balds had a great time; they were excited about the copperhead they saw, sunning itself on the rocks.   They enjoyed the beautiful view and they told stories while they enjoyed their snack on the Lower Bald.

This afternoon, campers tried out a new round of activities.  Several campers hit either the bulls-eye or the “dream shot” in archery.  In field games, they re-enacted our Opening Day Capture the Flag saga, albeit with a smaller cast and for a shorter time, switching over to kickball after a while.  In swimming, campers enjoyed splashing around in the lake and jumping off our high “deck” (not really a dive–it’s an elevated platform they can jump off).  Cannonballs and “pencil” jumps were the favorites for today–trying to make as big a splash and as little of a splash, respectively, as possible.  In outdoor cooking, they tried something a bit different, making up pierogies stuffed with a cheese filling.  And we do, of course, have a creative writing activity, and today they were….what else?  making up stories.  One camper, thinking ahead to her own upcoming (one night) camp-out adventure, made up a story about a little girl preparing to go on a two-week camp-out.  As they say, “write about what you know!”–but writing stories also helps you to see what someday you might know.

We finished our day with our Lower Council Fire, an evening of songs and stories from campers and staff.  We sang the Scat Rap, a camp favorite about the appeal of scatology–very useful science, indeed, in figuring out what animals have been somewhere before you got there, and what they were eating!  We also sang a fun version of “My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean”; you stand up (or sit down) every time you sing a word that begins with a “B.”  Our Lower Council Fire wrapped up with a telling of “Raven Cliff Falls,” a legend about a lost tribe; they are threatened by an enormous black raven, and they are saved by a leap of faith, jumping over a cliff into a pool far below, where they live in peace to this day.

Today’s Word of the Day, by the way, was “upkeep,” and today’s Bird of the Day was a bluejay.  You will find the narrative of our day in pictures here, and we’re sure we’ll have more stories for you tomorrow!

… a wonderful place…. A place to find frogs and snakes… I want to see a salamander’s face!  The forest is a wonderful place! bom bom bom!

That’s one of our favorite camp songs, especially on the bus–in the mornings, some of our trail heads are further out around the Preserve, so we take groups out in our brightly painted school buses, and campers and staff sing and talk until we arrive at their starting point.  Today, we saw lots of wonderful things in the forest, including a snake and a salamander or two!

Our Uncle’s Falls hikers braved the cold in order to “polar bear”–and they also braved the Salamander Cave, a cave that’s to the left behind the waterfall; when you go in, you usually see a bunch of, well, salamanders–hence the name–and today, they saw not just salamanders, but a huge, gigantic salamander!  Another group was excited because they saw lots of salamanders AND crickets AND a turtle on their hike.  One group went on a “walk-out” close to Base Camp; they were looking for the “medicine wheel,” a stone structure like those that were used to explain the philosophies of the Native Americans.  They were not able to find it, but but they saw a lot of cool things along the way, including a black salamander, deer tracks, and a copperhead!  They also visited Bob’s Cabin, a cabin on the Preserve that was built about twenty years ago by Bob, one of our mentors, with the help of campers.  It was built with timber from the Preserve, and it has a front porch, and a bunk or loft bed built into the inside, and you can see the mud chinking between the cracks.  It’s a neat window into a different era, when that’s what your house might have looked like.  Another group visited Long Rock, a “bald” rock-face that faces the west–yet another gorgeous view–and the Labyrinth–a maze of a rock formation that’s at the bottom of Long Rock.   Our Indian Cave spelunkers spent some time in the Cave, exploring it and the depths of the dark.  Then they emerged and played some stalking games.  They tried calling turkeys on their hike back into Base Camp–all we need for a Grand Slam is a turkey and a bear–but no luck!  Maybe tomorrow….

Everyone was ready for lunch and rest hour by the time we got back to camp.  After rest hour, we started our second day of activities; campers went to all-new choices.  Canoers learned strokes and then practiced, paddling around the lake; then they had fun learning how to safely swamp their canoe.  Our dancers were in the Lodge; they warmed up with some slower-tempo music, stretching and moving slowly, without speaking to each other.  Then they sped things up, dancing with abandon around the Lodge;  well, not totally with abandon–they were thinking, actually, about how they are using movement to express their emotions.  They moved through five stages, increasing the tempo each time.  In fly fishing, or “aquatic theology,” as Sandy Schenck (the founder of the Green River Preserve) calls it, they learned parts of the rod and then practiced their casts into the lake.  2 campers caught big rainbow trout!  One period of drawing sat out on the West Field, drawing inspiration from the nature and activity around them.  In “A Bug’s Life,” campers found lots of interesting critters, including a tiny little green frog, smaller than your thumbnail even.  They also found crawfish, dragonfly nymphs, minnows, and water striders.  And you didn’t even have to be in an activity, or in the forest, for that matter, to see a frog–there was a cute one sitting by a little pond right next to the Lodge, watching as all the campers and staff scurried to their next activity!

We’ll finish the day with a camp-wide game of Predator/Prey.  Each cabin group is assigned a category of animal, ranging from insect to hawk.  Most of the “animals” dress in camouflage; the “hawks,” however, are required to wear brightly-colored clothing.  When the game is over, we’ll discuss strategies for evading predators, including hiding and running.

We are having so much fun sharing the wonders of the forest with our campers!  You can check here to see some pictures of our fun today.

In Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard talks about vision as a “deliberate gift”–she notes that nature “conceals,” but also “does reveal,” as long as you’re on the lookout (18).  And that’s what we have been doing, here at the Green River Preserve–keeping our eyes (and other senses) open, looking out for the treasures that nature holds.  This morning, campers and staff set out on their first mentor hikes, and they saw some amazing things!  One group went up to the Indian Cave, so named because local legend has it that Native Americans used to use it as a hiding place; while in there, they did “solo sits” for a few minutes, taking advantage of the dark for some new sensory experiences.  But they were also on the lookout–using candles and flashlights to light up the interior, they saw some salamanders as well as a bird’s nest that’s up on a ledge in the Cave.  Another group went down to the Green River Preserve Farm, where they had a big morning, harvesting 102 pounds of potatoes!  (We will enjoy those at dinner!)  After a while, they went exploring in Uncle’s Creek, where they, too, saw a salamander.  When they went back to the Farm, they went to check out the corn, and they saw big bear paw-prints; apparently a local bear has been feasting on the corn.  Our Uncle’s Falls group hiked up to the waterfall, where many of them transformed into “polar bears”–a GRP tradition, where we stand under the waterfall for as long as it takes to yell “polar bear” three times.  It’s one thing to look at a beautiful waterfall; it’s a whole other experience to totally immerse yourself in it.  Another group headed up to the Balds–a bare rock-face with a gorgeous view of the Green River Valley.  While they were appreciating the view, a camper spied what he thought was a snake, but by the time they all got over to it, it had disappeared into a crack in the rocks.  So campers and staff moved away and enjoyed their snack; after a few minutes, they returned, and they were rewarded for their patience–they saw a copperhead!  That’s one of our Grand Slam animals.  (When campers and staff have seen a turkey, a bear, a deer, and a venomous snake, all in one session, that’s a Grand Slam, and we celebrate with fireworks and an ice cream party.)  We’ll be on the lookout for the other three (well, two–more on that in a minute!) species–ice cream and fireworks are a bonus, but the real treat is seeing–really seeing, taking note of–the natural world about us.

After lunch, campers and staff enjoyed rest hour and then we started our first rotation of activities.  Even while swimming, BB Skeeting, and arching, we had our eyes open.  Sometimes, campers were keeping their eyes on the activity–in juggling, campers worked their way up from juggling one ball (!) to juggling two, and some were able to get three going.  In archery and BB Skeet, campers focused on the targets.  In BB Skeet, we shoot at “wild” soda cans–one way to recycle–and Chewy Sweetarts, which shatter satisfyingly if you hit them exactly right.  In the words of one camper who had just finished BB Skeet, “It was awesome!”  In archery, we shoot at standard targets; we also have a cool moving target.  It’s a painted styrofoam replica of a wild boar, attached to a string and pulley system, and after it moves across the range, the staff member can then pull it back to its starting place.  Campers had lots of fun trying to hit it; they were also learning about things like persistence.  Our gardeners were checking out the garden, looking for what was ripe, and then tasting it.  They were making “sandwiches” out of tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh basil–there is nothing quite like the smell of freshly picked basil–divine!  In Outdoor Skills, campers built shelters–lean-to’s out of branches and leaves.  We test them by crawling under them, and then somebody pours some of the water out of their water bottle on the “roof”–if you stay dry, good job with your shelter!  While building their shelters, campers remained attentive to their natural surroundings.  One group lifted up a piece of wood and found a bunch of small slugs and one really big slug under it, so they created a little slug farm next to their shelter.  Back at the climbing tower, campers tried their skill at ascending the tower.  Lots of campers made it to the top, and everyone was pushing their boundaries, trying new climbs on the tower and seeing how high they could go.  They were also attuned to what was happening in the woods and the field next to them, and they were rewarded, when, half-way through their activity period, a deer strolled out of the woods!  Maybe she was planning a visit to our garden.  So that is the second Grand Slam animal–two in a day is pretty good!  We’ll see what we see tomorrow.

After a delicious dinner–spaghetti, peas, salad bar, garlic bread, and brownies–we convened at our Upper Council Fire for our evening program.  We traditionally begin the Upper Council Fire with some readings, and then we sing some songs.  With the music, we move into the more light-hearted part of the Upper Council Fire; we are fortunate here at the GRP to have an exceptionally talented staff in terms of music–it’s the norm for us to have not only guitars, but also maybe a banjo, a mandolin, a fiddle playing along.  When you throw in the crickets’ resounding chirping in the background, it makes you want to simultaneously laugh and weep with the joy of the music we’re making and the company we’re keeping.  We finish the evening with a story from Bob–always crazy, silly, fun, tonight’s story involved Bob’s childhood ant farms, Mexican coffee beans, and an invasive species of Mexican ants.  We hope we don’t see any of those this week, but it’s fun to hear about them!

We have had a great day, and we hope you have, too–you can see pictures here from our day, and we’ll let you know tomorrow what we see and hear and experience!

Campers and staff are all excited about Session 7!  Gates opened early this morning and campers started rolling in, eager to claim their bunks and get started with activities; we were just as eager to see them.  After campers and their families went through our check-in process, campers headed off with cabin groups for a tour of camp.  On the tour, they stop by places like the Craft Lodge, where activities might take place.  They also stop by the dining hall in the main Lodge, where they set their table for lunch.  By the time the bell rings, everyone is hungry, and we all gather at the Lodge.  Before we go into lunch, we sing our blessing–a version of the Johnny Appleseed song:

Oh, the earth is good to me, / And so I thank the earth, / For giving me the things I need, / The sun and the rain and the GRP!! / Oh, the earth is good to me!

After lunch, we all (first girls, then boys) went to the Gazebo, where we participated in the Respect Circle–an Opening Day tradition at the Green River Preserve.  We hear about the camp’s founding, and we are all given the opportunity to agree to “respect ourselves, respect each other, and respect all living creatures” while we are part of the GRP community–”I will!” resounds across the West Field.  After the Respect Circle, campers sign up for afternoon activities (their choices this session include archery, BB Skeet, dance, creative writing, and “A Bug’s Life”–live-action entomology!) and then they go through our swim review.  All these activities get us ready for fun and discovery the rest of the week.

At dinnertime, we all enjoyed delicious fried chicken, mashed potatoes (seriously good!), green beans and corn, rolls, and salad bar (and there’s always pb & j and a vegetarian option), and then we dove into chocolate cake for dessert.  Then everyone headed back to their cabins to put on their light or dark clothing, depending on which team they were on for evening program… Capture the Flag–a perennial camp favorite.  Campers and staff played hard–and now they are all in back their cabins, fast asleep, we presume, tired out by an exciting day and resting up for more adventures tomorrow!

You can see pictures from today here (including cabin photos!), and we’ll keep you posted the rest of the week on all the excitement!

Today was Closing Day for Base Camp Session 6–campers and families were happily reunited, as staff said their farewell’s. We just wanted to say thank you to our Session 6 campers, and to their families for sharing them with us.  We loved having you here–what a fun session! Be sure to check out pictures that are online here for Session 6.  We hope to see you back next year!

Epic seems to be the word of the day for our GLP’s (Group Learning Projects), whether campers and staff stayed at the Preserve or whether they ventured into new terrain.  Several groups did stay here, exploring new ideas and building new skills.  Our “Yum Yum Eat’em Up” group spent the day at Beth and Paul’s house at Base Camp, thinking about new and different ways of cooking–specifically vegetarian dishes.  In their words, they made a lunch-time “feast of epicurean proportions!”  “Day of Food 2.0″ was specifically not! vegetarian in its orientation–they utilized our new smokehouse, trying out a variety of food items–they smoked ribs, bacon, cheese, and some more ribs!  They also made apple cider and experimented with a crustless apple cobbler.  (We figure as long as you combine baked apples, sugar, and butter, it’s going to be pretty good!)  Another group stayed out at Bob’s cabin for the day, learning how to make fire by friction, which is a real challenge; they displayed immense patience and discipline in their pursuit of this skill.  “Day of the Disc” spent the morning practicing their throws and “laying out” off the dock–catching throws as they jumped from the dock into the swim lake.  Then, in the afternoon, they engaged in an epic Ultimate Frisbee game with our returning BRX Expeditioners.  Our Flute-Making GLP ended up with some beautiful flutes; they can now compose and play the soundtrack for our other epic adventures!  Our “Bio Blitz” tour hopped from location to location around the Preserve; their goal was to classify and record details about the various species of animals, specifically amphibians, living around The Preserve’s different habitats.  They found at least six different types of salamanders, including a green salamander, which we don’t often see around here.  Talk about epic; they feel like they barely scratched the surface, so they have begun a project that will go on for years.

Other groups sought adventure off the Preserve.  One group went canoeing at Cascade Lake; they canoed up to Hooker Falls and then hiked up to High Falls.  Our Fly Fishing group combined canoeing and fly fishing, taking canoes over to Lake Julia in DuPont State Forest.  They fished and swam and canoed, and they caught several fish.  One group went in search of The Fountain of Youth–which they found–a gorgeous waterfall on Maybin Mountain.    Our “Raven Cliff Falls” GLP crossed state lines, hiking to the tallest waterfall in South Carolina.  They had an epic hike, too, of about 8 or 9 miles.  All our groups came back tired and happy with their adventures!

After GLP’s finished, campers headed back to cabins to clean up and pack up.  Then we met in the Lodge for a festive final banquet, complete with a visit from our BRX Expeditioners and from Ortman and Scrappy, our superheroes who fight against ORT (aka food waste).  Then, we convened at the Upper Council Fire for our ceremonial final evening program.  At this campfire, campers place their “Spirit Stones” in a circle around the campfire.  They have been looking all session long for a stone that appeals to them, and they paint it with a design of their own; at the end of the summer, staff move all the Spirit Stones to a hillside right next to the Upper Council Fire site–so campers leave a piece of themselves at camp, in a sense, and any time they want to, they can return–to reconnect with the joy they found at camp.  We sang some songs and then heard a story from Bob, and then we ended the evening with our candleboat ceremony.

An epic evening, as befits an epic day and an epic session.  You can see pictures from today’s adventures here.  We have had a great time with our Session 6 campers, and we can’t believe it’s already time for them to go home.  We will miss them, but we will look forward to seeing them next year!

The Brady Bunch would have been happy here today–plenty of sunshine to go around for everyone!  Campers and staff enjoyed their last full day of mentor hikes and activities.  Once again, this morning, we traveled all around the Preserve, with another group hiking up to Uncle’s Falls–lots more polar bears!  Other groups braved the Indian Cave, while others appreciated the view from the Balds.  One group saw a couple more Grand Slam animals–a wild turkey and a copperhead.  Fitting sightings, on the day that we’re celebrating our session’s Grand Slam!  After lunch, campers and staff enjoyed their last activity period and then their last free time.  The sun was shining, the swim lake was open, and campers were having fun swimming, playing with noodles, and going off the zip line.  Others were playing games on the West Field, and others were hanging out on the hill, just taking it all in.

After dinner–delicious homemade lasagna, french bread, green beans from our Farm, and salad bar–we all REALLY enjoyed the all-you-can-eat ice cream bar.  Then cabins split off for cabin night; brother/sister cabins usually come up with a group activity for the evening.  Sometimes they tie-dye t-shirts; sometimes they make rootbeer floats; sometimes they make s’mores.  Whether it involves food or not, it’s a good time for them to cement the bonds that have been forming all session long.  After cabin night, the whole camp reconvened to watch the fireworks display, set off to celebrate the Grand Slam.  Quite the spectacle! especially set as it was against the clear, starry night.

You can see pictures from today here.  We are excited about Group Learning Projects tomorrow–we’ll let you know how those go!