The Good Kind of Busy

Walking around camp, you can’t help but notice how busy —the enthusiastic kind of busy— everyone seems to be these days. All kinds of craft projects, for example, are taking shape: tie dye T-shirts unfolding to reveal their colorful patterns, woven mats unrolling off the looms in Curosty, glaze being carefully painted on ceramics pieces, and new bracelets showing up in campers’ mailboxes as surprise gifts from a “secret buddy.” There’s lots of physical activity too: tennis serves and volleys, archery and riflery targets with plenty of new holes, sweat- (and laughter-) inducing games of dodge ball in the gym, and impressive gymnastics exercises that require some real strength. With all this cool Nature around us, we’re ready for outdoor adventure also, with girls climbing the Alpine Tower and Castle Rock, canoeing and kayaking in the lake, and practicing their fire building techniques in the WHOA (Wilderness Hiking and Outdoor Adventure) activity.

Each morning after the first activity period, we all pause for a “muffin break.” It’s almost a race to swing by the dining hall and pick up one of Alison’s freshly baked muffins, and it’s definitely a topic of conversation to find out what flavor she’s made on a particular day. It could be something classic, like “poppy seed,” or something original like “chocolate chip sprinkle.” Today we had “pumpkin spice.” It’s neat to see girls just grab a warm muffin and chomp right down on it, no matter what the flavor. They might not have selected it by name, like from a menu, but at camp, they just dig right in and would probably be surprised to know they’ve eaten and enjoyed something with pumpkin in it!

Speaking of food, the kitchen has been getting quite a few thank you notes recently. Campers and counselors alike are feeling compelled to express their love for the food Rick and his crew are serving us. It takes a lot of work to produce homemade meals for 300 people. Imagine hand dipping sliced green tomatoes to fry for the lunch sandwiches, or kneading by hand 35 pounds of flour and butter to make the biscuits this morning, or preparing 200 pounds of barbecue chicken. Rick also makes an extra effort to stock local fruits and vegetables: this week serving corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, blueberries, bell peppers and peaches. The knowledge and care he brings to the food really comes through and everyone at camp benefits. So yes, we’re busy (again, in the best sense of the word) around here, and we eat really, really well!

Today I think we set a new record for bringing campers to Sliding Rock. We started with a small group of about 25 mini session Seniors and their counselors by packing a picnic lunch and heading into the forest around noon. In the bright sunshine and over the roar of the falling water, the girls had a great time screaming their heads off sliding down the chilly ride. Later, around 5:30pm, we loaded up all of Rockbrook’s Middlers, which turned out to be a huge group of 95 people once we got all of the counselors and lifeguards in the equation! We headed straight for the Rock, and fortunately found it mostly deserted so we could all slide plenty of times. Many of these Middlers had never been to Sliding Rock before making this an even bigger treat for them. An hour or so later, we gathered everyone again and drove to our favorite picnic area in the forest, a special spot ideal for large groups. The girls were probably most excited about our last stop, however: Dolly’s Dairy Bar.  “This is the best place in the world!” one camper yelled as we pulled into the parking lot.  It certainly is the only place where you can order a cone of “Rockbrook Chocolate Illusion,” which might be a little over the top, in all its chocolate glory (but probably not!).  Combine this many girls with this much ice cream and you’ve got a grand time.  I have to say it was a little late, and definitely dark by the time we arrived back at camp, but I didn’t hear a single complaint or even comment about that.

Full-Throated Fun

One of the activities offered each day at Rockbrook is something called “Nature.” While rather broadly defined as anything involving the plants, animals and forests of camp, it’s a real treat for the campers. The notion of exploration, of discovery, describes it pretty well also, because mostly the campers are tromping around through the woods and finding fascinating bits of the natural world. With more than 200 acres of Rockbrook property available, the counselors have come up with loads of really fun ways for the girls to be true naturalists. They take stream hikes, stopping to turn over rocks looking for crayfish and salamanders. Like in this photo, they take nets and capture tadpoles at the lake to compare their stages of development. Or, they may simply hike through the woods, perhaps bushwhacking off-trail, to marvel at some of the huge old growth trees on the property.  Of course part of the fun is getting a little dirty and truly feeling the grit and grime of what they find, but that’s one of the things that helps the girls appreciate the beauty of it all, and for us, is something we can feel good about because of the benefits outdoor experience provides.

During one of the swimming activities this morning, the counselors greased up a watermelon for the girls and organized several fun relay races. There’s still plenty of silt coming down the creek and into the lake making the water cloudy, and this made the watermelon a little more difficult to find when it went under. Having to hunt for a hidden, submerged fruit is surprisingly fun because it can appear far from where you expect it. On a bright sunny day, this is good old fashioned fun, and it comes with a sweet tasty watermelon treat.

Being Wednesday, the afternoon was our cabin day, a time when instead of each camper pursuing her individual schedule of regular activities, the cabin groups and their counselors stay together for special whole-cabin events. Each cabin decides what they would like to do. Many involve hiking, like along the gentle trail to Rockbrook Falls or the steep and severe trail up to Castle Rock overlooking the camp. Today, a few cabins played group games on the hill, a couple of Junior cabins played board games, and others relaxed on the porch of the Lakeview lodge making friendship bracelets. One cabin was caught doing outdoor yoga!

All of the senior cabins took a special trip right before dinner. Dressed in their bathing suits and with towels in hand, they loaded up the buses to head out to a special spot in the Pisgah Forest for a picnic. Our timing was excellent because when we arrived, we were the only people there to enjoy a wonderful grassy field, trimmed with awesome shade trees and just the right number of picnic tables. Rick packed us another amazing dinner of fresh corn on the cob, tortellini, warm rolls, and cool, bright red raspberries. The late afternoon sunshine was gorgeous and we had plenty of altitude to keep things breezy and comfortable. After eating, we couldn’t help but skip around the field and play an exuberant game of “Duck Duck Goose.” You might think teenage girls would be “too cool” for this kind of game, but not so with this crowd.

Our next stop on this outing was the main event: Sliding Rock. Always a favorite, this is the natural waterslide formed by Looking Glass Creek as it drops about 60 feet over a gently sloping rock into a deep pool. Going this late after the Forest Service lifeguards have left (we bring our own) is ideal because it avoids the typical crowds of summer, and thereby allows our Rockbrook girls to spend less time waiting in line and more time sliding.  Is the water cold?  You betcha!  That explains why most of the photos of the girls sliding end up showing them with their mouths open.  A few can remain poised enough to smile for the camera as they accelerate toward to bottom, but most are anticipating the plunge that awaits and just let loose with a wide-eyed, full-throated scream.  You can almost hear it in each shot.  Meanwhile, the rest of the girls waiting their turn are cheering their friends on, clapping and shouting.  It really is super exciting.

With our fill of sliding, there was one more stop to make, and it’s always a crowd pleaser.  On the way out of the forest we took that happy left turn into Dolly’s Dairy Bar so everyone could enjoy a cone of their favorite flavor of ice cream.  There were more screams and cheers of delight as we pulled into the parking lot and all the girls ran to join the line waiting to order.  Dolly’s has refined their serving so it took just a few minutes for everyone to be savoring (for some, gobbling) their treat. Yummy stuff.  It was dark by the time we made it back to camp, bringing our surprise night out to a close, but it was the kind of big group fun we love around here, and a really good time.

Overwhelming Joy

Today, the final full day of this camp session, was a great day for marking some of the amazing accomplishments we’ve been seeing over the last few weeks. All of these Rockbrook girls have a lot to show! It might simply be becoming a really good friend for someone, but probably includes a colorful creation of pottery or cloth and a new skill shooting, climbing or riding as well. Most importantly, these girls have created for themselves a haven where they can be adventurous, feel very good about the decisions they make, and have the (silliest!) time of their lives.

For the horseback riding girls, today was an exciting day because the Equestrian Staff planned a “horse show” for them. Not a horse show with competition, judging and ribbons, but it was more of a party with great mounted games to play. One funny example of this was “Herding Cows,” where three campers, dressed as cows (their white t-shirts had black spots on them), roamed about the ring while riders tried to keep them from wandering off. Another game involved girls holding “dollar bills” between their legs and their saddle while attempting to walk, trot and canter without dropping the bills. Several of the advanced riders even jumped while holding the bills tight.

Up in the ceramics studio, head instructors Katie and Will revealed all the pottery the girls had made over the session. Fresh from the kilns, all the sculptures and pots looked fantastic glazed in dozens of different colors. This session there were trays, cylinders, coin banks, and plenty of cups and bowls. It’s always fun for the girls to see how their pieces turn out. Glazes often do unexpected things in a kiln, so it’s generally a surprise.

This afternoon, the whole camp assembled in the gym to see the performance of our camp-wide musical, Schoolhouse Rock. Adapted from the popular TV series, this is a wonderful play comprised mostly of songs and choral numbers, several of which are very well known: “A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing,” “Conjunction Junction,” and “The Great American Melting Pot,” for example. Several parents attended the performance and everyone was thrilled by the singing. The intermission gave the dance classes a chance to perform as well. All three age groups presented, in costume, a choreographed dance number they had been practicing. Here too, we were all very impressed!

Our traditional “Spirit Fire” ended the day just perfectly. After all the action of camp, the big fun that happens everyday around here, it’s nice to finish up with a quieter time to think about what our experience has meant to us. With the whole camp gathered around a campfire, we all sing songs and take turns talking about how we feel about Rockbrook. From the littlest Juniors on up to the Seniors, Hi-Ups and counselors, the girls spoke so eloquently last night. One junior camper simply said, “I think Rockbrook is great and should be for everyone… except for boys.” Hannah really provided some insight when she explained she loves Rockbrook because it “ignites our childhood spirit.” And Michelle summed up her experience this session as simply “overwhelming joy.”

We ended the Spirit Fire by each camper and counselor lighting a small white candle from the central campfire. Sarah first lit hers and, following this long tradition, everyone then filed by to light their candle. We then fanned out to stand around the lake and sing a couple of last songs. As the candles flicker in the night, casting a warm glow on the girls faces, and as chirping crickets in the distance blend with soft singing, it’s a beautiful scene. We are all a little emotional about camp ending, but we know that what we’ve shared will stay with us and Rockbrook will welcome us back another day.

Space Carnival Welcome

Today was an exciting day as we welcomed our second group of July mini session campers to Rockbrook. The majority of these campers are returning to Rockbrook from last summer (about 80% of them), but even the new girls seemed wide-eyed with anticipation and excitement. Part of the fun of opening day is seeing camp friends reunite. As a car drives up the hill and Mandy announces over the PA the name of the camper arriving, the squeals from the other girls on the hill can be deafening, and the subsequent bear-hugging tackles between two friends even a little scary. Still, it’s a great moment to see the emotion of that kind of friendship.

As everyone finished arriving and checking in with the nurses, the morning clouds cleared to blue skies and the whole camp assembled on the hill. This was the first event where everyone is together, mini- and full-session girls alike. Each cabin sitting with their counselors, crazy creek chairs deployed, the Hi-Ups led us in the line songs and a couple of RBC favorites (“Rockbrook Camp Forever”). Several of the activity counselors performed skits and songs about their activities to help everyone, especially the new campers, know what they were planning— the games, the craft projects, the challenges —that will make this week special. We also took our state pictures, a quick photo of the campers and counselors sorted into groups by the home state. FL, NC, GA and SC are the big ones this session, but check the online photo gallery to see some surprising other states being represented.

After a double helping of Rick’s homemade mac-n-cheese and some cool watermelon, the mini session campers were off on camp tours, having cabin meetings and rotating down to the lake for their swimming demonstrations. Every year we check everyone’s (campers’ and counselors’) swimming ability and issue them a buddy tag. This year they also receive a bright green armband that indicates they swim well enough to go down the new water slide. Today most of the campers did great. Plenty of bright warm sunshine nicely balanced the chilly water of the lake making the tests quick and easy.

Around 3 o’clock, we rang bell for everyone to come down to the gym for a “space carnival.” A group of 16 counselors, with some help from the Hi-Ups (our 10th graders) put on the event with different games both inside the gym and outside on the archery field. They had “Cosmic Bowling,” “Cream the Alien,” “Shuttle Races,” as well as face painting, cotton candy and ribbon dancing. There was also two giant inflated attractions: a 2-person obstacle course and a velcro anti-gravity bouncy wall. For the wall, you first put on a red, yellow and blue velcro suit, which was pretty funny because they were so hugely over-sized.  Then each person took a turn bouncing a couple of times and flinging herself against the wall.  With arms stretched out, you would stick there dangling by the velcro.  Sometimes, the campers would stick so well, they would need help getting down!  It was pretty funny to watch.

Overall, it was a great first day of the mini session—excellent weather, and plenty of fun all around.  Be sure to check the photo gallery each day.  We’re adding photos all the time.  And thanks for reading the blog.  Did you know you can follow these posts on facebook too?  Head on over and “like” that page!

Special Event Visitors

Our regular activities kept us busy most of today with plenty of crafts (ceramics!), sports (swimming!), horses (jumping!), and adventure (climbing!), but we also enjoyed two very special events. The first was a clinic of pocketdisc games and techniques. Our friend Patrick Groft, the inventor of the pocketdisc, came over from Hillsborough for the morning to host the sessions. You may have seen these cool discs at an outdoor store, but they are multicolored, croqueted cotton discs with a curled edge making them surprisingly aerodynamic and fun to throw like a Frisbee. They fly great and are super easy to catch, and because they’re soft, can safely be thrown both indoors and out. They are handmade in Guatemala and are a Fair Trade product, too. We liked them so much, we have teamed up with Patrick to have special Rockbrook editions of the pocketdisc made for our campers, but this morning it was about learning to throw the discs and playing some fun games that involve throwing and catching them. We played a couple of classic ball games with the pocketdiscs: dodgeball and spud, for example, but also some new ones like “Duck Hunting” and “Monkey in the Middle.” These are really fun toys, and we all had a blast running around, throwing the discs, catching them, and playing the games.

After dinner we had our second special event of the day, a dance with Camp Carolina in our gym. Local DJ Marcus (“DJ Dawg”) came over to handle the music and dance lighting for us. Marcus is always up on the latest pop music, but is also great at getting everyone dancing. For example, several times in his playlist, he pulled out “group dance” songs that included dancing instructions in the lyrics. “To the left, to the left… now kick, now kick,” etc. All of the CCB boys and their counselors came to us for this dance, so we had to be ready with extra of our homemade cookies and plenty of water to keep the sweaty dancers going. We had perhaps 300 people in the gym altogether! Most of the dancing was pretty silly, as was what most people were wearing, with our counselors leading the way. The idea we stress to the staff is to de-emphasize the “boy-girl” character of the event and to key on enjoying the music and the dancing. That’s partly why so many crazy costumes are part of the scene; it proves that what you look like isn’t important to have a good time. Even so, I have to admit, the oldest teenage girls spend a lot of time “getting ready” (hair!) and feeling a little nervous when the boys first arrive. As the girls tend to rove in a pack during the evening, it’s hard not to think of the old adage “safety in numbers.” Two hours of dancing and two hours of everyone having a good time, it just flew on by.

Here’s one last bonus picture. This is our vegetable garden down at the landsports field. Pam planted it a few weeks back and has been taking good care of i.  It’s really taking off!  She’s got heirloom tomato plants that are bushing out to 5 feet tall!  There are beans, cucumbers, herbs and squash.  Rick even used some of the squash tonight in the vegetarian stir fry he served.  Once a week or so, as part of the twilight time, we’ll invite the campers to come down at check out the garden.  Pam explains about the plants and encourages the girls to feel, smell and even taste some of them.  It’s fun for them to see such a well tended garden and to have all their questions answered.

A July Sunday

One way we punctuate the week at Rockbrook is to change the pace on Sundays. We follow a different schedule and plan special surprise events for the whole camp. It began today by sleeping in, which felt wonderful after the very full week we’ve been enjoying, but even better, the girls and their counselors came to breakfast in their pajamas and robes. Rick arrived much earlier in the kitchen and baked for us his yummy maple cinnamon coffee cake to complement the regular yogurt, cereal, and fresh fruit bars.

After breakfast the girls returned to their cabins to clean and sort things, as today is also the day laundry goes out. You can imagine how that might take a while! Around 10:30 the whole camp, dressed in their red and white uniforms, then assembled in cabin groups around the flagpole on the hill for a flag raising ceremony led by the Hi-Ups (10th graders). This included presenting the flag, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and singing “America the Beautiful.” As we stood in the bright morning sunshine, overlooking the Blue Ridge mountains in the distance, and flanked by the historic camp buildings, this was a very neat scene.

Next, the girls walked down the lower line to a special wooded area of camp for our chapel service. For years now Rockbrook has been explicitly non-denominational and ecumenical with no religious affiliation. It’s been a place where girls from all cultural and religious traditions (and non-religions!) can feel comfortable. Instead of specific religious texts or ideas, our chapel services are more thematic, focus on general human values (things like honesty, friendship and community), and are led by the girls themselves. For example, today the Middler line presented their chapel on “Simplicity” by leading several songs, reading a poem, and talking about what simplicity means to them. Sarah read (paraphrased actually) a short book to the girls called “Crispin: The Pig Who Had it All” by Ted Dewan. It’s about a spoiled pig who, instead of receiving the kind of big gifts he’s used to, gets an empty box from Santa. He naturally struggles with this at first, but in the end learns about imaginative play. Sarah connected it with camp, of course, noting how being at Rockbrook also encourages us to simplify (no technology!), yet equally inspires our imagination, sense of wonder and connections with others. The chapel is intended to be a quiet time for reflection and an opportunity to gather together as a camp community. It’s a nice balance to the zany fun we enjoy the rest of the week.

After lunch, which was a classic combination of baked ham (or tempeh), green beans and mashed potatoes, and after rest hour, which included a brief, welcome thundershower, the whole camp geared up for the Rockbrook Olympics. We divided into 3 teams, anticipating tomorrow’s holiday— red, white and blue —so that teams included girls from all three age groups. Each team, dressed and painted in their color, came up with a cheer and assigned participants for different relay events to be held down on the landsports field. We had a water balloon toss, a sack race, three-legged race, dizzy lizzy, spoon and egg carry, army crawl, sponge relay, frozen t-shirt thaw, a wheelbarrow race, and a huge, group hula hoop relay. The energy level was intense as everyone raced from one event to the next, stopping now and then for a drink or snack under the tents. For the final event, we all headed back up to the lake for a greased watermelon relay. Even more cheering! As is typical around here, we’re not really sure who “won” because we didn’t keep score. There’s just no need, and it’s really not that important, when you’re having this much fun playing and cheering everyone on.  So much fun!

Good Goofy Fun

Going around camp today, visiting the different activity areas, you could tell that the girls have really settled in and begun to make camp “a place of their own.” That’s a phrase from the Rockbrook Camp mission statement. It’s an attempt to summarize one of the real values of a camp experience for young girls, and it’s part of the magic of why campers love their camp. The ingredients are simple: really good people who are eager to make friends, broad opportunities to be creative, sporty, and adventurous, and a caring environment where everyone can relax and be themselves. Combine these with the girls making their own activity selections, having plenty of free time to enjoy the wonderful natural beauty of Rockbrook, and simply enjoying time with their friends, and we have something special, something very different from home and school (where parents and teachers call most of the shots), and something truly their own. This is their camp and they love it.

Of course, at camp a big group of girls can get pretty goofy and really let their silly side come out. Singing crazy songs outrageously loud in the dining hall, dressing up in a costumes for dinner, and making up skits with cabin mates are quite ordinarily part of the fun around here. This photo of an evening program cabin skit shows a little of that. Each cabin group is given a topic and challenged to come up with a group skit that they’ll perform for the rest of the age group in their lodge. It can involve singing, dancing, acting and audience participation, but whatever it is, the funnier it is, the better. A lot of the fun is working together to create the skit, as well as performing it for your friends.

This afternoon we had our Wednesday “Cabin Day.” This is a special day when after a morning of regular activity time (where the girls follow their individual activity selections), each cabin group sticks together for some special group event. Today, cabin groups were hiking to Rockbrook Falls and Castle Rock, building campfires to make S’mores, playing games in the gym and on the landsports field, cooling of by playing in the creek, and even making smoothies with the help of the kitchen. The mini session senior cabins took a trip to Sliding Rock, had a picnic and capped everything off with a stop at Dolly’s for a sweet treat. Dinner was some of Rick’s homemade fried chicken and warm yeast rolls.  Good stuff.  On cabin day, there’s always a lot going on!

Oh! I forgot to mention the muffins today… White Chocolate Raspberry. They were awesome!

Beginning Archery

Can the youngest girls at camp try archery?

Yes they can! Even the youngest campers, the girls who have finished kindergarten and first grade, can sign up for archery. Just like all the campers, they too can learn about the equipment, safety procedures and archery shooting techniques.

To fit a smaller person, we first of all provide special bows that are easier to pull and shorter arrows to match these smaller bows. Also, to make things easier overall, we move the shooting line much closer to the target.

Likewise, the Rockbrook archery instructors take extra care to introduce the youngest girls to the important aspects of the sport. With plenty to learn when you’re just starting out, it’s a big adventure right from the beginning.

Beginning girls tend to really like archery right away, and it doesn’t take long for them to improve, hit the target more consistently, and even score a bullseye. It may start quite young, but archery can be a lifelong sport for all!